It is possible to flood an injected engine.
If your battery is low and the starter is consuming all the current it
starves the rest of the system down below operational voltage and can cause
hard starting on hot or cold engines.
I'd get a full charge on the battery before I spent any money or
investigated more.
If you still have the same problem then your starter solenoid might be
binding and not making good contact (clean the solenoid and reinstall the
starter).
In your future attempts to crank it keep you foot off the accelerator pedal
and see if it cranks.
If that doesn't work then hold the accelerator fully to the floor and crank.

Stan Wilder
Engine Ceramics
214-352-4931
www.engineceramics.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Kyle Hamilton" <aerowolf@GMAIL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Tuesday, January 18, 2005 11:13 AM
Subject: Won't start cold (85 2.1L)

> Hi,
>
> I'm having (yet another) issue with my van.  It just won't start -- it
> sounds like it's out of time, but adjusting the timing doesn't change
> anything.  It did this before a few weeks ago, but I let it sit for a
> couple of weeks and then went out to work on it, and it started right
> up.
>
> I checked the plugs, and they smell like gasoline (after I turn the
> key 'on', and let the injectors prime the cylinders), and I tried
> taking the plugs out and letting the cylinders dry out a bit (on the
> idea I might have inadvertently flooded them).  No dice.
>
> When I adjusted the timing, it felt and sounded like it was fighting
> itself less, but I can't find any point of retarded timing that will
> allow it to start at this point.
>
> I also double-checked the battery ground, as I've had trouble with it
> before.  It did not appear to have any effect.  (The engine itself is
> well-grounded to the frame, with a battery ground cable.)
>
> Does this sound like anything anyone's dealt with?  At this point, I'm
> pretty sure it's not the fuel system, and the plugs were changed about
> 4k miles ago.  (cylinders 1 and 4 show evidence of running rich.  I
> replaced the fuel injector on cyl. 4, and I expect it to improve a bit
> as time goes on.)
>
> Might it be the starter?  How can I go about diagnosing this?  I'm not
> at home, so I don't have access to most of my diagnostic equipment
> (what little of it I actually do have).
>
> Thanks!
>
> -Kyle Hamilton
>
>
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