E30 difficult to start. Normal?

[MisSTrouble]

My '16 FiST is tuned for E30, and if it's warmed up and I turn the car off, then come back 30 min to an hour later, it just wants to crank and crank but not start. It always eventually does, but it's bad enough that sometimes I worry if it'll start at all. Cold starts are not an issue at all, as it starts right up. Regular 93 octane on my 93 map starts right up, hot or cold. Is this a normal thing?

 

[BronxBomber]

What you're describing is excessive. I have a bit of a delayed crank when running E blends, but not more than 1 or 2 seconds. On the rare occasion it may take 3 seconds of cranking b4 it starts. How often do you run e-30? Once I've been running regular 93 then switch back to E-30 it's usually ok. It's when I've been running e-30 for an extended period ( around a month) exclusively is when I get the difficulty starting.

 

[MisSTrouble]

What you're describing is excessive. I have a bit of a delayed crank when running E blends, but not more than 1 or 2 seconds. On the rare occasion it may take 3 seconds of cranking b4 it starts. How often do you run e-30? Once I've been running regular 93 then switch back to E-30 it's usually ok. It's when I've been running e-30 for an extended period ( around a month) exclusively is when I get the difficulty starting.

Ok, that may be my issue, as I've run E30 almost exclusively for months. I'm badly addicted to it! It is excessive, as I can crank and crank and it won't fire. Cranking in short 5 second bursts seems to eventually get it to start. Maybe I should run a tank of 93 and see if it helps.

 

[Hijinx]

Do you have colder spark plugs?

 

[MisSTrouble]

Do you have colder spark plugs?

Yes. Denso ITV22's.

 

[Sekred]

^^^^^^, What Hijinx said. What plugs are you running and whats the gap set at?.

 

[Hijinx]

Yes. Denso ITV22's.

Issues have been noted with hot starting with these plugs. I run them too and have the issue. But that's only part of the problem. I would consult your tuner to ensure you've got the right parameters for start up if the issue is as severe as I'm imagining it.

 

[MisSTrouble]

^^^^^^, What Hijinx said. What plugs are you running and whats the gap set at?.

Denso's. Gap at 0.025, and they're about 10,000 miles old.

 

[Erbarry]

This could also be tune related. When I switched over to E85 on my Evo if I had to put gas and start up again (hot start) it would take a few cranks to do so. Others that live in colder areas had the same problems with cold starts but it doesn't get that cold here in SoCal so I never experienced that. I had to play around with the cranking enrichment table to fix this, I'm sure theres something in there that should fix this.

 

[MisSTrouble]

Issues have been noted with hot starting with these plugs. I run them too and have the issue. But that's only part of the problem. I would consult your tuner to ensure you've got the right parameters for start up if the issue is as severe as I'm imagining it.

Thanks Hijinx! I'll fire off an email to him and see if there's anything he can do about it, as it's really that bad sometimes. I expect some longer cranking times, but nothing like this.

 

[Hijinx]

Denso's. Gap at 0.025, and they're about 10,000 miles old.

Get new ones... Unless you've checked the gap recently, they're probably sitting close to .030 now.

This could also be tune related. When I switched over to E85 on my Evo if I had to put gas and start up again (hot start) it would take a few cranks to do so. Others that live in colder areas had the same problems with cold starts but it doesn't get that cold here in SoCal so I never experienced that. I had to play around with the cranking enrichment table to fix this, I'm sure theres something in there that should fix this.

Also, this.

 

[Hijinx]

*double post*

 

[MisSTrouble]

I'll pop for a new set, as these do have some miles on them, but this was an issue even when they were new. It's just gotten worse over time. But I'm still gonna hit my tuner up, as he should be able to tune some of it out.

 

[OffTheWall503]

I've got the ITV22 plugs from Tune+ and also run E30 and have the same "issue." But it's completely normal with these plugs during hot starts. Every once in awhile a cold start will crank once or twice more than usual but it's almost always instant when cold starting.

Get new ones... Unless you've checked the gap recently, they're probably sitting close to .030 now.

That reminds me, while I'm here. I was going to change these plugs every 10,000 miles, does that seem right?