Hi there,
I have an 04 (factory warranty expires in 4 days) that in the past 3 weeks started doing a weird thing: I'll go to start it , enginge turning, good rhythm, but won't start.....I ususally let it sit for about 2 minutes, and it'll start right up. Out of 100 starts it'll do it 3 times, maybe on the 3rd time, then on the 48th time and then the 52nd time.....so of course the dealer can't reproduce the problem to fix it....
It seems to be happening with more frequency in the last 10 days or so. Can't really nail it as a cold start problem as it did it the other day after a 15 minute drive on the fwy.
Yesterday it happened right after I stepped on the brake: Started, moved foot to the brake as I was releasing the key from the start and it died....wouldn't start, then started, 2 seconds after starting I touched the throttle and it died, then it took 3 minutes to get it started after that, with a new sound included this time. (a slight rattle with a "something loose" sound added in. (does this help? )
I'm leaning towards a fuel delivery issue only because my first inkling is "Am I out of gas?", that what it sounds/feels like...

I recorded it on my cell phone (video with sound) yesterday so that hopefully they could use it to start somewhere....

Anyone have a similar problem that they have solved? I've got 46K mi on it and have owned it for 6 months.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Jonathan

 

I am thinking an immoblizer problem. I would try to leave it with them till they can figure it out. If they have it in for a problem and the warranty expires they should still cover it.

 

Hi Jonathon, have you checked the camshaft position sensors? I had exactly the same problem as you describe on a Subaru Imprezza, took me three weeks to find it! I got the sensor data specification from the internet, it quoted the test limits to be 800 - 1200 ohms resistance across the sensor coil (the two connector tags) the one I removed had a rseistance of 2400 ohms. I replaced it wth one that had a resistance of 1100 0hms, been running three months now and not missed a beat! I hope this helps.

Jeff