98 Sportage hard starting, transmission hunts

ylr · Nov 11, 2014

My 98 Sportage automatic 4X4 is very hard to start; I have to go against common wisdom and floor the gas pedal before it sputters to a start. It also hunts gears seemingly randomly while going down the road, going from overdrive to 3rd and back in a matter of seconds. A trip to Autozone for a diagnostic revealed no codes, they recommended taking it to a dealer.

Ideas? Thanks!

aquanaut20 · Nov 11, 2014

The requirement for a full throttle start is an indication that the engine is in flood mode, flooring the pedal cuts fuel..

The transmission will never run properly until you rectify the engine issue...

Code scanning is not enough, use a live Data Scanner and see what the ECU is not happy with..

... Philip

Galf · Nov 11, 2014

My primary guess is worn out spark plug wires (check their resistance), my secondary guess is fuel pump and main relays (see this post of mine for instructions about how to check them).

ylr · Nov 14, 2014

Took it to a shop, and they think a wire's ground is bad, cutting power to the ECU. Yay.

98 Sportage hard starting, transmission hunts

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