C,

I read both of your posts and your symptoms don't sound to me like they'd be from a faulty ECT. At cold start this would cause you to either need to crank the car excessively from a cold start or make it extremely difficult to start at warm start. A warm start would also produce a lot of smoke from having an excessively rich fuel mix and the car would run like crap.

I found the following in the FAQ and I think it matches your symptoms much more closely. You may also be relieved to see that it's a pretty minor thing:

Car Stalls Repeatedly on Startup: Fuel Pump Check Valve. [Query:] I have a 1985 740 GLE and every morning when I start my car it will stall approx. 3 times before leaving the driveway. After this it works fine, and if I park the car and then come back a while later it starts right up and is fine. It just seems to have a problem when it’s been sitting a while, i.e. overnight and getting to/leaving for work. It has new Bosch platinum plugs as well as new ignition wires. And this problem occurs regardless of the temperature both summer and winter in upstate NY. [Response: Steve Seekins] This sounds like a classic fuel pump check valve problem. The check valve is there to prevent the fuel from draining back to the tank when shut off. In the AM, try ticking the starter just enough to make the fuel pump run for a second or so - but not enough to start the car. Do this 3 times, then start the car. If it starts and runs normally without stalling, replace the check valve located back at the fuel pump. Other things to check - make sure that throttle body is clean, check injector seals, wiring harness, etc. Clean, replace, repair as needed. Consider running a can of BG44K through the fuel system to clean it -particularly if this car has not had regular maintenance of the fuel system.

I hope this is your problem as it appears to be a fairly inexpensive fix. Wish you luck. That's a beautiful looking wagon.

Regards from Durham,



Mike