LS Gets U Wet said:
my 2000ls8 was in the shop for the misfire problem, changed all plugs and a few cops...well it has intake and exhaust just to get you caught up...
every morning it takes at least 5sec of cranking to start, and when it is hot outside (100+) it takes forever to start...it just cranks over...
then the other day it started and just sat there spuddering, so i shut it off and it re-started fine. i smell gas everytime i start it. i guess what i am asking is what else could be wrong since i just had electrical work done? im thinking fuel filter, but any other ideas? thanks in advance
The first thing to do is look for obviously disconnected sensors. I'm guessing that that's probably not the case; if it were, the CEL should be lit, as the PCM should be throwing errors like they're going out of style.
If you're smelling gas, you don't have a problem with low fuel delivery--you have
too much gas. It might be a good idea to check the injectors, to make sure you don't have one that's stuck open or leaky. Definitely check for gas leaks under the hood; I'm betting that the gas smell is from the engine being too rich on startup (ie, it's coming from the tailpipe), but it could be a damaged fuel line under the hood (which would be a severe fire hazard).
A leaky injector would be bad, too. Among other things, it'll wash off the protective film of oil in the cylinder, leading to excessive wear on the cylinder walls and rings; it will also dump raw fuel into the cats, which will dramatically shorten their lives.
One thing you can do is floor the accelerator when starting (before cranking); that will put the PCM into roll-start mode, which cuts off the fuel supply (it's also the mode used for starting the engine when it's flooded).
One thing I would do is make sure that you start running high-grade gas from a quality station (like Conoco, Amoco, Mobil, etc). The detergents in the higher-quality gasolines will help keep the injectors in good condition. For now, you could try using some of the snake oil injector cleaner that's available in the chemicals area of the auto parts store. STP and BG are both respected producers of these chemicals.
