My car is taking to long to turn on

ANONYMOUS

MEMBER
2002 LINCOLN LS
140,000 MILES

My car is taking to long to turn on. The car starts but takes about 3 to 4 seconds for the engine to actually turn over. I took it to the shop and it was said to have a defect in the fuel pump and the mechanic said that I will need a fuel pump module. I know that the fuel pump module comes with with a sender that tells you how much gas you have but the thing is that all of my gauges are working and I know exactly how much fuel I have. I just believe that I need the fuel filter changed and a new fuel pump. Please help I am a college student and I really need this problem taken care of!

1 Reply

CARADIODOC

MECHANIC
33,723 POSTS

If money is tight as it was for me, you do not have a serious problem. If you can't be bothered to take a few seconds to for the engine to start, don't waste your money on a pump. A leaking fuel injector is a lot more common.

To clear up some confusion, the only thing the sending unit for the fuel gauge has in common with the pump is that they're bolted to the same assembly. Just because the gas gauge works, that has nothing to do with whether the pump works or not or whether the check valve leaks and lets the fuel pressure bleed down overnight.

Also, when you say it takes a long time to turn over, I suspect you mean it takes a long time to start. It should be turning over, (cranking), the instant you turn the ignition switch.

I've been living with a long crank time on my Grand Caravan for over 15 years and I have no intention on trying to fix it. It's still running fine after 401,000 miles. The problem is worse when restarting a warm engine, and almost nonexistent when it's cold. What I'm not doing a good job of saying is the problem you're having is very common and not worth worrying about.