Need some help / suggestions before 12/5

[russbert]

First, I have a small oil leak on the right underside of the car which was fixed by tightening the cam cover bolts a few weeks ago. Now it's leaking again (not much but that's not the point right) Besides re-checking and re-sealing, is there anything else I should have them exam?

Second, the car is experiencing a strange problem on startup BUT ONLY after sitting in a downtown garage all day. It hestitates and stalls after starting it up (and before it warms up). Once warm, I don't have the problem any longer. Also, this never happens when I start it up in the morning from my garage. I am thinking since temperature doesn't appear to be the primary factor it could be humidity. IF that's true, could the coil packs be the problem?

The car is being dropped off on Friday and I was hoping for a few suggestions before then.

BTW, this is a 2003 C4S coupe (if that matters). TIA

[umn]

First, I have a small oil leak on the right underside of the car which was fixed by tightening the cam cover bolts a few weeks ago. Now it's leaking again (not much but that's not the point right)  Besides re-checking and re-sealing, is there anything else I should have them exam?

...

Hi,

I know I'm a day late, but here's my take on it: There is no cam cover seal, it's just metal on metal with a bit of silicon sealant (used to be Dreibond, now changed) in between. If such a seal is leaking, just tightening the bolts is in my opinion bad workmanship and not surprisingly it is leaking now again. They need to take off the cam covers, clean off the old sealant carefully and thoroughly, re-seal it and put the covers back on. Cleaning off the old sealant is a fiddle, so mechanics like to avoid it.

Don't know about your downtown parking problem. The only thing I could possibly think of is the lower oxygen content in the air if it is an underground car park. But if it stalls, there is definitely something wrong. It's of course a pain if you can't reproduce it at the dealer's.

Cheers,

Uwe

[b-man]

Second, the car is experiencing a strange problem on startup BUT ONLY after sitting in a downtown garage all day. It hestitates and stalls after starting it up (and before it warms up). Once warm, I don't have the problem any longer. Also, this never happens when I start it up in the morning from my garage. I am thinking since temperature doesn't appear to be the primary factor it could be humidity. IF that's true, could the coil packs be the problem?

The car is being dropped off on Friday and I was hoping for a few suggestions before then.

BTW, this is a 2003 C4S coupe (if that matters). TIA

russbert, I have almost that exact same problem: downtown parking garage stalling, right after starting, only after being parked all day etc.

The only difference from your situation is that I park outside when I am at home. But, I also have no stalling problems at home. Oh, and my car is a 2002 C2 coupe.

I didn't reply sooner because my car was at the dealer and I just got it back. Before they looked at it, they also thought the problem may be humidity related. But, they ended up replacing a bad mass airflow sensor. They said that it wasn't reading the correct temperature (i.e., the intake air temperature was not correct).

But, the stalling problem only happens occasionally for me, so I am not sure that the mass airflow sensor was the problem.

Did yours get fixed? If so, what was the problem.

b-man

Edited December 9, 2003 by b-man