Dear Tom and Ray:

My '89 Acura Legend with 83,000 miles has been starting with great difficulty when the engine is cold. It purrs once, then dies. My mechanic says I have two leaky fuel injectors (small leaks). Because each of the leaky injectors is in a bank of three, I need to replace both banks in order to replace the leaky injectors, to the tune of $1,000. He said repairing just the bad injector might cause the O-ring seal to break, and that would create greater expense. The car has a pronounced gasoline smell lately. My mechanic said until I fix it, I should turn the key for 20 seconds before starting the car to allow the fuel pressure to build up. What do you advise? -- Anne

Tom: Geez, this is a tough call, Anne. What's happening is that a couple of your injectors are "leaking down" and not holding their fuel pressure when you shut off the car. So when you come back to start it the next time, there's not enough fuel at the injectors to keep the engine running.

Ray: I don't agree with your mechanic about the O-ring stuff. But regardless, since these injectors are so hard to get at, he does have two good reasons for doing all of the injectors at once: 1) He doesn't want to have a couple more injectors fail a few months from now and see you have to pay for the labor again, and 2) He doesn't want to accidentally replace the wrong injectors and have to do the labor again himself -- for free!

Tom: So if you plan to keep this car a while longer (and with only 83,000 miles, it certainly should last a while), you should probably bite the bullet and replace all of the injectors. It costs a lot, but that's the price of owning an expensive car; it's not just expensive to buy, it's expensive to fix, too.

Ray: In the meantime, your mechanic's advice for building up fuel pressure should help. Although in most cars, holding the key on for 20 seconds is overkill. The fuel pump usually shuts itself off after four or five seconds if the car doesn't start. So rather than burn out your battery and starter, I'd try cranking it for just a couple of seconds -- but do that several times -- before starting the car.

Tom: That should keep you going until you either fix it or swap it straight up for a Ford Escort. Good luck, Anne.

Auto repairs can be costly! Save money by ordering Tom and Ray's pamphlet "Ten Ways You May Be Ruining Your Car Without Even Knowing It!" To order, send (check or money order) to Ruin, P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475. You can also order online.

© 1998 by Tom and Ray Magliozzi and Doug Berman Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.

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