Hello

Today I was backing out of my driveway. For some reason I accidently stalled the car(took foot off clutch too fast). I press the clutch back in (all the way) and put the car in neutral then I press the start button. The car doesn't start!!! It wasn't totally unresponsive, but it sounded like it was trying to start but it couldn't get enough power or gas to start up. It really freaked me out, I tried to start over and over again and nothing. The car did start after about 5-10 seconds of trying. I had a full tank of gas so that can't be it.

I did check my oil level this morning and I was smack dab in the middle of the X's. I'm not sure if this has anything to do with it, but I don't think it would have an impact on the car. I've never had this problem before as the car always starts up almost instantly when I press the start button. It wasn't cold outside maybe in the upper 60's or low low 70's. My engine was not cold either because I was driving it right before this happened(the engine had 3 bars).

The car is a 2003 with just under 22k miles. Last oil change was on 1/13/06 done by the dealer. I bought the car on 2/20/06, so I assume the car has probably been sitting there most of the time. I do plan on changing the fluids next week when I get all the tools together and the parts I need. Since I bought the car only my dad has driven it, and I was with him so he didn't do anything to it. The problem hasn't happened again, but I was just wondering what the heck was going on?

Any ideas or comments will be appreciated. Could it be a loose wire in the starter button?

Thanks
Joe

 

I wouldn't worry about it. Maybe the car didn't like being stalled

 

Maybe you need a new battery, or it's just low from sitting on the dealer's lot.

 

Check the battery.

 

It happened to me too.
Start - stall - restart, with a warm engine.
But it did start like you said after 5 seconds or so.
5 seconds seems like a long, LONG time when your cranking and waiting for the car to start.

When the engine cranks the starter button works fine IMO.

Maybe stalling gives mixed signals to the ECU/MAP/other sensors and makes it harder to start straight away again?

 

I think anytime you stall the car or something, it has to wait a few seconds to start up again. I see it on the track all the time. Somebody will spin out and their car dies and it won't start up. You have to wait a few seconds after that for it to turn over. I'm sure it's nothing to worry about.

 

You better add oil...

 

Did you turn the ignition off and on again and wait a second before hitting the start button? When you stall the engine (while ignition is still on), fuel pump cuts out in case of fire in a crash. If you don't turn ignition off and on again, the fuel pump will not run until you hit the start button and the fuel system may not be pressurized soon enough. Whenever you turn the ignition on (from off obviously), the fuel pump will run even without the engine running in order to pressurize the fuel system before cranking.

 

Occasionally I've had this problem, but mostly in the colder Northern climates, and it can be due to fuel enrichening at startup. Next time, try holding the accelerator all the way to the floor until the engine starts. We use to call it flooding with carbureted engines.

 

It sounds like you had some type of fuel issue, but the car is most likely fine. It's just something you triggered be stalling it. I've stalled other s2k's and they did the same thing. Crank for 4-5 second before firing.

If you at halfway on the X's, you need a half quart or oil. Put it in, keep it full. Not that running half a quart will hurt it, but it will be LOW (below the first X) very quickly.