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Forum namePerformance/Engine
Topic subjectStrange Starting Problem...Need Help
Topic URLhttps://forums.2gnt.com/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=i5&topic_id=108524
108524, Strange Starting Problem...Need Help
Posted by silver2geclipse, Apr-28-08 01:41 PM
Ok, I have a 95 Eclipse GS and I keep having a bunch of problems and I am getting tired of of not being able to find solutions, I have searched all through 2gnt, and DSMTuner.com and found people with similar problems but not the exact same, plus it didn’t have answers for them...

My car starts fine when it’s cold, but after it warms up, and you park it for a like 10min, it wont start back up. Know matter how long you try, I am afraid I am wearing my starter out. "This is when it gets strange", it wont start until I pull out the screw driver and push the pressure release valve on the fuel rail; then it will start up no problem? Not even spuder, just strait on. It’s weird? It has had this problem since I bought the car a year and a half ago. The guy I bought it from, showed me the screwdriver trick but said he didn’t know why it worked, but it did.
I took it to a mechanic that specializes in fuel injection, and told him my problem. Of course being a DSM, he never heard of a car doing that, and didn’t believe the screw driver would work =) he was like "No, you are touching a wire or something", haha, well...he believes me now. He said he has never heard of that and would take a look at it anyway.
I got it back a week later and he said he couldn’t find what was causing it, haha he didn’t even charge me for looking at it. All he suggested was puring some B12 berrymans in it. Well 4 bottles later, I didn’t have to use the screw driver anymore but it still struggled. But a few months later it went back to the same old pull the screw driver out thing.
A couple of weeks back the fuel pump went out, plus the gas line, but still the same problem with the new one. The next weekend my fuel rail had a big leak, so I put a new valve stem in it and new O-rings. Still no fix.

The only thing I can come up with is vapor-lock, but the whole carbon canister system works fine, same with the valves. I think it might be getting vapor-lock in the fuel rail tho. It seems to me like the vapor would just get sucked in after a few cranks.

Does anyone have an answer for my problem, or even heard of something like this before?
108597, RE: Strange Starting Problem...Need Help
Posted by silver2geclipse, May-07-08 09:36 AM
^ Add to the list ^

Could a GS run without a fuel pressure regulator?
That could be my problem b/c I cant seem to locate it anywhere...
They swapped engines before I bought it to a 97, it is not at the beginning of the fuel rail...could they have possibly forgot to put it on and it still run, for like a year and a half?
108598, RE: Strange Starting Problem...Need Help
Posted by DytDSM, May-07-08 10:00 AM
Does it have the 95 fuel rail on it or is it a 96+ rail? The 95 should have a return line and on the passenger side a place for a vac line.
108600, RE: Strange Starting Problem...Need Help
Posted by silver2geclipse, May-07-08 10:22 AM
Here are pictures of the passenger side of my fuel rail










The guy that I bought the car from said they swapped engines with a 97 but Idk how much they changed. I don't think they would have swapped the ECU, and I know it still has 95 sensors in it. So I really don't know where to look for one.
That is also the button "Pressure release button" I push, to get the car to start when the engine is hot.
108601, RE: Strange Starting Problem...Need Help
Posted by RoninEclipse2G, May-07-08 11:34 AM
there's the problem right there, that's a 96+ fuel rail in a 95 car. you're getting vapor lock because there's NO pressure regulator to keep the pressure built up preventing the fuel from boiling into vapor. either put a 96+ regulator on back by the tank or put on a 95 fuel rail that has the regulator built in.
108603, RE: Strange Starting Problem...Need Help
Posted by silver2geclipse, May-07-08 12:09 PM
Thank you so much!!
Man not even the fuel injection mechanic couldn't figure it out. That'll be this weekends project, or tomorrow afternoon if the rain lets up.
Man I hope that fixes that b/c it has been driving me crazy since I got the car.
108605, RE: Strange Starting Problem...Need Help
Posted by silver2geclipse, May-07-08 12:17 PM
Will a 95 pressure regulator fit on this fuel rail?
Or would I have to install a 96+ ? If I had to install a 96 + fuel pressure regulator, would I have to run wires for it?
108608, RE: Strange Starting Problem...Need Help
Posted by RoninEclipse2G, May-07-08 12:32 PM
The rails are different, the 95 rail has the FPR sitting where your "pressure release valve" is (it's actually a pressure testing fitting)

I don't know exactly how a 96+ is set up or if the regulator is electronic or not, I just know it's back by the tank. My gut feeling is that changing the rail out for a 95 style will be the easiest/cheapest route.
108609, RE: Strange Starting Problem...Need Help
Posted by silver2geclipse, May-07-08 12:40 PM
Ok, I'll probably end up doing that...I'll keep researching into it the rest of this week and make my decision this weekend. But atleast I finally know what the problem is.
108613, RE: Strange Starting Problem...Need Help
Posted by DytDSM, May-08-08 01:35 AM
I would definitly go ahead and change the fuel rail. Its not hard at all and would be the best soulution to you problem IMO.