First off, i'm not a native speaker of English, excuse me for any wrong (technical) terms I might be using. I bought my 850 GLT (not a turbo) of '95 in December. It has since slowly developed starting problems. The symptom being that the engine does not start immediately but requires an increasing number of turns from the starter motor. When it picks up, at first it tends to run on not all cylinders, but at first this only took a couple of seconds, now up to 20 seconds. It sounds as if the fuel mixture is either too rich or too lean. After this short period, it runs smooth and with no issues.

Initially, this occurred only at a cold start, but now also on a warm start.
I replaced the spark plugs just after I bought it, but that did not make a difference.

Now I have read out the diagnostic codes from socket A2. They are here with the explanation I found in the forums and the Haynes manual:

4-3-3 Rear knock sensor signal (don't know what causes this)
1-2-3 ECT signal (coolant temp sensor)
1-2-1 MAF sensor signal (mass airflow meter)
4-3-6 Rear HO2S compensation (I assume caused by the bad fuel mixture)
5-4-3 Misfire at least one cylinder
4-5-3 Misfire cylinder 3

I have reset the codes, but did not yet start the engine again.

Further, there is no signal on the A6 diagnostic socket. The LED does not light up, nothing, whatever I press the button, long or short. I have not checked yet with a volt or ohm meter (I have none).

It seems to me that the fuel pump is running OK (I can hear it) and as I said, once it runs there are no further issues. But there is an intermittent fuel smell when driving, and based on what I found on this forum, I will have to check the fuel pressure regulator. In one post I found that fuel may be leaking from the regulator into a vacuum hose, which would explain the fuel smell. There is no visible leak (I already dropped the tank and checked all fuel lines).

My plan is to check and clean the electrical wiring on the ECT and MAF sensor, and clean the MAF sensor with MAF cleaner.
Thanks ahead of time for any thoughts or advice on this issue.

 

You mentioned you replaced the plugs but didn't mention anything else. Are you mechanically inclined? Do you know how to diagnose engine misfire issues? Does it billow black smoke once it starts?

The reference you made to the fuel pressure regulator (fpr) makes me think you misunderstood the issue. There is a vacuum line connected to the fpr; the diaphram inside the fpr can sometimes fail causing fuel to be sucked into the engine, enrichening the mixture. Pull the vacuum line off at the fpr and see if it's wet with fuel. No fuel should come out of the vacuum line nipple on the fpr. If it does, replace the fpr.

If that's not your issue, then you have to do some diagnosing. If that's outside your range of skills then I recommend you find a competent indy tech to look at it.

If that's not possible, and you like to get your hands dirty, start off with above and report back here; lots of folks who can help.

Have fun!

 

Here is an update on this issue, after I cleared the codes and dis- and reconnected the MAF sensor connector, it starts fine again when warm and reasonably good (as before) when cold. And the codes have not yet returned after a test drive. I expect something to show up though, as the c.e.l. is still on.

Thanks gdog you for the clear explanation of the fuel pressure regulator, that was what I was referring to but failed to make clear. B.t.w. no black smoke, or I would have mentioned it.

Mechanically inclined yes, I would say my hands have been sufficiently dirty after replacing both front control arms. But the cross shaped mounting nuts of the struts have bitten me, when I tried to replace the spring seats and strut mounts. I need a tool to get hold on the cross shaped nut, I could not break it loose. Any ideas?

After dropping the tank I found that the fuel lines on top of it are in good shape. The roll over valve in the evap line was hanging at just one end of fuel hose though. I will have to replace that piece of the evap line, for the time I just plugged it to get rid of the fuel vapors.
It's a nice car for its age.

 

Sure sounds like a bad MAF to me...

Assume you're referring to the cross nut which is under the strut mount lock nut? You should be able to unthread that by hand once the lock nut is off. Tell me you do have the spring compressed when you're doing this please!