starting issues

[roy13]

i have an 01 aurora with the 4.0. recently purchased and love the car. well, recently it started to act real funny when i went to start it. after a few weeks it wont start without me pushing on the pedal a bit. or having to hit it a few times. i recently changed the plugs so i checked them and their fine. fuel pump is good and i replaced the fuel filter. k&n intake is good. everything that i have replaced checks out. so i had a diagnostics ran, came back bank 2 02 sensor. replaced it, reset the cpu,  and it still has trouble staying started. what i mean by this is that when i hit the key she turns over but wont idle. unless im giving it gas. i hate to start her this way, i know its hard on her. but, its the only car we have right now. so it has to be driven. that being said when it does get going it runs like a dream. im loving this car, refuse to let it go. i don't want to put it int the shop either as i like to wrench my own ride. anyhow, had a second diag. ran on it. now it say that its the same 02 sensor that i just replaced and some sort of AIR PUMP that has to do with smog control. im not sure where this is located, or if this is actually the real problem. but who ever owned it b4 me cut the check engine light, so who knows how long these things have been going out. im hoping that some one can give me an idea of where to look for this pump at. or what to try next to single out the issue. im already in love with this car. so im not going to let it go very easily. hopefully this issue is simple and if its just this air pump, can it be cleaned instead or replaced. if that's the real problem. any help would be greatly appreciated. thank you for taking the time to read my long post. but im running out of ideas seeing as how im getting plenty of fuel and fire. once again thank you for your time. roy13.

[Paulaurora]

I am not sure what can cause the issue about starting maybe cam or crank sensors or starter. but here the information about Air pump it.

aurorah.proboards.com/thread/27638/replacing-air-pump-po410
aurorah.proboards.com/thread/5507/trouble-shoot-secondary-air-system

[roy13]

thank you paul. that was a big help. now that i know where to look, i can try taking it apart and cleaning it. hopefully i can do just that. if not im sure a salvaged part will work for a time. the starter is good, and so are the crank and cam sensors. i had them checked out on the diagnostics. she will kick over. it just dies after it turns over to idle, as if its not getting fuel. from what i have tried to gather this air pump going bad can possibly cause this. like i said in the first post its getting fuel and fire. but it has trouble getting going when started. sometimes it even dies when i come to a complete stop. plus my gas mileage has dropped a bit. so it has been a concern. i have the same one in your pic, year,color, all that. beautiful car by the way. i haven't put those h.i.d. lights in, that you have. they look nice. im gonna have to do that soon to mine. anyhow, the car is in great shape other than this issue when starting. she will start if i push on the pedal a bit. but starting her that way is very hard on the motor, as the oil is all in the pan on starting and revving it up like that on the start is not healthy. it scares me that it will through a rod or worse doing this all the time. i feel in love with the car from day one, and i don't want to lose her. hopefully with the info you have given me i can try to fix it. thanks again for your help paul. i really appreciate it.

[Randy T.]

Your fuel pump may be dying, check the pressure on the fuel rail.

[roy13]

that's what i put in my first post randy. that was my first thought too. i have checked all the usual suspects. its getting fuel, its getting fire, its breathing. i just don't know if this air pump is the only problem. i was hoping that someone else has experienced this with that being the problem. the pump cost around $250. so tomorrow im going to get one from the salvage yard. if it works then im hoping that this post will give someone else an idea on where to look if they come across the same thing. all i really want to know is if the pump will do this. the diagnostics i had ran on it came out that the air pump and 02 sensor was bad. changed the sensor and still have the problem. i see why someone would say fuel pump or filter. but they check out and are working fine. its strange to me. ive never ran across an air pump. so im just not sure that there is a correlation between the two. in all honesty im not sure that it would even do this to the vehicle. that's why im turning to guys who have owned one longer than me. anyhow, the fuel pump was first on the list of things to check. but its good. thanks for the help though. i appreciate it. hopefully i will be posting that the matter was resolved tomorrow. if the salvaged one fix's the problem, then i will invest in a new one. if not.....well then i just don't know where else to look. unless someone else has an idea of what it may be. cars these days have way too much computerized stuff on them. makes it so hard to narrow down what may just be a simple problem. no fuses, or bad relays either by the way. all seems well but this pump. keeping my fingers crossed that that's all it is. thanks guys!!!!  

[Randy T.]

They are a pain in the butt sometimes. Did you check the fuel pressure? Sometimes the fuel pump will still work, but not have enough psi at the rail. I have had a dying fuel pump that would make my Aurora hard to start, once I got it running, it would be ok.

I know those air pumps are not cheap, and used good ones are sometimes hard to find, you can rebuild them, there is a link in the 2nd gen mechanical how to section. If it was me, I would probably get a new one, rockauto.com is one of my favorites.

[Paulaurora]

Air pump will not stop ur car from starting its only for emission. And yes you need to get new one with updated it design the used one will dies soon with old Design .

[roy13]

randy, i checked it the way you suggested, and it still seems to be in order. but, i spoke to a mechanic friend of mine last night. he said that because the pump is designed to regulate e.g.r. it may be very possible that it is causing the problem. because it is tripping the 02 sensor and reading that the air flow designated in the bank is so far off it is running too rich or too lean. so, the entire issue is stemming from the fact that the brain dead individual who owned it b4 me cut the check engine light, the pump has been going out for god knows how long. so with the amount of fluid build up in the pump and it not circulating correctly. its not telling the cpu to run the fuel all messed up, causing the engine to be feed entire too much fuel upon start. which is why it runs fine after i force it to run. im gonna try to rebuild the pump first. if that wont work, depending on how much water i can get out of it, then i have found a used on off a wrecked car that is in near new shape, for a hundo. that will hopefully suffice til i can buy a new one. i will post if the rebuild works or if i try the way you mentioned. thanks again guys for all the help. yall rock.

[sssaurora]

i hve a 01 3.5 with this issue. it does this randomly. last i had it checked i was told its the crank sensor. havnt had it changed yet..

[canaboy]

Air pump has nothing to do with starting.

1) make sure your throttle housing / MAF sensor is fully serviced, not just stick a rag inside the throttle bore and wipe.

2) Could be carbon build up on intake valve , caused by bad valve stem seals. The carbon build up will absorb fuel spray at the first start up especially first start cold.

Some engine top end cleaner might help. I heard about something called Seafoam ??

Could also be head gasket leaking coolant into the cylinder. In this case, I think you might be able to see something when you pull your plugs cold ?

Good luck

[cane87]

I am having this same problem.  Is there any chance at all it's the starter?  To be completely clear, once the engine is warm it restarts fine and runs perfectly.  On Saturday, it wasn't doing any of the other things that make it look like an electrical problem; it was classic, pre-electronics "cranks all day but won't turn over."

[Paulaurora]

Starter is most common issue in 3.5s .