How long before attempting restart after flooding engine?

[DaraSue]

Well, I drove it to my aunt's house, about 8 miles/20 minutes on hilly surface roads. Left it parked for about 4 hours, then it cranked but the engine wouldn't start. I tried pumping the gas which had worked for some hard starts in the past but it still didn't start and I could smell fuel so I think I flooded it. I didn't see any visible leaks. Some other car pages say it can be 20 minutes to several hours to days before it dries out. How long should I wait to try again? I'm in the San Diego area. It's currently 57 degrees out.

[dmcnc]

I'd unplug the Cold Start Valve, open the throttle for a minute or so, and crank again. Otherwise you could run down this troubleshooting guide:
http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?at...6&d=1452110122

[DaraSue]

Sorry for the stupid question, but by "open the throttle", you don't mean step on the gas, I have to move the actual throttle at the back of the engine?

It's been about an hour and a half, and I'm not smelling the gas anymore.

[DaraSue]

Also do I do the plug swap as detailed here http://dmctalk.org/archive/index.php/t-962.html or just take the cap off the blue one?

[Michael]

Also do I do the plug swap as detailed here http://dmctalk.org/archive/index.php/t-962.html or just take the cap off the blue one?

Yes just take the plug off, you don't want to introduce more fuel. The plug swap is to force the CSV to fire in a hot start scenario.

[dmcnc]

No worries, yes step on the gas and leave it pressed for a bit. Hopefully some of that gas will have evaporated and made its way out by now.

Sorry for the stupid question, but by "open the throttle", you don't mean step on the gas, I have to move the actual throttle at the back of the engine?

It's been about an hour and a half, and I'm not smelling the gas anymore.

[DaraSue]

Well, after all that, it started up when I pushed the gas all the way in and cranked it (it was getting late and I figured if that didn't work I'd try messing with the CSV tomorrow), but it took some effort and then it still smelled rich and hunted for a few minutes. I drove around some hilly back roads for about 15-20 minutes and didn't notice any obvious missing or power loss so I drove back to my cousin's house (8 mioes, uphill most of the way). I did notice the idle was slightly uneven but it was a variation of probably less than 100 rpm. Is this anything to worry about? It might have been doing this before and I'm just noticing more now. But they adjusted the idle at DMCCA and when I first picked it up it was just below 1000 and now it's just a hair above.

For future reference, if I disconnect the CSV plug, at what point do I attach it again? As soon as it starts?

[DaraSue]

Update: I just took my cousin out for a ride in it, and it started right up. It had been sitting for about two hours after running on the previous test drive and drive back here. Ran fine, or at least not egregiously not fine, for another ~15 minute up and downhill drive.

[dmcnc]

CSV should always be plugged in, otherwise you'll have a hard time getting it started when cold. The question is, what flooded your car? If the CSV is open beyond the initial cold crank then you have more troubleshooting ahead. http://support.delorean.com/kb/a60/c...rt-issues.aspx

I had a similar issue, but it's best you run down your own troubleshooting algorithm before you chase the wrong issue. Glad you got back on the road!

Well, after all that, it started up when I pushed the gas all the way in and cranked it (it was getting late and I figured if that didn't work I'd try messing with the CSV tomorrow), but it took some effort and then it still smelled rich and hunted for a few minutes. I drove around some hilly back roads for about 15-20 minutes and didn't notice any obvious missing or power loss so I drove back to my cousin's house (8 mioes, uphill most of the way). I did notice the idle was slightly uneven but it was a variation of probably less than 100 rpm. Is this anything to worry about? It might have been doing this before and I'm just noticing more now. But they adjusted the idle at DMCCA and when I first picked it up it was just below 1000 and now it's just a hair above.

For future reference, if I disconnect the CSV plug, at what point do I attach it again? As soon as it starts?

[DMCVegas]

The Cold Start Valve should always remained plugged in with the Blue Plug, and the Warm Up Regulator should always remain plugged in with the Gray Plug.

There is already another thread in progress talking about Hot Starting, so that would be a good reference to start at if you're curious about what is going on.

In a nutshell, when you have a hot start issue because the car failed to maintain it's rest fuel pressure, and isn't cold enough to trigger the CSV, THAT is when you can swap plugs with the WUR to get the car going (the WUR always has 12V with the engine on). You're pretty much just forcing the CSV to act as a crude carburetor to run the engine while fuel pressure builds back up. The problem is that if you leave that thing plugged in for too long, it's going to flood the engine and stall out. So if you ever need to perform this task, set your parking brake, and as soon as the engine fires, jump out, run back, and unplug the Gray plug from the CSV IMMEDIATELY! If you don't, the engine dies.