RE: Reluctant Cold Starters

[Paul Bowman <PTBowman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Paul:

Thanks for the effort you put into trying to help others with their
hard-starting V-6s (I happen to have one myself now -- I hope this isn't =
an
epidemic).

A couple of quibbles.  Although your experiences have led you to conclude=

that cranking the engine too long invariably leads to flooding, in theory=

that shouldn't happen.  The thermotime switch is designed to prevent that=

from happening.  Your statement "COLD-START VALVE: FIRES EVERY TIME YOU
TURN THE KEY TO THE START POSITION" is incorrect in that the thermotime
switch de-energizes the valve after a few seconds depending on ambient
temperature. The highly regarded "Bosch Fuel Injection and Engine
Management" by Charles Probst (every Alfa enthusiast should have one)
covers that in Chapter 3.  =


You also stated that the main injectors don't come on until engine is
running.  This isn't correct either. Probst's book specifically covers th=
at
also in the same section.  When the engine is cold, the computer lengthen=
s
the pulses to the injectors during starting.  Probst comments that during=

repeated attempts to start,  there is an algorithm to reduce the pulses t=
o
prevent flooding. As an aside, I imagine the car would be quite difficult=

to start with just the fuel coming from the cold-start valve.

Regards,
Paul Bowman (has been 10-30 deg last 4 days here)
'86 Spider Veloce (cold starts no problem)
'88 Milano Verde (trying to isolate problem)

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