I have a 2000 s70 glt-se with 115,000 miles. At a cold start, the engine takes a while to start up & then takes about 10-15 seconds to smooth out & idle. Sometimes it takes a few tries to even get it started. Check engine light is on with code p1171. Any help would be appreciated.

 

no one?

 

Code P1171 is "Long term fuel trim- upper limit." This means, essentially, that the oxygen sensor is reporting that the engine is running lean, and the computer has adjusted how much fuel it's injecting to its upper limit. Lean operating conditions would definitely cause hard starting. What this could be is: 1. a vacuum leak- if there's a vacuum hose disconnected or cracked, or a hole somewhere in the air intake between the mass air flow sensor (MAF sensor) and the throttle body, or (sometimes) a bad Evap canister purge valve, air is getting in that the car's computer doesn't know about, and causing it to run lean. Another possibility is that the oxygen sensor (the front one) is failing and sending erroneous data to the ECM. And another possibility is that the MAF is sending erroneous data. So... here's how I'd proceed: do a thorough check under the hood for cracked/ disconnected vacuum lines. If you see one, fix it, and see what happens. Next, with the engine running, take a spray can of brake cleaner or MAF cleaner, or other such solvent, and carefully spray around the intake manifold, and listen for the engine to change in speed. If it changes, you just found a vacuum leak. If this doesn't show anything, clean the MAF with MAF cleaner, available at any auto parts store. No improvement? Change the front oxygen sensor- this ought to be done as routine maintenance every 100,000 miles or so anyway. Still no change? Check the evap canister purge valve- disconnect it from the vacuum line to the engine, and plug that hose, then see if the engine starts easier. If so, test the valve by applying vacuum to it from where it connects to the engine, with the key turned off, and see if it holds vacuum. If it doesn't, change it- it's not that expensive, I think it's around $20 at FCPgroton. The final suggestion is that the MAF could be bad- this is a common problem, but a somewhat expensive part. Anyhow, good luck! One final note: the code won't go away unless it's cleared, so you should have the code cleared after each troubleshooting step... however, since you're having trouble starting the car, you can probably wait until you figure out the problem (i.e, the hard starting disappears) before having the code cleared.