Let me start by saying: I am waiting for Auto Repair for Dummies in the mail.
2004 Optra LS 2.0L Sedan (Daewoo Lacetti)
No backstory: Is this black twist-off cap where I attach a fuel pressure gauge? What is the proper process for checking the pressure?
http://postimg.org/image/e16zura67
Cap on left side.
http://postimg.org/image/i4q3b760v
Details: Bought my first (used) car a month ago - a used 2004 Optra LS 2.0L Sedan (Daewoo Lacetti). It had 126,300km on it when I got it. I've put about 800km more since then.|
When it starts "normally", the exhaust mix smells rich, and the engine jumps to about 1300rpm and then over 30 seconds slowly goes down to ~900rpm when idle.
All fluid levels were topped up by the dealership - I checked with the help of an experience family member.
At first - it wouldn't start easily when left out in the rain and unused for over 5 hours, even damp weather. The car would take anywhere from 2-10 tries to start. The starter always spun up, and then it would shake violently, try to rev, and die. Eventually it would start, but it would shake a lot at first for a minute or so, and when I idle forward (no pressure on gas pedal), it would "lurch" instead of roll smoothly.
Then it stopped happening once the weather got dry, a little while later it rained, and surprisingly it did not have any issues.
Then two weeks ago it wouldn't start, in dry weather. Tried ~10 times, and at first the engine rev'd a little bit (maybe 500rpm) and died. By the 10th time trying to turn the key, I had tried spraying the spark plug contacts & cables with silicon spray. No difference. I decided to check if the fuel pump was turning on, so I opened the gas cap, had my girlfriend start the car, and it turned right on. It was warm overnight, and got cold in the morning - i figured negative pressure in the gas tank was the problem - maybe the gas-cap wasn't venting properly.
No problems for a couple of days, and then it would shake when I start it up, the engine rpm would flutter between 300-900rpm, jump to ~1300rpm, and then slowly go back down to 900rpm (normal operation) when idle.
Yesterday (after it sat unused for ~24 hours) I tried twice to start it - turn the key, engine flutters at low revs, then dies. Then I opened the gas cap for a second, shut the gas cap, turned the key and gave it some gas when I started, and it started up. 2 Fault codes appeared: P0703 - Torque Converter/Brake Switch B Circuit (which has come up before intermittently) and P02BF - no information on web available.
However, it's been rev'ing low when I start it since then whenever I let it sit more than 6 hours or so, and I generally give it a bit of gas to make sure the engine doesn't die on startup.
How should I trouble-shoot this? Does it sound like a fuel pump issue?
Much annoy.
Thanks for any help!