metabetanc

I have a 2003 TL with 190k miles. Not every time, but often after I’ve been driving for a bit and need to stop off some place quickly (gas, store), when I get back in and try and start the car again, it idles super low and frequently shuts off; usually takes 3-4 attempts to get her going again. No lights come on.

Ideas?

TIA!

Arkady

What solved that for me was a thorough cleaning of the engine followed by reflowing the solder on the "main relay""fuel pump relay". It's a rather common issue on our cars, a search on this forum for "hot soak issue" or something like that should get you some hits for threads that discussed it at length.

99TL 285k

How did this work out for you?
Im having he same issue with my 99 341k, however i only does it when the weather reaches in the high 50's, once the temperatures pass 70 it stops. Its been doing it for a few seasons now and i cant find what is causing the problem. Today was the first time it gave me codes P0302 and P0303. Can a dirty throttle body / IAC be part of the issue? I clean the throttle body once a year, still mounted on the car. Any suggestions?

Arkady

How's the IACV looking on yours? I clean mine once a year or so, as I remember to do so.

It's been a while since I looked at the old threads, but I do remember there was some talk about how seasonal changes in the gas mixtures could be affecting the issue. I don't recall if that was debunked or not.

For what it's worth, I haven't had the issue any more after reflowing the solder on the main relay.

99TL 285k

Can you elaborate on reflowing the solder on the main relay, is that removing the old solder and resoldering? Thanks

Arkady

I just touched my soldering iron tip to any exposed solder I found until it turned liquid and flowed (or the closest equivalent that solder can pull off), then took the heat off and let it cool down.

99TL 285k

Awesome thanks, I’m going to start with the IAC Throttle body cleaning first and go from there, yesterday the rough hot start caused P0302 and 0303 misfire to come up, I’m hoping the cleaning takes care of the issue. What boggles me is that it only happens in the spring as the weather starts to warm up then it stops when the temp gets to around 70.

Arkady

If you're going through the effort of cleaning, check on your EGR port and clean that out too! It usually throws a different error code when it's the issue, but it's good to check.

99TL 285k

Yes definitely good advice, I did it 70k ago when I replaced the EGR valve, I’m sure it could use a cleaning by now. Thanks for the help.

99TL 285k

So I started with the IAC cleaning just so I can see what is really causing the issue, turns out the IAC was squeaky clean. Next I will remove the upper intake and clean it along with the EGR passage and go from there.

Arkady

Sounds good, keep us posted!