Hi,

So my car is a 94 LT1, with just under 60k and a stock fuel pump.

I recently ran it out of gas (bad fuel gauge). After getting gas from friend, the car fired and drove home.

Ever since, it takes very long to cold start. Sometimes if I pump the gas it will start a bit quicker. Once the car has been running and reaches operating temp it starts first crank (like it used to before I ran it out of gas). There are no other symptoms. Once the car is on, it runs/idles 100%.

It's just that initial start that kills me.

Any ideas?

For the record, I haven't changed the fuel filter since then or anything.

Thanks!

 

Best guess would be running the fuel pump dry messed up its ability to check-valve fuel in the line and it drains back into the tank, yielding not enough pressure for your initial start.

A good way to test this would be to have a fuel pressure gauge hooked up before the regulator on the fuel line.

two cheaper ways to test this theory would be:
put the key in run (fuel pump runs for 1-1.5 seconds), do not start, repeat process 4-6 times, then attempt to start as you once did, if it works, then that's the problem

another method would be to shut it down and immediately start it up again.

I would favor the first method to test the theory, although I do not know the interior schematic of the fuel pump, I assume it either uses its vanes to maintain pressure and not back-feed into the fuel tank, or a check-valve.

 

Well I am a newb and not a mechanic by any means but one thing I have learned is apparantly the Camaro Fuel tanks are very odd-shaped and GM poorly forgot to design a counter-measure...

I have a 97 z28...I picked it up today with the needle barely out of the orange and went 2 miles and put 3.997 Gallons of gas in...the gauge jumped to over 1/2...
READ THIS
http://shbox.com/1/4th_gen_tech2.html#fuel_gauge
GREAT SOURCE FOR INFO
I would think a simple fix would be a gauge which reads 1/4 at 3/8 and 1/2 at 3/4....or something along those lines...

I used to always fill the tank up at 1/4 to 1/2 and nothing less but that doesn't work well with these camaro's....really bad design by GM and I am a Laid off GM worker saying that.... lol

BTW I ran out of gas twice last summer and now I am having hesitation/surging/stalling issues...so definately keep your car FULL of GAS!

 

Running the tank dry poses the threat of overheating the fuel pump, it's possible that your pump is on its way out. Not only does having fuel in your tank allow you to drive, it cools the pump while doing so.

The first half of my "gauge reading" I get approx. 200mi. The second half until I fill it, 40mi.

 

Thanks, I will check this.

If it does start normally after I prime it 4-6 times, does this simply mean I need a new fuel pump?

 

That would be a safe bet

 

For CLARITY's sake

"put the key in run (fuel pump runs for 1-1.5 seconds), do not start, repeat process 4-6 times, then attempt to start as you once did, if it works, then that's the problem"

Is that PRIMING?

Like pressing the little rubber ball (Primer) on the push lawn mower?

 

Check your fuel pressure, and see if its losing fuel pressure rapidly on pump shutdown. If it is, it can also by a faulty fuel pressure regulator (check the vacuum line to the FPR for fuel) and leaking injectors (pull the rails up and look for drips from the injectors). If its the fuel pump, it may just be the check valve, as mentioned in the first response. That will only make it slow to start, but will not affect the way the engine runs. Pump may still be good, except for the valve.

 

Checked the injectors, they are not leaking. I tried the above mentioned idea about priming, and sure enough....it fires right up after "priming" it.

Well, I guess I'll have to wait unit this pump goes bad...

Thanks for the answers, guys.