Very ROUGH Startup / Idle / Warmup

[bigcritter]

I've had my passion coupe for 3 weeks tomorrow. It has about 850 miles on it. When I first start it up, it shudders like CRAZY and feels like it's gonna die sometimes! It runs pretty rough for a couple of minutes, and eventually smooths out. Has anyone else experienced this problem with their car?? I'm just wondering if this is just yet another little "quirk" of the smart that will eventually iron itself out, or if maybe there's something going on with mine that I might need to have looked at. It doesn't do it EVERY time..........but MOST times!

[Fredvon4]

bigcritter...

NO that is NOT normal start condition... I see you are in Oly...your weather is normal so that is not the issue

Something is wrong...get an appointment with Ethan and have a smart tech put her on the computer... They may have to keep her over night to get a cold start to examine her start behavior

I kind of suspect your clutch is doing something during start...but that is just because one (and only ever one of all my start events) did what you describe. Farnsworth has never did it again...but it seemed to me the car wanted to creep forward against the parking brake and that is where I get the notion that the clutch position got confused for a moment during start...I am at 750miles on my motor

[robotbill]

I would get this checked out, I don't consider this a quirk. Of all the things that have happened to me with this car rough starting/idle has never been noted. A few people I have noticed on this website have reported a "bad" valve (I don't mean check engine light). So get it checked, maybe leave it at the dealers overnight so they can experience what you are talking about.

[kwagar]

Be sure to have your fuel tested or do a drain and refill. I had a similar problem with my Mini and it turned out to be bad fuel!

[bigcritter]

Thanks, folks! I'm going to be heading up to smartcenter Seattle today to pick up some stuff I ordered. I'll talk to them about it then. I'm also gonna need to fuel up today, so maybe I'll try a different gas from what I normally get (Brand-wise), and see if that helps at all. Got a ScanGauge II hooked up, but no codes have come up for me, so I doubt if they will for them (the mechanics) either. Hadn't thought about the fuel, though! That's a real possibility. It runs great once I'm going, so I can't imagine that it would be anything worse than bad fuel or something very minor!

[oldmike]

Bad Fuel!!! condensation in the tank can get water mixed in, try "HEAT", it's an additive and you can get it at walmart for 99 cents

[bigcritter]

Well, I filled up yesterday with the best fuel Shell has to offer. I think it's made with gold flakes or something! For $4.45 a gallon, it better be! Anyway, put probably a little over a hundred miles since then (passed the 1000 mi. mark yesterday on the way back from smartcenter Seattle), and this morning when I started it cold, it seemed to start a lot better, and the idle was smooth, so HOPEFULLY, it was just a little moisture in the tank. I'll be taking it back up there sometime this coming week for my speaker upgrade, so if I notice it again before then, I may just leave it overnight and have them check it out. Nothing ever showed up on the ScanGauge, and no warning lights, so I'm thinking it may have been the fuel! At least, that's what I'm hoping!