Car dies on start up after it gets warm

[LewZur]

Maybe someone can tell me what the hells up with this, but sometimes, not always, when my car is warm, usually after I've driven long distances, it dies when I restart it. It never does it cold, and never throws a code. When it dies I have to rev it to about 5k for a few seconds and it sounds almost as if it backfires, not quite a backfire mind you, after that it idles fine. What the hell???

[Dr_Snooz]

Are you throwing any codes? I'd suspect the ECT.

[LewZur]

no never throws a code.

[w261w261]

Maybe it's a fuel problem of some kind. If it sounds like an "almost backfire," a backfire in the intake is caused by an overly-lean mixture. If you were starving for fuel, when it first caught you might get that kind of noise. If it were the old days of carbs and fuel pumps in the engine compartment pulling fuel under negative pressure from the tank, I'd think you could be getting some vapor lock. This isn't so common with high-pressure fuel systems with the pump in the tank. Still, maybe you have a weak pump or a small pressure leak, and after the car sits hot you get vapor in the fuel line instead of liquid. After cranking for awhile, the pump fully pressurizes, but there's still some "bubbles" left, which might need to be digested before the car runs well. Hence, the sort-of-backfire.

If there's a way to measure the fuel pressure after it's been sitting while hot, that's where I'd start.

[2oodoor]

Ive been seeing and hearing about a lot of random fuel related problems the past month.
For many of these I suspect it could the the weather changes and the seasonal fuel blends not quite synched. The fuel distrubution hubs do things to the gas throughout the year for various reasons. Lots of rain, flooding and winter storms too so water contamination is in there too and with water comes alcohol blends to help it mix in. .

[1987AccordLx-i]

Maybe it's a fuel problem of some kind. If it sounds like an "almost backfire," a backfire in the intake is caused by an overly-lean mixture. If you were starving for fuel, when it first caught you might get that kind of noise. If it were the old days of carbs and fuel pumps in the engine compartment pulling fuel under negative pressure from the tank, I'd think you could be getting some vapor lock. This isn't so common with high-pressure fuel systems with the pump in the tank. Still, maybe you have a weak pump or a small pressure leak, and after the car sits hot you get vapor in the fuel line instead of liquid. After cranking for awhile, the pump fully pressurizes, but there's still some "bubbles" left, which might need to be digested before the car runs well. Hence, the sort-of-backfire.

If there's a way to measure the fuel pressure after it's been sitting while hot, that's where I'd start.

i second this