85 308 QV floods at startup pull fuse

My 308 has a tendency to flood (and not start) at start up requiring the fuel pump fuse to be pulled (then turn the car over...car starts - then dies - reinstall fuse...keep foot off of gas...car starts fine). Is this a common problem and what do you guys think might cause this? It is not being caused by the switch which gets wet when the antenna seal leaks. I believe it only happens on a warm or hot start (note - just bought the car - being delivered on the 7th)

I sure would hate to have the car die on me in traffic. Restarts will stink.

What year 308 is it? If it's injected, this is not a common problem, I don't think. In fact cold starting for injected models tends to be rather excellent unless something is wrong. I'm not an expert but i think that if the car is truly flooded when cold , it may have leaky fuel injectors--essentially dripping fuel into the combustion chamber as the car sits overnight. It could also be a problem with the cold start system as well--something stuck in the cold idle mode I would guess. I'll leave it up to the experts to be more detailed from here. Good luck--this sounds fixable , and not a common problem, to me.

Oops--sorry, I see that it's an '85. This defintely shouldn't happen.

Hi Mike,

Like it or not your car, like mine, is 19 years old now. My fuel pump fuse melted on the previous owner. He had a local mechanic install a bypass fuse and he never had a problem afterwards. Sounds like your FP fuse is acting up. Take the fuse out and rub the contacts on the block with a little emory board to shine them up a little, then bend the contacts down toward each other. This will make the connection better. If your block is melted like mine is, you can install a bypass fuse until you can get a new block.

Pic of bypas FP fuse :





JL

Hi Mike,

definately should not flood on start-up or any other time for that matter. It should start & run like any other car.

There are quite a few things that could cause this problem. One easy tesy would be to diconnect the Cold Start Injector Electrical Plug to see if that helps.

If that doesn't help the car will require proffesional diagnoisis with several special tools. Such as an exhaust gas anilyzer and Fuel System Pressure Tester as well as a couple others. aving an experienced guy behind the tools will also help..

Welcome to Ferrari-Talk.

Regards, JRV

I will try the cold start bypass. It only does this when the engine is hot. Jeremy...the fuse is not the problem. I have to pull the FP fuse to let the car burn all the fuel in the system. After reninstalling the fuse after clearing the system the car starts right up.

Which fuse covers the cold start injector electrical plug? And I think all my spiffy plastic fuse covers are missing.

I have a feeling I am going to be happy I spent only 75% of the budget.

Thanks for the welcome JR.

You are correct Mike. I guess I wasn't quite awake this morning. I re-read your post and drew the same conclusion.


JL

Hi Mike,

there is no fuse per se for the cold start injector. You will find the CS injector itself on the right side intake manifold , pull the Blue Elec. Plug next time you hot start the engine and see if that helps the issue. It's good your looking into issues yourself and becoming familiar with the car. This will help alot in the long run.

Regards, JRV

I am trying to at least get to the point where I can ask an educated question. As a certified shade tree mechanic I can't stand to be totally ignorant on any of my cars. At this time I am still quite ignorant.