Hard starting

[loosenut]

My wifes 07 sx4 5 sp awd unit with 60k km or 40 k miles on it cranks for 4 or 5 second before firing. This is more pronounced when cold. Where would I look first? Its paid for now, that explains why it is giving me grief

[TheShadowFL]

Well, of course, the first thing to check is the battery and the battery cable connections. If you have a voltmeter check the voltage on the battery while you're cranking the engine. The voltage should not drop below 10v.

There have been many threads opened on the topic of hard starting SX4's.
Suzuki came out with a reflash of the computer ROM chip to combat the problem. But, if the car has been starting OK since new and is just now having a problem, I'd go right back to the Battery.

Here's a great replacement battery for the SX4. It's what the dealer put in my own SX4 when it was still new.


Good Luck!
Shadow

[loosenut]

Have not had the reflash....thanks and will do a volt test and clean up those connections

[barfer]

thats suzuki for you woops wrong thread

[TheShadowFL]

Starting problems are not exclusive to Suzuki.
The same things that bug the SX4, can bug other cars as well.

Probably the most common is corroded battery terminals, then you have batteries suffering from lack of maintenance and low on water.
Of course when a Maintenance Free battery gets low on water, it's effectively dead. While a full maintenance battery can be refilled with distilled water and recharged and will be almost as good as new.

[barfer]

jist do what shadow sed and you should be cool haha right?

[theforsa]

this may be secondary to other issues re:starting but I have found that if you wait maybe 5 sec from when you turn the key from on position to start position the engine fires up easier. Something to do with giving the car more time to pressurise the fuel system ??? (usually when it's been sitting for a while)

[LMP]

Originally Posted by theforsa

... Something to do with giving the car more time to pressurise the fuel system ....

..because of something like an injector blocked opened..however surprising given your low mileage, and this would possibly show as increased fuel burn. If possible, a fuel pressure test would reveal this issue..that is, the pressure should keep after the engine is turned off. I have not checked where and if the fuel pressure port is easily reachable.

In other cars, there is a dual electrical feed to the fuel pump : one through a relay controlled by the ECU at KEY ON, the other as a backup trigged by an oil pressure switch...in case the relay fails, it takes some time for the oil pressure to build up on starting and feed the fuel pump. But again, I have not verified that option for the SX4.