Not Olds, but what the hey....

Buddy has a 1980 ish 4 cyl Rabbit which starts like a champ when cold but struggles to start if the engine is already warmed up. So let's say he can start in the morning, drive 20 minutes and shut off....and he can't start it until the engine gets cold again...if he's lucky it will eventually start after several tries...but not always. Mostly he needs to wait until the engine goes cold ...

A mechanic already tried installing a fuel accumulator to limit fuel vaporization when hot...but this hasn't helped any.

Any ideas ? Or if this were an Olds, what would the advice be ?

 

if this is electronic ignition it could have a bad crank sensor. I had a 1988 grand am that had this trouble was a great feeling to have car shut down at 65 miles per hour because the sensor got hot. after 20 min or so car would start and i would get it home.

 

I'll ask him about that...but I must have been unclear...the car doesn't shut off once it warms up...when he shuts it off because he's gotten where he intended, then he can't restart it until the engine cools down...like 30 minutes or so after he shut it off.

 

CIS mechanical fuel injection. Very interesting and pretty much bullet proof system.

If the mechanical temp. sensor is bad, it might be making the mixture too rich, or otherwise messing it up, when warm.

A bad electronic ignition sensor (or coil) could be sending out a marginal spark when warm and running, but when cranking (with battery voltage pulled down by starter) not enough to jump the gap.

- Eric

 

Crank sensor.... I work in a parts store and people tell me that same story all day long.... crank sensor for the win.... maybe about 90 bucks (since it's a V-DUB)

 

Not 100% sure, but I don't think that car has a crank (or cam) sensor.
Just mechanical fuel injection with electronic ignition off the distributor,
and some O2 sensor feedback mixture control IF it's a California car.

- Eric

 

Adding and Olds engine will cure the problem and actually put some fun in the car, too!