I just bought my '02 SE 3 months ago. The starts have always been a little rough, and sometimes it won't start the first or even the second time. The dealer that I bought it from (family friend) couldn't find anything wrong, but I'm not sure how hard they looked. (I know they checked the fuel pressures, but beyond that... who knows?) He thought that it may be a relay problem.

Yesterday when I started it up (I had only been out of it for about 20 minutes) the engine started surging (oscillating across idle). It went away after a while, but the starts continue to be rough. I can only figure that the computer was overshooting itself as it tried to set into the idle.

Right now I'm looking at a tune-up (don't know when the last one would have been) and maybe a fuel filter, just in case. If anyone has some insight into this problem, I would be much obliged.

I'm new, but I've already used past posts to fix leaks in my driver-side door and the trunk. What a great idea!

Glad to see that you decided to officially join the club. Welcome.

Starting off by replacing plugs, wires, fuel and air filters is a good idea. Other than that, there could be a few things that could cause your problem. When he tested the fuel pressure, do you know if he also tested to be certain that it held pressure after the engine was shut off? Are there any codes stored? You may also need a good throttle body, idle air control, and mass airflow sensor cleaning.

Start with the tune up, and we'll go from there.

Thanks for the response... I don't know that he checked to make sure that it held pressure. I'll look into it. There aren't any codes stored.

I'll go ahead and give those things a cleaning while I'm at it.

After new plugs and wires, air filter, fuel filter and a good cleaning of the IAC, MAF and throttle body it seems that it was the fuel pressure regulator. No complaints, it needed a good tune-up anyway.

Right after I last posted I had some issues starting and it threw a P0108 code (MAP sensor High Circuit if I remember correctly). There was an air hose leading to the top of the engine at the back side that had been blown off by air building up when the car wouldn't start. I cleared the code and it'* only happened one other time (before replacing the fuel pressure regulator, but with no code being thrown), what is that hose and why would air pressure build up enough to pop a hose off?

As an aside, my transmission fluid was about a pint low about 7000 miles ago, and it was about a pint low again when I checked it this weekend. Could this be a common issue that others have seen?