Mike Frye

Hey everyone,

This is NOT a report of trouble with the s300s chips/55psi FPR, but it is a report of a possible issue you may have if you're using this combo.

The issue of flooding came up for me the other day when my battery was starting to go. After the battery died I tried to jump start it but no-go.

Then I let it sit all day and put in a new battery at the end of the day and it still wouldn't start. It would turn over fine and act like it was going to fire, but then nothing and there was a strong smell of gas.

Later on I pushed it into the garage and waited another 1/2 day before I had a chance to start checking things and it still wouldn't start. Again with the strong gas smell. I thought if it had just been flooded initially that it would have cleared out enough after sitting for half a day.

I checked for spark with a timing gun and had spark. I pulled a plug and it was drenched with fuel.

Then I decided to try to actively clear out the fuel. I pulled fuse 42 for the fuel pump and cranked it over. It started almost immediately and then died. I did this three or four more times until it wouldn't start at all and then I put the fuse back in and tried it. It started right up and ran just fine.

So the moral of the story is: If you have the 55psi FPR on your S3 and your car doesn't start right away, you may flood it. If it's flooded, it won't clear itself because it keeps on spraying lots of fuel in there with every crank.

The solution is just to pull the fuel pump fuse and let it run all that gas out of there before trying it again.

Mrmerlin

I had this happen on a 86 as well, once the plugs were cleared out it ran fine,
trick is to not start the car then let it run for less than 5 mins IE to move it out of the garage.

Make sure the battery is good ,
holding the pedal to the floor while cranking will also work if the battery is good

jbrob007

Havent had this happen to me yet... Is the 87 FPR @ 55 psi...??? Regardless, I'll keep this in mind!

Thanks guys!

Joel

Mike Frye

Stan,

I tried the pedal to the floor thing. No help for me.

Yup, the '87 FPR is 55psi.

Imo000

That's because you've passed the point of no return. The engine was too flooded for the WOT trick to work. Next time when you leave the car to "dry out" over night, wedge the throttle open. It will help air out the cylinders that have open intake valves.

danglerb

Maybe pull the fuel pump fuse and give it a crank or two with the throttle open. Can't be good to leave gas in the cylinders.

Mike Frye

Yup. Just wanted to put this out there for the rest of the Porkenized.
Yeah, I wasn't even thinking in these terms when it first happened or else it wouldn't have happened this way. As is often the case, I was the weakest link in the starting procedure.

the flyin' scotsman

Its a quesion of the engine wanting the correct components to run and if one fails it causes many downstream events; this thread is a weak battery not spinning the engine fast enough to start but injecting fuel with the failed start attempts.

flooded engines could allow fuel into the oil and into the exhaust system; not good.

17prospective buyer

Good point Scotsman, all car subsystems are interrelated in some way or another. Also, an engine that is started only once in a while and not truly driven (like mine) can develop bad compression and even increased wear. When an engine is brought up to it's static operating temp (or an average thereof, lets say 250F), the temperature of the oil and surrounding components (crankcase, crank throws/counterweights, oil pan) begins to boil off contaminants such as gasoline which may be in the oil due to a rich cold startup and lack of initial lubrication to piston rings/oil control rings. Those gasses (which generate positive pressure) are eventually ventilated through a high point in the crankcase, through the PCV system and into the intake.

My 87 S4 hasn't been driven since last April and although the dipstick is a nice shade of amber upon inspection, it's rank with gasoline.

Bill Ball

I'm not sure I understand why the 55 PSI FPR & chip are being implicated specifically, other than that's what you have. If flooding is somehow caused by this combination, then something is wrong with the start-up fueling. The car should start, period. If the fueling is off, and causes flooding on occasion, Ken should address it. However, I suspect this is no different from flooding with any other 928. If my car did this, especially more than once, I'd find out why and fix it.

Mrmerlin

Bill if the Porken chips are used then a bit more fuel is used , couple this with a weak battery and the engine may not turn over fast enough to support the engine starting,
To add more,
if the engine is then not run long enough to get up to temp then the plugs may foul.
This is something that can happen if the car is started and moved out of the garage and then then shut off.
So make sure the battery is fully charged, the correct plugs are used and the engine isnt run for short periods of time then shut off.
Following these guidelines should prevent starting issues

Mike Frye

What he said.

A car set up with a normal stock configuration *I think* would clear itself after a few tries with a new battery. Once it got to the point of being flooded though with the 55psi FPR and s300s chips, it was just too much fuel each time it gave a shot (it's batch fueling for all injectors every pulse for those of you following along at home) and it's just a recipe that is not likely to clear itself by just opening up the throttle.

I'm not implicating Ken's chips in anything I just wanted to let the large and growing number of Porken S3 owners know that there is a likelihood of flooding if the car doesn't start right away (for any reason, in my case it was because of a weak battery in the cold) and in this case, the way I found that worked was to remove the fuel pump fuse and crank it without adding more fuel.

More of a report than a complaint or looking for advise in this case. I just wanted to put it out there for info and discussion.

PorKen

Battery voltage is key with digital brains. (LH, EZF/K) Under 10 volts while cranking and they won't turn on, or won't work properly.

With my chips, fueling while cranking is about the same as with the stock chips. 55 psi and 24# injectors just gets you into trouble, faster.

I've spent many hours chasing my tail after coding mistakes which caused it to flood.

Pulling the fuse (#42) or fuel pump/o2 sensor relay (XX) is the best way to clear the engine, stock or w/S300s.

billtool

Thanks for the sound advice, gents.

PorKen

FWIW, this can happen with new cars as well. I had to help out my neighbor with her 2002 Nissan Pathfinder, which would not start again after moving it in and out of the garage a few times in <40°F weather.


I've made a running change to the S300s LH chip, adding 400 rpm (over the stock chip) to the <35°F idle rpm cells, bring it up to around 1300 rpm. This helps 'clear it's throat' when it's very cold, and only lasts for a short while, as the engine warms quickly. I missed this brief higher rev from L-Jet, actually.


No matter what car you have, revving it up into the low teens for a few seconds is a good idea when it's cold out, if you are only running the engine for a short time.