Thank you all for all of your advice, I really appreciate your help.
Had a car like that. had the wife stop at the shop every time she passed by. They cannot diagnose it if not in failure mode. She stopped,would not start, they hopped right on it as we had had 3 tows to the dealer and started right up once dropped. They were on alert for us. Ended up a bad fuel pump, a proper diagnosis is better than throwing parts at it imhop.
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Will the engine continue to run if you press the accelerator?
Thanks, I tried this before but it didn’t work. I tried it again today when the engine was struggling to start ( I already left it to cool for 5 minutes) but I think it helped the engine to start this time and then it went steady.
Thanks for sharing the experience! I totally agree, better diagnosis definitely is the best. The problem is I am international student and don’t have much experience with car mechanics in the US but the impression I got in my case is that they were not willing to do much diagnosis if there is no check engine error. I understand that diagnosis might be time consuming, but at the same time, what do I get when I pay $600~800 replacing original parts to lower quality ones and still have the same issue that I came to fix!
Since the engine won’t start for ten minutes, that should be sufficient proof that there is a problem. Anyone with reasonable diagnostic skills should be able to diagnose a no start problem.
If you have not already tried this already, how about trying something that is a very easy and free check… Wait until it doesn’t start up, do not let it cool down and unplug the MAF sensor then see if it will start up and run, you will probably have to press the accelerator cause it won’t idle (if it runs)…
This is a complete Hail Mary, but what have you got to loose and $0.00 cost… Now it will set a code for the MAF… I have seen a MAF make a vehicle act all kinds of crazy… also make sure the induction tube between the MAF and throttle body is solid with no cracks and not loose…
OP, suggest to find a shop who will focus on determining if the cause of the symptom is related to fuel or to spark. Pretty good chance it is one or the other. Until which one of the two is known to be the cause, this will likely be difficult to ever resolve.
Thank you all! Really appreciate your help. I just wanted to share my experience after a while now. I replaced the fuel pump assembly and the car starts normally now. Also the fuel consumption is better now.
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Glad your car is purring like a kitten, good for you 