Starting problem/car dies after idling?

[FF Drifter]

Recently I've been having a problem with starting the NSX; this has happened three times now. When I turn the key to start up, the engine turns over fine and it fires up but then it will immediately turn off. Like: key-turn, vroom ~ perfect start! then RPM drops immediately to zero and it just dies. If I keep my foot on the accelerator and rev it manually for a few seconds, that seems to keep the engine alive until I let it settle back down to idle normally.

In a probably-related incident: today after having to start the car in this way, I left the car idling at the gas station for a few minutes. For no reason at all, the car just turned off. RPM just dropped to zero and that was that.

So far this has only happened when it is cold (starting the car after it has been out at night or it is just really cold out in general). Not sure if related or this is in my head.

I recently replaced the battery. The negative battery terminal was not as tight as I liked and some threads I searched suggested that could be the problem so I will check it again tomorrow to be sure.

Any other ideas or suggestions?

 

[mskrotzki]

There is no indication how old your car is, but I solved a similar problem some years ago in my high mileage car with a can of throttle body cleaner. The problem has never returned. Just follow the directions on the can.

Good luck and the best for the holidays

Mark

 

[qdpmarketplace]

ignition switch (try shaking the key)

 

[FF Drifter]

Battery seemed tight when I checked. I will try the ignition switch thing (maybe I will take some keys off the keychain as well). Thanks for that idea.

I will consider the throttle body cleaner idea as well. However the car is just now breaking past 87K miles and was recently inspected. I will check again to be sure.

 

[chrisfrom619]

Throttle body probably dirty idle air control valve which controls your idle speed. I had this problem with multiple cars like Toyota, Mazda and Mini all I did was removed the throttle body and IAC valve and clean it with carb cleaner.

 

[anesthesia]

Since you already replace new battery and check your terminals, ignition switch would be the next thing to look at, I would also consider looking at the main relay to make sure all soldering are good since vibration over time and assuming it's still original since the car was new. These parts are very easy to replace and cheap.
Good luck

 

[FF Drifter]

Played with the ignition switch a bit more. I think this is the issue. The car failed to start easily again but after wiggling the key a bit, everything was fine. I will be following the ignition switch cleanup DIY and will go from there. Thanks all for the suggestions~!