mikegarrison

What's a "vtec controller"? If it involves messing with the engine control logic, that sounds suspicious.

You could be having a vapor lock type problem, or you could have some sort of electrical connection that is not connected very well, and thermal expansion is enough to make it disconnect.

sahtt

His mods, including the sc, are most likely not going to have anything to do with it.

Typically when a car doesn't start hot, but does cold, and runs fine when it IS started regardless of temperature, either wiring is touching the block causing a short when it's hot or a part of the fuel system is weak. This could be a failing part, such as a fuel pump, but unless you car is a 00 with over 100k I would doubt it. I'd start by making sure no electrical connections are touching anything that would be warm.

If that doesn't help. Check spark which is self-explanatory. If spark is fine [this is when the car refuses to start and the starter just 'cranks'], put a fuel pressure gauge inbetween each part starting at the fuel pump. As soon as you see fuel pressure too low, the part behind it is most likely responsible.

In all reality, it is probably something stupid and minor.

mikegarrison

That sounds like excellent troubleshooting advice.

My CRX has this same problem, by the way. Runs fine when running, starts when hot, starts when cold, but occasionally doesn't start after the car has been hot and then sits for five-ten minutes. Waiting five-ten minutes more is enough to let it start again.

However, I'm selling that puppy, so I'm not too worried about fixing it. I told the buyer about the issue, so my conscience is clear.

sahtt

In your case Mr. mikegarrison, I'd put $20 that it is indeed your fuel pump. I own a LS400 with 130k, and its fuel pump was just replaced because of symptoms like yours that kept getting worse. Throughout the process, I had to do a LOT of diagnosing and troubleshooting on the topic.

xviper

I believe this would be something like a VAFC - yet another mod that should have been listed right from the beginning. It is this sort of withholding of information that no longer compells me to help a lot of people these days. We beat posts back and forth for page after page, then to discover a mod that the OP "thought" was of no consequence.
Both the Comptech ESM and VAFC infiltrate circuits to the ECU. Like Mike said, thermal expansion of bad electrical connections can cause these sorts of issues. Many Comptech owners have described situations where the car would run fine for long periods of time, then suddenly for no apparent reason, it would run like crap. Most of these resulted in bad wiring connections. Once these connections were all soldered, the problems ceased. This is also applicable to the VAFC device.
Since the OP has indicated confidence in the air filter, fuel pump, plugs and other common maintenance items, it is time to investigate these wiring connections for both the ESM and the VAFC.

mikegarrison

Hmm. Well, I told the buyer about it. If he buys it anyway, that's his lookout.

It will probably be cheaper for him to buy the CRX and fix the fuel pump than it would be to keep driving his Landcruiser around anyway....