Car wont start when parked on grass

[Florida]

This is a 2002 Chevy Astro van. The engine won?t start in the morning when parked on grass at my house; it will start when parked over asphalt though. For instance, I let the mechanic have it for three days and it fired right up perfectly all three mornings. The next morning at my house it wouldn?t start. The only difference is I park the Van over wet grass in the yard all night. The mechanic parks it on asphalt that stays hot all night. That?s the only difference I can find. The fuel pump and coil have tested fine. Any ideas
thanks

 

[partskenn]

Re: Car wont start when parked on grass

I've never heard of the" parked on grass problem" before, but has anyone looked at the distributor cap and rotor? Maybe somehow moisture rises from the grassy area, but not the pavement. I presume it's turning over, but not firing?

 

[mnypitboat]

Re: Car wont start when parked on grass

I used to have a Truimph TR8 that absolutely would not start if my wife was in it. It was very comical, but my fix was to just have her stand beside the car until I started it. Seriously. That was the only fix. I replaced distributors, carb, fuel pump, put on a high torque starter, even replaced the entire engine with a known good engine complete from carb to pan. Still would not start if she was in the car.

Maybe your fix is to just not park in the grass?

How about your injectors? is the air filter and path clear? Almost looks like it is starving for air or something the way it puffed popped when you stopped cranking it.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Car wont start when parked on grass

How old are your spark plug wires and cap? If theses guys are dirty, moisture is more likely to stay on them in the morning and could be causing your no start condition. Could also be a bad connection at your crank position sensor that gets affected by moisture as well.

 

[jonesg]

Re: Car wont start when parked on grass

Easy enough to check,
park it on the grass (sprinklers are off right?)

Try starting it, if it will not fire spray the wires and dizzy cap with WD40, should fire if its moisture on the wires.

 

[Bondo]

Re: Car wont start when parked on grass

Ayuh,.... Pave yer lawn,....

The car will start, 'n ya won't have to mow the lawn....

Win - Win....

 

[j_martin]

Re: Car wont start when parked on grass

Ayuh,.... Pave yer lawn,....

The car will start, 'n ya won't have to mow the lawn....

Win - Win....

That's my first response. Second is to change the plug wires, cap and rotor if it has one.

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: Car wont start when parked on grass

Take the van to AutoZone or major parts store and have them read the stored codes in the ECM. Usually a free service. A no start should store some codes. Hope that helps you out.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Car wont start when parked on grass

A no start should store some codes.

No...starts don't store codes.

 

[Pacoson71]

Re: Car wont start when parked on grass

Sorry dude I have the same van, same year and the same problem. If I don't start it EVERY day, and it rains a little I have to wait till later in the day.

 

[stackz]

Re: Car wont start when parked on grass

its acting almost as if the idle air control valve is farting out due to the moisture from the grass...though the relative humidity in the area would make you think regardless of whether on asphalt or grass, you'd get the moisture level up.

 

[jimbo_jwc]

Re: Car wont start when parked on grass

Put fuse back in for dome light , Son in law pulled instead of dome light for he was up to no good . It powers MAP sensor an will act like that and will start some times then injector floods after it ran a few seconds .

 

[j_martin]

Re: Car wont start when parked on grass

Put fuse back in for dome light , Son in law pulled instead of dome light for he was up to no good . It powers MAP sensor an will act like that and will start some times then injector floods after it ran a few seconds .

Ever wonder what the Detroit engineers smoke? My 90 Dodge conversion van, the fuse that powers the cig lighters, now better known as an auxiliary power outlets, powered the ABS brake system.

I did a little re-wiring on that one after chasing down the ABS light problem.

 

[LongLine]

Re: Car wont start when parked on grass

I'm willing to bet you have a connector in a wiring harness that gets moisture on/in it. I don't know why automotive engineers put all that time into designing new-fangled stuff for vehicles then use the cheapest/crappiest connectors. My wife's van made the repair shop a lot of money before i wised up & dumped it.

Tpom B.
(LongLine)

 

[Tim Frank]

Re: Car wont start when parked on grass

Ever wonder what the Detroit engineers smoke? My 90 Dodge conversion van, the fuse that powers the cig lighters, now better known as an auxiliary power outlets, powered the ABS brake system.

I did a little re-wiring on that one after chasing down the ABS light problem.

They don't have a monopoly on that!
My Subaru has a common horn/brake light circuit.
In Ontario, salt on roads in winter can shorten a horn life expectancy by years.
I had a horn short out....no brake lights...:facepalm:

 

[dolluper]

Re: Car wont start when parked on grass

coil ign wire

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: Car wont start when parked on grass

No...starts don't store codes.

Well, tell my OBD II code reader that it should not have told me to replace the Crank Position Sensor. on my no start. But I did anyway.

I wonder if Florida ever found his problem? Nothing since first post about his problem.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Car wont start when parked on grass

Well, tell my OBD II code reader that it should not have told me to replace the Crank Position Sensor. on my no start. But I did anyway.

I wonder if Florida ever found his problem? Nothing since first post about his problem.

Its worth a shot I guess but if this has been an ongoing problem, the CEL would be iluminated if it throws a code for the CPS.

Its definitley going to be a problem caused by moisture.

 

[snake77]

Re: Car wont start when parked on grass

I know it sucks but how about just not parking in the grass.
I know the shop checked the fuel pump operation but did they check it when the no start was present.
chevys are known for the injectors leaking and failing, moisture getting into the cap and rotor causing no starts. But honestly this shouldn't be that hard to track down. when id doesn't start it is no fuel, no spark or timing, since it runs other times obviously the mechanical portion works just fine. Distributors them selves go bad in these well play in the shaft as well as pickup coil and module.