Lately my car has been starting hard. It has been cranking longer and longer lately. About 2 months ago it wouldnt. A month a go it did occasionally. This month has been awful cranking for a good few seconds befor it fires up.

Today I changed the fuel filter thinking there was a clog in the old one but that doesnt seem to be it as of right now. I let the car cool down when I came home from the shop and then started it about an hour later. Still cranking befor it fires up.

So far to try to figure out what the problem is I have done the following.
Turned the car to "On" let the pump, and radio etc start up then turning the car on. Seems to solve the problem. So I figured there was a clog in the filter and it was just taking longer to get through. Turns out thats not it.
I also tried giving the car some gas when starting the car and it fired right up, I later found out that was bad to do with EFI.

I need ideas on what it could be. My dad said it sounded like the choke?
Im guessing everything ignition related and fuel related is stock still. Give me ideas guys.

 

Well thre can be a few things that are the reason.

Having a clogged fuel filter never helps, so good you did that.

Get a fuel pressue guage and test it at the fuel rail and see what your pushing for PSI, you should be in the 40's easy. If not, like low 30-s down to almsot 0, you HAVE A FUEL PUMP PROBLEM!

Your opti could be a problem but UNLIKELY, but keep in the back of your mind.

I would have your starter pulled and tested at a local place, cus if the starter is weak its turning the flywheel but maybe its doing it slow..... could be an idea.

Its always fuel and spark, so i mean do all this, even a refresh of wires and plugs if fuel pressure is great and starter is fine. If that doesnt work, have it scanned, if no codes get thrown,.....then id look at the opti. as a possible reason

 

How could I tell if its ignition related, such as plugs wire or opti. Would giving the car gas give more of a spark and ignite the gas quicker?
And turning the car "On" helped it out a lot so thats why Im guessing it was fuel related. And the fact that when I gave it gas it also fired right up.
Thats why all my guess are going towards the fuel.

 

Alright I just found out EFI dont have a choke lol.
My guess is now going towards fuel pressure. I will take it to a shop and have them test that out for me.

 

Maybe it does not seem to point to it, but check your coil wire and all connections at the coil. Any other noticeable drivability problems?

 

Going out on a limb here and I certainly will not go against shoebox in any way but I would have your injectors professionally cleaned through the fuel rail.

I did my friends 3800 in an oldsmobile that was doing the same thing. Fixed it.

Unrelated but always a good idea, do the regular maintenance things too. Clean the TB the EGR and the IAC. change plugs and wires. If the O2's are old think about them too. Don't forget a distributor and rotor gets corrosion too!! In this case change the whole distributor.

good luck

 

As of right now I have plans to go to the shop next week to get the fuel presure checked out. Could there be any chance its the battery not sending enough power or no? Im learning so Im just throwing out ideas.

 

If you had a battery low enough to cause problems, you would see other things as well. Slow cranking, a whole bunch of weird stuff happening not to mention SES lights, Volt meter bobbing(alot) when blinker on and the like.

I noticed you have a K&N. I know of people who have over oiled them a bit and the oil residue coverd the wire in their MAF. Check and clean with electrical cleaner but DON"T touch it.

 

That could be the problem I remember putting on a little more than recomended but that was also 10k miles ago.
Can you give me a little bit more of a detailed description and pictures by any chance?
I know where the MAF is but what do you mean clean with electrical cleaner (if it is dirty) and dont touch it? Does it just spray on or what?

 

I have sent you an email with the picture of the inside of the MAF. I don't know how to post things here in this format. I didn't mean to give you the impression that the wire dirty problem could have anything to do with starting but will definately cause running problems. I just wanted you to be aware that oiled filters can do that.

Check what shoebox said and get those injectors cleaned the right way.

good luck and check your email

 

If you "prime" the fuel pump for a couple of secs like you said... and your car starts fine.... it has absolutely nothing to do with ignition or your MAF and everything to do with your fuel system. So don't waste your time.

If it was ignition related or MAF related... you could turn the key to "on" to prime the Fuel Pump as much as you want and nothing should improve.

It has everything to do with your fuel system. Your car keeps fuel in the fuel lines under pressure. If the pressure slowly leaks out... then it will take a while for you to start the car, since the car needs adequate fuel pressure to start.

Your car has a problem starting after sitting for long periods of time but works fine if you let it sit for a while and then start it up. This would indicate a slow leak.... probably in the morning, you have problems.. not in the afternoon after driven.

Now... do you smell any fuel? If not, the leak is not external to the environment. That limits it to an "internal" leak. Therefore, fuel leaking back into the system somewhere.

If you don't get a strong fuel smell at start-up... i doubt your injectors are leaking enough to cause this problem.

Now... if your fuel pump is having problems and allowing fuel to leak back into the tank... you wouldn't notice any smell... just hard start-up.

Definately check your fuel pressure. Test it at WOT conditions (your mechanic will know how to do this). You can also allow him to test it overnight or over the day to test pressure drops over time.

Hard start-up related to the Fuel Pump may mean something else is failing on your pump.. this test will usually show similar results.

If this is the case, my suggestions.. change the fuel pump before it fails completely and you are left stranded.

How do I know? I had the same problem.. and I left it 'till it was too late and had to get the car towed.

PS. With low pressure, you'r ebound to run Very lean at WOT when the pump can't keep up.... so avoid WOT passes as being too lean is very bad for the engine.

Good luck.

 

Wow Cman that was very detailed I appreciate it. Unfortunatly I cant really afford to leave the car there overnight to have him test it over time. I could let him do it then let it sit for an hour or 2 but I always need it the next day/ morning. Everything you said sounds like whats happening. The really hard start in the morning. The not haveing a problem if I just drove it 30 minutes ago.
Well if it does turn out to be the fuel pump what kind of replacement should I go with. Could it be the presure release valve? Should I just do both the valve and the pump at once to be safe?
I have never smelled the fuel so from what you said its internal.
It could be a month or 2 befor I have money for this but if it does fail my parents can help me out. Ill just pray it wont though.
Thanks guys, I guess it definetly sounds like the fuel presure is letting out but I will know for sure Tuesday.
Can I get any hints on what kind of pump to get. I never plan on pushing HUGE numbers. Im guessing its cheaper to go aftermarket than stock in this case. A link or any info will help on that.

 

There's two ways you can access the fuel pump... the right way (lots of $$$) and the ghetto way (less $$$).

The right way... you'll have to drop your whole rear end, then drop the tank. See my pics at http://members.rogers.com/cbattaglin/ to see what they did with mine. The fuel pump in our cars is REALLY hard to get to. So I'd just replace the whole thing when you get there.


The Ghetto way... remove the carpeting from that back of your rear seats and cut a hole through the metal..... you (or the mechanic) can then access it that way. I didn't want to cut up my car... so I spent the money. It'd have to be a pretty big hole to get the whole thing outta there.

You could also through on an aftermarket, inline pump... but they usually make a lot more noise... and will be a little more stressed when your in-tank fule pump dies.

I let mine go for 6months before mine died so you will have a little time... I think.

Good luck... I feel for you... I was really pi$$ed when mine died. Lots of cash and I didn't go any faster!

 

Well the shop said 5 hours worth of labor is what the book stated so that would be 300 bucks. I would much rather do it that way than to cut up my car. I guess I will PRAY I make it til summer or late spring to do this cause I need to spend my money on other things right now

 

After I get tested I will know for sure if its the fuel presure. But you obviously know what your talking about, unfortunatly from experience. What should I be looking for in pump. LPH all that stuff I need to know everything and my other question is how do inlines work. Meaning do they last a long time what runs them, how loud is it? I dont hear much as it is in my car so Im gonna dynamat a bunch of the floor boards.
You guys need to teach me about these pumps.