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Starting after stalling...

1971 Views 17 Replies 16 Participants Last post by  WopOnTour
I was teaching my girlfriend how to drive stick today and I noticed that after she stalls the car it's a little hard to start. I was wondering if that's all normal or would one of the ECU updates help?

Thanks...
Bob
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Good luck with the lessons. I'm not looking forward to teaching my wife on my car. I've noticed the same thing & am also curious. Maybe we need a good high-torque starter.
The Car temporarily shuts off the fuel pump after stalling, something about protecting the catylitic converter. So It takes a little for the Fuel pump to start again.
ok....sounds good. Thanks Aeain.
Its kinda tuff on the motor i think its just need alittle break for a second lol. Iv noticed alot of manuals do that. I would say its normal.
I told the dealer about this problem when i talked to the service department the other day. they told me that the engine is runs a little rich, dumping a lot of fuel, which is causing the delay in re-starts after stalling. They said it will take 2 or 3 cranks to start back up. Just don't overcrank the engine, the starter will overheat and the battery will drain.
1) there is no way I teach my woman to drive my car (11 wrecks in 7 months).
2) Every vehicle I've owned has been a stick, they all do that.
3) There is no way my wife will drive my car. Just sit in the seat and look pretty and enjoy the ride.
Yep,it's normal...no worry. I notice it stalls easier and starts harder when I use certain fuels...stick with the "Top Teir" fuels.
Fodwalker said:
1) there is no way I teach my woman to drive my car (11 wrecks in 7 months).
Holy crap thats alot of wrecks....my wife drives a manual car and I let her take mine a couple days a week. But if she had 11 wrecks I wouldn't even let her look at the keys to any car.
I noticed if I stall, which is rarely, I can't restart unless I switch the key to OFF and then back on.

It also took me like two weeks to realize I just had to flip the key to ON, and it would start itself ;) Cool feature. Most new cars like that?
Normal. PCM operates the pump for 3 seconds (prime pulse) when it sees the IGN turned ON, and continuously thereafter for as long as it sees the engine RPM signal from the crank sensor. When the engine stalls the pump stops. If you just crank it without turning OFF the ignition (so it doesnt see an OFF to ON transition) it takes a few revolutions to create and process the RPM signal before the pump is commanded ON. When you cycle the IGN the "prime pulse" is restablished so fuel pressure is immediately available when you start cranking.

HTH
WOT
My car does some BIZARRE stuff after I stall out; Usually it'll feel a little funny. It'll start right up, of course, no problems, but even if I have a full tank of gasoline, it'll set off my low fuel light until I start & stop the thing again.
I think it's your car teaching or telling you to stop stalling her like a NOOB, urban :)

And cool, another old thread brought from the dead. Is this some kind of new member thing to do? I know everyone yells at them or makes them feel stupid about doing it (I'm surprised I'm the first to mention about this one, but it's probably because it's a decent thread to post in). But people also yell at the people that make new threads about already discussed topics. So I guess it's a lose lose situation for them when people notice either way, huh? Just a little obervation, don't mind the rambling....
One time after I stalled my car and restarted it, the power steering stopped working. I thought this was a bit odd, so I turned the engine off for a couple of seconds. When I restarted the motor, the power steering was working fine. It only happened once, so I'm really not that concerned about it. Has this happened to anyone else?
WopOnTour said:
Normal. PCM operates the pump for 3 seconds (prime pulse) when it sees the IGN turned ON, and continuously thereafter for as long as it sees the engine RPM signal from the crank sensor. When the engine stalls the pump stops. If you just crank it without turning OFF the ignition (so it doesnt see an OFF to ON transition) it takes a few revolutions to create and process the RPM signal before the pump is commanded ON. When you cycle the IGN the "prime pulse" is restablished so fuel pressure is immediately available when you start cranking.

HTH
WOT
Sorry, but I couldn't resist following up on this. When I called the extended crank after start an undocumented quirk in another post http://www.redlineforums.com/forums/35297-post17.html you claimed the pump was always on when cranking and nothing was "undocumented". I don't think you'll find that in the owners manual.

I stand by my earlier comment. The software in this car is way too complex to be considered intuitive. This level of complexity calls for more detailed feedback (text screen with menus) or a better operators manual. We have hundreds of posts from knowledgeable car guys who are frustrated by all sorts of strange behavior. The average person would certainly not expect to have to turn the key off for the car to start normally after stalling. I bought a service manual for the schematics, but it was worth it for the operational descriptions alone. FWIW, I used to design and code software to launch rockets. If operating a rocket was as unpredictable as a Redline, the government would have shut us down.
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you must completly turn off the car (turn the key to be able to remove it) and you'll be ok!
jpapa said:
I think it's your car teaching or telling you to stop stalling her like a NOOB, urban :)

And cool, another old thread brought from the dead. Is this some kind of new member thing to do? I know everyone yells at them or makes them feel stupid about doing it (I'm surprised I'm the first to mention about this one, but it's probably because it's a decent thread to post in). But people also yell at the people that make new threads about already discussed topics. So I guess it's a lose lose situation for them when people notice either way, huh? Just a little obervation, don't mind the rambling....
I still blame it on the BB system and not the noobs. The whole 'related thread' thing. They're used to boards where people scream at them about already discussed topics. So they see 'oh so this is related to what I want to ask', so they post in that. Can't say I blame 'em, I've almost posted in the dead threads, but then I see the date and I'm like oh... nevermind
CarNut said:
Sorry, but I couldn't resist following up on this. When I called the extended crank after start an undocumented quirk in another post http://www.redlineforums.com/forums/35297-post17.html you claimed the pump was always on when cranking and nothing was "undocumented". I don't think you'll find that in the owners manual.
.
Sorry Nut, You may have misinterpreted what I was saying in the other thread. What I was getting at was that this behavior is not some sort of "software quirk" in the Redline. The Redline fuel pump doesnt really work any differently than any other GM has for a great many years.It stems from a SAFETY FEATURE that automatically shuts off the fuel pump when the ECM/PCM "sees" the engine stop running.

So you see the pump IS always ON when you are cranking.But if it hasnt seen an OFF to ON transition, there will be NO 3-second "prime pulse" (unlike when you go to start you car from and IGN OFF state) therefore the pump isnt already running when you start to crank-
UNDER THESE CONDITIONS THE FUEL PUMP WONT START RUNNING UNTIL IT "SEES" A CRANK INPUT FROM THE BCM AND THE ENGINE RPM SIGNAL FROM THE IGNITION

So if you STALL it and just start cranking after a stall- there can be a short delay before proper fuel pressure will exist in the fuel rail. Like I said, this isnt a real departure from the way ALL GM products have worked for a great many years, and it's operation is well documented in the various FSM resources.

The owners manuals is merely a simplified guide for owners operating the car, hence it has no need to get into the intricate details of system function.
There are other resources for that, for those so inclined...

WopOnTour
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