My Milano occasionally does the same thing under the same conditions: cold engine, car sitting in sun. Starts, immediately dies, and then is a bit of a pain to get restarted. The TPS and TTS both test fine so that's not the problem in my case.
I've always assumed it's just the cold start valve causing wet plugs under some conditions, but as it happens rarely and I can always get it to start after a bit of cranking I've never done much troubleshooting. I suppose the easiest way to see if this is really your problem is the next time you're in a situation where you'd expect this to happen, unplug the cold start injector before cranking and see if that goes better. I usually never touch the throttle during starting (too many stories of plenum-go-boom) but have been told that going full throttle during cranking puts the L-jet into "flood clear" mode where it doesn't fire the injectors. Well, I tried that once when the engine died as described above: it did fix the problem, which lends credence to the wet plugs theory. But it also went ahead and started even with the pedal full down which may disprove the not-firing-the-injectors theory. So I'm not sure I'd recommend this given the L-Jet's predilection to occasionally blowing off the plenum if given throttle during cranking. Tom Gubiotti > OK, I know this is weird, but for several years I've had this problem. So > far I have been able to get under way each time. > > For example, this afternoon, the GTV-6 had not been driven in 24 hours. The > car was sitting in the bright sun, and the outside temperature was in the > mid 70s. The inside of the car is hot, but I don't know the temp under the > hood. I turned on the ignition switch, and the engine started immediately > as it usually does when cold. But then it immediately died as if I had > turned off the switch. This happens within the first second or so - rrruumm then > it dies unless I am ready to pump the gas pedal. > > If I catch it before it completely dies, it runs but stumbles like it was > running on five or four cylinders. This rough running disappears after > driving a block or less. If I don't catch it when it dies, it grinds and > stumbles until it catches. Then runs roughly as previously mentioned. > > This does not happen when it is cold and has not been sitting in the sun. > It also doesn't matter if the temperature is in the 80s or 90s. This problem > also occurs if I drive somewhere and leave the car for maybe a couple of > hours. I haven't actually timed it. If I make a short stop, then start it, > there is no problem. But, if I leave it for an extended time, it fires up > then dies as above. > > It acts as if the cold start valve shoots in gasoline, but some other part > of the system doesn't tell the computer to operate the fuel function. > > Any ideas? > > Thanks, > Bruce Sharer > Raleigh, NC > Annoying GTV-6 problem -- to be removed from alfa, see http://www.digest.net/bin/digest-subs.cgi or email "unsubscribe alfa" to [email protected]
