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Grand Prix stalling right after starting

Tiny
J.STIEG
  • MEMBER
  • 2004 PONTIAC GRAND PRIX
  • 180,000 MILES
Car stalls right after starting. All most all of the time I have to keep my foot on the gas while starting. It has a gear driven throttle body.
Any ideas on what it causing that?
2004 grand prix 3.8l
Wednesday, December 21st, 2011 AT 7:57 PM

9 Replies

Tiny
SATURNTECH9
  • MECHANIC
  • 30,870 POSTS
Do you have any codes?Thats where we need to start. Also is there any smoke from the exhaust while you have trouble starting it?How does it run other then having to give it gas to start the engine?
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Wednesday, December 21st, 2011 AT 8:35 PM
Tiny
J.STIEG
  • MEMBER
  • 352 POSTS
It runs good, there are no codes. It seems like the lights are a little dim the first three seconds. Then after that everything is fine.
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Thursday, December 22nd, 2011 AT 12:13 AM
Tiny
SATURNTECH9
  • MECHANIC
  • 30,870 POSTS
You need to make sure the battery cables are clean and tight also have the battery tested and alternator tested. Since you mentioned the slow crank. Have you also checked the coolant temp sensor?
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Thursday, December 22nd, 2011 AT 6:23 AM
Tiny
WRENCHTECH
  • MECHANIC
  • 20,757 POSTS
Quick question.
Do you have a security light/message on or flashing when this happens?
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Thursday, December 22nd, 2011 AT 11:06 AM
Tiny
J.STIEG
  • MEMBER
  • 352 POSTS
Its not security cutting off injectors. Cranking seems normal. I will test both the alternator and the battery. How would the ETC cause this problem? Let me know and I will check. Thanks
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Thursday, December 22nd, 2011 AT 4:09 PM
Tiny
J.STIEG
  • MEMBER
  • 352 POSTS
Also it feels like the starter is cutting out to soon with the key held to the right.
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Thursday, December 22nd, 2011 AT 7:00 PM
Tiny
SATURNTECH9
  • MECHANIC
  • 30,870 POSTS
If the coolant temp sensor is miss reading the temp it cause difficult starts because it can give the engine too little or too much fuel. Have the battery and alternator tested also make sure the battery cables are clean and tight. Do you have a multimeter to do some testing?
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Thursday, December 22nd, 2011 AT 10:29 PM
Tiny
J.STIEG
  • MEMBER
  • 352 POSTS
I cleaned the soot out of the throttle body and it idles good now and rpm is not so low like before.

Now the problem is the starter itself is kicking out to soon even though the key is turned all of the way to right and held.
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Friday, December 23rd, 2011 AT 3:08 PM
Tiny
SATURNTECH9
  • MECHANIC
  • 30,870 POSTS
Alright do you have a multimeter to do some testing?Did you ever make sure the battery cables are clean and tight?Have the battery tested along with the alternator?
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Friday, December 23rd, 2011 AT 8:51 PM

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