2000 Monty: Races on cold startup for few seconds

[84FLH]

Hello all;

2000 Monty. 385,266 miles on orig engine.

Engine races for a few seconds on cold startup. Does it every morning at 5:15 am for work commute. And every afternoon on startup for ride home.

Won't race if the engine's been off for only an hour or two. For example, go into grocery store for 40 mins, vehicle starts fine without racing. Go into gym for two hours, engine starts fine without racing.

Thank you

 

[C420sailor]

Are you talking about the cold start flare? Where RPMs quickly flare to 2000 or so on start and then immediately come back down?

 

[84FLH]

Are you talking about the cold start flare? Where RPMs quickly flare to 2000 or so on start and then immediately come back down?

 

[84FLH]

C420sailor;

You got me! In all this time, all these years, I've never looked at the tach when this happens! Although, sometimes it sure sounds like it's getting near 2k RPM.

Can you tell me a little more about "cold flare" on startup? Thank you.

 

[donalds]

Normal operation electric choke

 

[C420sailor]

On a cold start, it should do a quick rev to 2k or so, and immediately come down to a fast idle around 1200-1300 until it warms up and the idle steps down

That flare should only be a quick up and down though—it shouldn’t hang there

 

[84FLH]

On a cold start, it should do a quick rev to 2k or so, and immediately come down to a fast idle around 1200-1300 until it warms up and the idle steps down

That flare should only be a quick up and down though—it shouldn’t hang there

That's what it does. Immediately revs high (never looked at tach but will do so next startup) then drops to around 1100-1200 or so. Then to 600, which is normal idle for this vehicle.

Thank you for that info. I've always thought something was wrong.

Why does it do this?

 

[410Fortune]

The high revs help the engine actually start and then to warm up and get the fluids
Flowing

Now if your cold flare is accompanied by a rattling noise and valvetrain tick then you need to consider new timing chain tensioners

 

[C420sailor]

Technique only, but when the engine is cold, I crank my engine with the pedal to the floor (flood clear mode) until I get oil pressure, then release the pedal for it to start.

Doesn’t eliminate the flare, but it primes the hydraulic tensioners so you don’t have any chain slap/rattle on start.

If you’ve never done this before, do the zip-tie mod to take all the throttle cable slack out first, and try it on a very warm engine.

But yes, the flare is normal. Many vehicles do this—my 392 Challenger does this as well.

 

[84FLH]

410, C420;

Ford dealership replaced one cassette (driver's side, IIRC) at 225,000 miles, which was about 160,000 miles ago. Rattle before replacement was bad. Was gone afterwards.

I do, though, now have a rattle on cold starts. Not as bad as before cassette replaced, but sometimes pretty loud for about 1 to 1.5 seconds. Because it goes away so quickly, I always assumed it was lack of oil to top end causing the rattle. My oil pressure gauge in instrument cluster died about a year ago. Good oil pressure at the block, and I never got around to testing/replacing the cluster gauge.

I hear no timing chain rattle or ticking when driving.

I think I hear a chain noise at bottom of engine front, passenger side of motor. It comes for a few weeks/months, then goes away for a few weeks or months.

 

[C420sailor]

Have you been replacing the hydraulic tensioners every 75k at most?

The overwhelming majority of owners don’t do that maintenance.

 

[84FLH]

C420;

Have never replaced the hydraulic tensioners. Are they what's rattling for a second or so on startup? Where are they in the motor? Do they tension the cam chain(s)?

I tried your pedal to the floor start method. My oil oil pressure gauge doesn't work (good pressure at the block, though) but I put the gas pedal to floor, cranked motor about 1/2 to 1 second, took foot off gas pedal....and engine started without the rattle.

Does that show the hydraulic tensioners are good? Or does the rattle on flareup show they need to be replaced?

Thanks!

 

[84FLH]

C420;

Found hydraulic tensioner information. This poor guy replaced passenger side tensioner after cassette replacement. The piston got stuck in the retracted position and the engine made a terrible racket. I read all 3 thread pages and the guy never found out what caused the problem.

One poster in the thread said a "rhythmic ticking" was the only indication his rear cassette was going. Some time after noticing the noise, the timing chain snapped. He didn't say if he replaced the rear cassette.

That got me thinking.

I sometimes hear a rhythmic ticking when the engine's at idle. Can't hear it once I start moving, due to engine/wind/road noise. And a slightly raspy muffler that needs replacing.

Two years ago, before the great Covid consternation, I was looking at used cars. "I have plenty of time to find exactly what I want", I told myself. Then 2020 happened. What cost $8k in 2019 is $12k-$16k today. Everyone and their grandmother has become a shyster, asking high dollars "because of Covid", ya know.

I pinned my hopes on BAT until I realized everyone bidding has more mad money than me, and many of them spend money like mad!

 

[C420sailor]

I give it closer to 2-3 seconds, but whatever works

The hydraulic tensioners thread into the block and are what put tension on the internal tensioning components. The rear isnt bad to change. front requires intake manifold removal. honestly, not a bad thing since the seals on the manifold tend to leak after a while anyway

use ford oem only

It has a spring that keeps some tension during cranking and initial fire-up before oil pressure builds and takes over

 

[Mbrooks420]

There are plenty of cars available. There’s a fairly rust free V8 Mounty near me for 1,800. You need to look every single day, and have a cash deposit. You certainly aren’t the only one looking for a bargain. I see at least one fairly clean, fairly low mile second Gen a month. I only consider V8s.

 

[joney]

There are plenty of cars available. There’s a fairly rust free V8 Mounty near me for 1,800. You need to look every single day, and have a cash deposit. You certainly aren’t the only one looking for a bargain. I see at least one fairly clean, fairly low mile second Gen a month. I only consider V8s.

What state? Even the rusty ones here are too dam much. And most trucks ARE rusty here.

 

[Mbrooks420]

I’m in the corner of OH, PA, and NY. Plent of rust here. Granted I’m not crawling under these or looking at them in person, but they show little to no body rust which is a fair indicator.

They do not last long. You have to see them within a few hours of posting.

Unless absolutely abused a V8 with 120k should be a fairly safe bet, mechanically.

 

[Mbrooks420]

Log into Facebook

Log into Facebook to start sharing and connecting with your friends, family, and people you know.

www.facebook.com

 

[Mbrooks420]

Details.

I’d look at this. It’s got some rust, but for 1500, it might be a fair beater.

 

[joney]

I’m in the corner of OH, PA, and NY. Plent of rust here. Granted I’m not crawling under these or looking at them in person, but they show little to no body rust which is a fair indicator.

They do not last long. You have to see them within a few hours of posting.

Unless absolutely abused a V8 with 120k should be a fairly safe bet, mechanically.

But do shove your phone (on a stick) under the chassis and video it if you're looking for a car/truck. My 96 Taurus was pristine all over the body. No rust. Underneath was a different story! Rust literally killed the frame and I never knew until too late! Have to say, a V8 would be great though.