Is it bad to start car with gas pedal to floor?

Hello,
My old Chevy Lumina usually starts fine, but lately about 1 in 10
times it won't start unless I press gas pedal all the way to the
floor. Ordinarily, of course, i don't press gas pedal at all when
starting. It always turns over fine, just sometimes won't do any more
than that unless I do the gas pedal trick, and then I'm good to go.

My question is am I doing long term damage to the engine by blissfully
ignoring this, since I know the "trick" to get it started when
necessary?

It always behaves perfectly once it's running -- starting is the only
issue.

Thanks
Dave

On 3 Feb 2007 09:03:14 -0800, wrote:

>
>Hello,
>My old Chevy Lumina usually starts fine, but lately about 1 in 10
>times it won't start unless I press gas pedal all the way to the
>floor. Ordinarily, of course, i don't press gas pedal at all when
>starting. It always turns over fine, just sometimes won't do any more
>than that unless I do the gas pedal trick, and then I'm good to go.
>
>My question is am I doing long term damage to the engine

Not if you release the pedal in time to prevent high revs with the
engine cold.

FWIW its likely you have a problem with flooding -- possibly caused by
an injector leaking down.

Don
www.donsautomotive.com

>by blissfully ignoring this, since I know the "trick" to get it started when
>necessary?
>
>It always behaves perfectly once it's running -- starting is the only
>issue.
>
>Thanks
>Dave

If a vehicle has a carburetor with an automatic choke, one must move the
throttle to allow it to reset, or floor it to force it open. If one needs
to force the choke open, too much fuel entering the carburetor. Moving the
throttle on a modern EFI equipped vehicle is not necessary, or advisable,
since the microprocessor sets the fuel/air ratio as needed.


mike


> wrote in message
oups.com...
>
> Hello,
> My old Chevy Lumina usually starts fine, but lately about 1 in 10
> times it won't start unless I press gas pedal all the way to the
> floor. Ordinarily, of course, i don't press gas pedal at all when
> starting. It always turns over fine, just sometimes won't do any more
> than that unless I do the gas pedal trick, and then I'm good to go.
>
> My question is am I doing long term damage to the engine by blissfully
> ignoring this, since I know the "trick" to get it started when
> necessary?
>
> It always behaves perfectly once it's running -- starting is the only
> issue.
>
> Thanks
> Dave
>

I guess my 1978 Dodge van is cold natured.In cold weather,the way I
crank it up is to press the gas pedal to the floor twice and switch on
the ignition,it won't start the first time or second time,but on the
third try it always cranks up.When it does crank it runs kind of raggity
untill the engine warms up.If I sit there and let it warm up for about
five minutes and then shut it off and wait a few more minutes and then
crank it up again,it cranks right up and runs ok.I know it needs a new
choke spring,but new choke springs have been unavailable for years.I
probally should install a manual choke on there.
cuhulin

How old is this Lumina and does it have fuel injection or a carb (some
very early ones did actually use a Rochester E2SE 2-barrel carb with
electronic mixture control)?

To amplify what Mike said, if it is injected, if you push and hold the
throttle past the 90% point during cranking the ECM will not pulse the
fuel injectors. The fact that the car starts under those conditions
tells me you have an injector that is leaky, and the engine needs the
extra airflow to have a fireable mixture. As long as you let up on the
throttle as soon as the engine starts, starting the car this way
should not harm it, but you would be better off having it looked at
and having the underlying problem resolved.

Regards,
Bill Bowen
Sacramento, CA


"Mike Hunter" > wrote:

>If a vehicle has a carburetor with an automatic choke, one must move the
>throttle to allow it to reset, or floor it to force it open. If one needs
>to force the choke open, too much fuel entering the carburetor. Moving the
>throttle on a modern EFI equipped vehicle is not necessary, or advisable,
>since the microprocessor sets the fuel/air ratio as needed.
>
>
>mike
>
>
> wrote in message
roups.com...
>>
>> Hello,
>> My old Chevy Lumina usually starts fine, but lately about 1 in 10
>> times it won't start unless I press gas pedal all the way to the
>> floor. Ordinarily, of course, i don't press gas pedal at all when
>> starting. It always turns over fine, just sometimes won't do any more
>> than that unless I do the gas pedal trick, and then I'm good to go.
>>
>> My question is am I doing long term damage to the engine by blissfully
>> ignoring this, since I know the "trick" to get it started when
>> necessary?
>>
>> It always behaves perfectly once it's running -- starting is the only
>> issue.
>>
>> Thanks
>> Dave
>>
>

>>> My old Chevy Lumina usually starts fine, but lately about 1 in 10
>>> times it won't start unless I press gas pedal all the way to the
>>> floor. Ordinarily, of course, i don't press gas pedal at all when
>>> starting. It always turns over fine, just sometimes won't do any
>>> more than that unless I do the gas pedal trick, and then I'm good to
>>> go.



My little sister's (in her late 20's) car blew up about 5 years ago. So I
loaned her my beloved '72 Plymouth Valiant 4 door (225 slant 6, 904
TorqueFlite tranny, it used to be a municipal car -- simple, white, had
radio delete, plastic floormats/no carpet, only had like 70K miles, etc.).
It DID run great. When I was at her house one day, she left to go to the
store in my Valiant. She started it by flooring it all the way to the
ground and then turning the ingition. So it was screaming! Here, it was
cold and not properly lubed internally, and she starts it up at full
throttle! I ran out and asked her not to do that. Long story, short. The
Valiant blew up under her 'care'. :-( Lesson learned/moral of the
story: when loaning out your car to someone, go over starting procedures.

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On Feb 3, 7:51 pm, William H. Bowen > wrote:
> How old is this Lumina and does it have fuel injection or a carb (some
> very early ones did actually use a Rochester E2SE 2-barrel carb with
> electronic mixture control)?

In what country? In the US the Lumina started it's life with a 700
TBI unit on the 4 cylinder and multiport fuel injection on the V6.
The Celebrity was the closest thing to a Lumina and they only had
carbs through 1986. The Lumina was introduced in 1990 MY.

> To amplify what Mike said, if it is injected, if you push and hold the
> throttle past the 90% point during cranking the ECM will not pulse the
> fuel injectors. The fact that the car starts under those conditions
> tells me you have an injector that is leaky, and the engine needs the
> extra airflow to have a fireable mixture. As long as you let up on the
> throttle as soon as the engine starts, starting the car this way
> should not harm it, but you would be better off having it looked at
> and having the underlying problem resolved.

Opening the throttle also increases "running compresion" but I agree
that the clear flood mode is likely why it starts and the cause is
excessive fueling. If it's really cold where the OP is right now then
excessive fuel on startup might just help the engine *to* start!

Toyota MDT in MO

On Feb 3, 7:07�pm, wrote:
> I guess my 1978 Dodge van is cold natured.In cold weather,the way I
> crank it up is to press the gas pedal to the floor twice and switch on
> the ignition,it won't start the first time or second time,but on the
> third try it always cranks up.When it does crank it runs kind of raggity
> untill the engine warms up.If I sit there and let it warm up for about
> five minutes and then shut it off and wait a few more minutes and then
> crank it up again,it cranks right up and runs ok.I know it needs a new
> choke spring,but new choke springs have been unavailable for years.I
> probally should install a manual choke on there.
> cuhulin *

In your case, with a normally asperated engine, pushing the pedal the
first time will set (close) the choke. Any more pushing on the pedal
will pump a small amount of fuel into the engine from the accelerator
pump which is built into your carb.

Hank <~~~loves a good fuel/air ratio on a cold wintry morning :-)

>>Hello,
>>My old Chevy Lumina usually starts fine, but lately about 1 in 10
>>times it won't start unless I press gas pedal all the way to the
>>floor. Ordinarily, of course, i don't press gas pedal at all when
>>starting. It always turns over fine, just sometimes won't do any more
>>than that unless I do the gas pedal trick, and then I'm good to go.
>>

Probably a leaky fuel injector allowing fuel to "pool" in the intake
plumbing, necessitating a lot of air flow through the open throttle to
clear it out.

>>My question is am I doing long term damage to the engine by blissfully
>>ignoring this, since I know the "trick" to get it started when
>>necessary?
>>

Tends to wash oil off the cylinder walls accelerating wear, and also
probably means its idling too rich (if its a leaky injector or
injectors). But nothing immediately harmful.

wrote:

> I guess my 1978 Dodge van is cold natured.In cold weather,the way I
> crank it up is to press the gas pedal to the floor twice and switch on
> the ignition,it won't start the first time or second time,but on the
> third try it always cranks up.

But a '78 Dodge van is carbureted and therein lies the difference. That
behavior is perfectly normal for a carbureted car... but when an EFI car
like the OP's Lumina does anything but start right up with your feet
flat on the floor, it indicates a problem developing.