Cold weather - starts up, then stalls???

Ok, so I was leaving my friend's house in Deposit, NY, the other day.
It was around -10 degrees (F!) out. The car started right up - normally
- on the first turn. Like any other time. So, I rev it a little, then
let it sit a minute, then turn on the headlights, while the engine was
revving around 2,000 rpm. Take my foot off the gas and it flat out
dies. Restarting was hard - it wouldn't restart with my foot off the
gas, or with a bit of gas. Acted like it was flooded. A few seconds
with my foot to the floor, then about 10%, it started up again. Let it
warm by manually revving it around 2,000 rpm until the temp gauge needle
started moving up, and it then idled fine with my foot off. No problems
at all.

Other things - the car's been getting rather low highway mileage - in
the mid 30's - I don't know if it's my leadfoot or what. This start and
stall issue happens at least until the 20's or 30's. The car otherwise
drives just fine in the cold - no issues at all.

The CTS was replaced a while back, didn't help.

Any ideas, anyone?

"Philip Nasadowski" > wrote in message
...
> Ok, so I was leaving my friend's house in Deposit, NY, the other day.
> It was around -10 degrees (F!) out. The car started right up - normally
> - on the first turn. Like any other time. So, I rev it a little, then
> let it sit a minute, then turn on the headlights, while the engine was
> revving around 2,000 rpm. Take my foot off the gas and it flat out
> dies. Restarting was hard - it wouldn't restart with my foot off the
> gas, or with a bit of gas.

Don't *ever* give it gas when trying to start it - especially when it's cold out. A fuel-injected vehicle already dumps
plenty of gas when starting the car. When you hit the accelerator, you're adding more than it needs, and you will flood
it.


> Acted like it was flooded. A few seconds
> with my foot to the floor, then about 10%, it started up again.

You definitely flooded it. Depressing the accelerator all the way tells the computer to stop delivering fuel, which
gives the engine a chance to lean out.


> Let it
> warm by manually revving it around 2,000 rpm until the temp gauge needle
> started moving up, and it then idled fine with my foot off. No problems
> at all.
>
> Other things - the car's been getting rather low highway mileage - in
> the mid 30's

Saturn's never rated higher than the mid-30's for highway mileage, did they? My SL2 was rated 36 highway.


> - I don't know if it's my leadfoot or what. This start and
> stall issue happens at least until the 20's or 30's. The car otherwise
> drives just fine in the cold - no issues at all.
>
> The CTS was replaced a while back, didn't help.
>
> Any ideas, anyone?

I don't have any ideas why it's not idling. Probably a bad sensor somewhere. Have you taken it in for service?

You don't mention the year or model of your car, but on the older Saturns,
there's an additional temp sensor in the air intake ductwork.
It's variably called the air charge sensor, or air intake sensor. It looks
just
like the CTS (may actually be the same part) and cost me about $12
from Autozone. Replacing this solved some drivability issues with my SC2,
but they weren't as severe as the ones you describe. Just a thought.

Good luck,
Dave


Philip Nasadowski wrote:

> Ok, so I was leaving my friend's house in Deposit, NY, the other day.
> It was around -10 degrees (F!) out. The car started right up - normally
> - on the first turn. Like any other time. So, I rev it a little, then
> let it sit a minute, then turn on the headlights, while the engine was
> revving around 2,000 rpm. Take my foot off the gas and it flat out
> dies. Restarting was hard - it wouldn't restart with my foot off the
> gas, or with a bit of gas. Acted like it was flooded. A few seconds
> with my foot to the floor, then about 10%, it started up again. Let it
> warm by manually revving it around 2,000 rpm until the temp gauge needle
> started moving up, and it then idled fine with my foot off. No problems
> at all.
>
> Other things - the car's been getting rather low highway mileage - in
> the mid 30's - I don't know if it's my leadfoot or what. This start and
> stall issue happens at least until the 20's or 30's. The car otherwise
> drives just fine in the cold - no issues at all.
>
> The CTS was replaced a while back, didn't help.
>
> Any ideas, anyone?

On Wed, 22 Dec 2004 23:22:26 -0500, Dave >
wrote:

>
>
>You don't mention the year or model of your car, but on the older Saturns,

What years please?

>there's an additional temp sensor in the air intake ductwork.
>It's variably called the air charge sensor, or air intake sensor. It looks
>just
>like the CTS (may actually be the same part) and cost me about $12
>from Autozone. Replacing this solved some drivability issues with my SC2,
>but they weren't as severe as the ones you describe. Just a thought.
>
>Good luck,
>Dave
>
>
>Philip Nasadowski wrote:
>
>> Ok, so I was leaving my friend's house in Deposit, NY, the other day.
>> It was around -10 degrees (F!) out. The car started right up - normally
>> - on the first turn. Like any other time. So, I rev it a little, then
>> let it sit a minute, then turn on the headlights, while the engine was
>> revving around 2,000 rpm. Take my foot off the gas and it flat out
>> dies. Restarting was hard - it wouldn't restart with my foot off the
>> gas, or with a bit of gas. Acted like it was flooded. A few seconds
>> with my foot to the floor, then about 10%, it started up again. Let it
>> warm by manually revving it around 2,000 rpm until the temp gauge needle
>> started moving up, and it then idled fine with my foot off. No problems
>> at all.
>>
>> Other things - the car's been getting rather low highway mileage - in
>> the mid 30's - I don't know if it's my leadfoot or what. This start and
>> stall issue happens at least until the 20's or 30's. The car otherwise
>> drives just fine in the cold - no issues at all.
>>
>> The CTS was replaced a while back, didn't help.
>>
>> Any ideas, anyone?

later,

tom @ www.CarFleaMarket.com

Ouch!

I totally forgot the year

It's a '93 SC2.

I'm starting to point the finger at the fuel pressure regulator -it did
die on us once before, and I'm starting to question if it's freezing up
at that temp and screwing up the AFR that way...

On Thu, 23 Dec 2004 11:37:56 -0500, Philip Nasadowski
> wrote:

>Ouch!
>
>I totally forgot the year
>
>It's a '93 SC2.
>
>I'm starting to point the finger at the fuel pressure regulator -it did
>die on us once before, and I'm starting to question if it's freezing up
>at that temp and screwing up the AFR that way...


If thati's the case, then I would guess switch gas stations you visit,
since they aren't filtering the fuel, and run a bottle or two of dry
gas through.

Just a guess.....


tom @ www.FindMeShelter.com