430 Cold Start

After the initial start, shut it down immediately, then start it again. I assume that you wait for the ENGINE OK to be displayed on the dash.

I think you are describing a fairly common issue with the 430's.

Let us know if my suggestion worked.

 

When I accidentally (of course it was an accident! ) stalled my 430 stick shift, this would happen. If I restarted it and waited for the check engine light to go off and then give it a nice good drive- let it warm up- watch the oil temp and then run it out. See how that works.

 

My 360 did the same thing and I too missed the sound and feeling of that immediate, high idle (I even remember the delivery driver commenting on it!). For me, a main power reset plus some spirited driving after seems to fix it. Driving it more frequently also seems to keep it from recurring. I'm not sure about the 430, but would give a try.

 

BTW..in the interest of full disclosure, the suggestion is not mine, I read it in a thread posted here, tried it, it worked.

 

Common problem and as indicated in other posts, shutting it down and restarting will solve the problem. I figured that out because mine would occasionally stall on its own and all would be well upon restarting it. I used to think it was the battery as well as it didn't seem to happen if it was on a battery tender, but there are other theories. Do a search if you're interested.

 

You could have a real issue or a non-issue. Time will tell. Lots of good advice here on fchat as always.

Most likely is #0. (base 0 number system)
0. Bad gas. Your pump 93 (or 91 in CA) octane fuel is almost always E10 (10% ethanol). E10 if unused, will go bad in 90 days; it absorbs water from the air readily (hygroscopic) so keep your tank full so there is less air in it, and it will separate in a process called Phase Separation where the upper layer will be gas (ethonol and octaine deficient) and a lower level which is mostly pure ethonol (75%) plus water layer. The pump pulls from the bottom of the tank, so on cold start before fuel is "mixed" from driving, you can get a nasty ethanol+water in your injectors. *ethanol absorbs 50 times more water than non-alcohol based gas!
1. Battery aging. (you have replaced)
2. Aging component:
a. plugs (when was the last plug change?)
b. COPs (coil over packs)
c. Fuel Pumps
d. MAF (failing or just dirty)
e. O2 sensors
3. Check OBD2 for codes, have you seen a CE light?
4. If a restart clears up the issue 90% of the time then you can use this approach until the component completely fails, at which time it will be obvious.
5. There is a chance also that if a restart fixes the issue, you just need a relearn. Make sure you have the radio codes, then shut down the main power for 10min. Then run a full relearn procedure (search torus, its simple, or read manual). I "assume" that during the battery change you effectively did a reset inadvertently.

 

+1 same case here ...

Car does it when its been sitting for a week and/or I keep a soft foot on the gas for a couple of drives.

A spirited 5 minute run gets the horse alive again and it growls when I hit the start button the next time out.

 

Trent what can you do when you put your car "away" for the winter. I usually will let them sit for 6-8 week stints when the weather and roads get bad. I still will actually take them out and drive them (carefully in the cold temps on those nice summer tires to be sure) but its hard to exhaust the entire gas tank worth of fuel. Would one of those fuel stabilizers be advisable?

 

1. Dont try and run it out. Its quite the opposite. Fill it all the way UP! Then there is less air, thus less moisture to absorb.
2. Also you can use a fuel stabilizer (preferably one designed for Ethanol)
3. You can make that extra drive to a non-ethanol station, most areas have a few, hard to find. Make sure you are almost out of gas for this final non-ethanol fill-up.
4. Fire winter! (i.e. move to Florida)

 

Same on 430, I confirm

 

Same on my 360. I have my tech clear computer adaptive values with the sd2 about once per ten months when it starts doing this with very weak startup rather than roar to life. Instant fix (for awhile). Will try turning it right off then back on next time to see if it works as well.

Much more fun to have it roar to life for sure!

 

I just tried turning it off during the weak startup spudder, then back on, but it did not help at all. FWIW, the situation with my 360's statup:

When I bought it in Oct 2011, it started up crisp and strong, an angry roar to life. By Feb, it started getting weak during startup (low rpm, no angry bark at startup) and would have low idle for the first 2-5 seconds before resuming proper idle rpm. If I touch the gas at all during the low idle, the car instantly dies, but then when I start it up again, it always roars to life completly on the second attempt, always (but note when I just tested turning it off with the key during the low startup idle, rather than touching the gas which kills it, starting it back up did the low idle again for 2-3 seconds rather than roaring to life as it does after I kill it by touching the gas). In Feb when i was having my belts done, I had my mechanic use the SD2 to clear the ECU's adaptive values. Following this, he started it and let it idle from cold start to fully warm, did not drive and turned off. Repeated once or twice more after the car fully cooled the next day. That completely fixed the weak start and it was back to roaring to life for the next 6 spring/summer months.

Fast forward to about a a month ago, the car has begun doing the weak startup again. Same exact thing that it idles low for 2-5 seconds before resuming proper idle rpm, and if I touch the gas at all, the car dies, but on restart it roars to life. I'm planning to have my mechanic use the SD2 to clear the adaptive values again to fix this again when the car is in for a annual fluids change in a couple months. Not really a big deal to fix or live with, but it definately is a common one among both 360's and f430's and I'm a bit curious why it's so common? I assume it has something to do with the high compression rating these engines have.

ETA: The car otherwise runs perfect, and I think this is just the isolated, fairly common weak startup that 360's and F430's can develope. FWIW, I've driven my car as much as possible, perhaps 3.8k miles over 10 months, and usually at least once or twice a week.

 

Thanks Trent. I didn't say that very well. What I meant is running the fuel pretty much out so I could refill with fresh fuel to put away. In my area I've yet to see a non-ethanol gas station. They all have it.

I like your other ideas especially the one about firing winter. I might have to take that one to heart.