I just got the car, so i dont know what good or bas gas mileage is. I do know that one time i cranked the motor and noticed that there was fuel right behind the TB butterflies. Not sure whats going on, but i will jot down the great advice and try and test the regulator.

 

I got 220 miles on 13 gallons and 250 with 13 gallons on the highway. Automatic. Manuals will get more. Since your's is speed density it might be a little lower, I have heard people saying they get 2 or so mpg less.

 

My trip doesnt work so i dont know how i'd test it out. Is it possible for the regulator to go back without being wet or smelling like fuel?

So far we have that the injectors could be leaking, or the regulator could be faulty.. Are there any other components that might cause a hard start? It definitely sounds like a fuel delivery problem.

 

Just watch your mileage, don't need a trip to see how many miles you put on.

And also, go buy a fuel pressure gauge, mine was 40 bucks. It will tell you everything you need to know.

1) attach pressure gauge
2) turn the car to "on" so it primes. do not start it.
3) pressure should be between 40-45
4) turn car to "off" and let it sit for 20 minutes.
5) pressure should not go down at all. Maybe 2 psi, if that even. wait another 40 minutes so it's been an hour. Pressure should go down a little, but still hardly at all.
6) if the pressure goes down very slowly, it could be either pressure regulator or injectors.
7) if it goes down fairly fast, like to 15-20 psi within the hour, i would say it is the injectors.

Also, this is very important, have you done what i suggested and smelled the vacuum line on the regulator yet? doing this will tell you exactly right then and there what it is. The regulator is the piece on the back of the intake manifold that is round, about 3 inches long, and has a small black line coming out of it pointing towards the passanger side. Take the line off the regulator or the manifold (the line actually leads into the manifold) and smell it or see if it is wet. do this then report back

ShibbyZ

 

Shib...

Car's in the shop.. but i will complete my assignment and then report back when the cars out of the shop!

 

Well i got the car out of the shop (NIGHTMARE)

i havent had a chance to hook up a pressure guage to the rail yet, but i had nother question.

Are there any sensors that might also cause a hard start problem? I noticed that after cranking the motor until it starts i get this very high vaccum from the little hole on the bottom of the throttle body... is starts off sucking alot of air, and then quiets down.. is that the IAC?.. is it normal?

It seems that hooking a guage up to the rail is a hitter or miss thing.. i say that because if the pressure is bleeding off too fast then its either a leaky injector or regulator.. but which one! of the two possible causes?

 

I'd guess that if the pressure is leaking off fast, and you've lifted the fuel rails and found no leaks from the injectors then it must be the FPR losing pressure by leaking fuel into the intake. The only other thing that would cause a pressure loss would be a bad ball valve in the fuel tank, but given your symptoms I'd say its not your pump.

As I said in my earlier post, I have the same problem, even down to a very strong gas smell for the first few seconds of startup before it settles down. But my oil smells strongly of gas so I assume it is my injector leaking petrol right into the cylinders and down the sides of the pistons. I'm going to lift my rails next week to see.

I guess thats the IAC doing the job of being a choke, it lets more air into the motor without the throttle blades having to move.

 

OH wow we do have the same symtoms. I will go sniff my oil again, but the last time i did.. it didnt smell like fuel. Someone hinted that its just the car showing its age... but that doesnt explain the way rich smell when it first kicks over. HA! let me know what you find and i'll replace the same part on mine :-P

 

How do you remove the FPR anyway? its so far underneath.

 

Well after cutting my hands and spending 2.5 hours on removing and replacing it, here is what I did.

1: Take the small vacuum hose off (you did check that right????)
2: There is a bolt that is on a clamp holding the two metal parts of the fuel lines together. I thought it was easier to loosen this.
3: Take the clip off the line that is going into the FPR that is by the base of the FPR, then obviously take the fuel line out.
4: There is a bolt holding the FPR onto the back of the manifold, unbolt that and take the FPR off.

Obviously for installing just reverse those.

It is a tight space but is manageable. Just hard on the hands.

ShibbyZ

 

Also check the fuel pump. The check could be bad and it will do the same thing.

 

I pulled off the hose and it was dry. I am going to try and crank over the motor and then take it off and smell it. I do remember having fuel right at the butter flies.. so i think the regulator is pushing fuel through there... and flooding things.

 

If you do actually have fuel at the throttle plates, you have a major problem. I find it near impossible that you don't have fuel in the oil.

Next, I don't understand why it's been 9 days and you still have not pulled the hose off the regulator and applied a vacuum. Hell even suck on the damn hose for god sake.

The pump is not your problem although the check ball in the pump can create a hard starting issue. That problem would be the opposite. Fuel draining away from the fuel rails.

Your problem, if it is flooding in the intake, could only be from 2 things. Injectors or the regulator but the injectors are more likely. If that is the case, you should be able to look at the plugs and see which one it is.

 

Fine Fine!

Hey speedy are you counting

The problem is that when i get home its dark. I dont have a garage.. so it all has to wait til the weekend, and this weekend i was busy changing the trans mount. I will pull the darn hose tonight and give it a wiff.

 

Finally!

I finally got a guage on the fuel rail and the pressure bled of pretty darn quickly. I pulled the vac hose that goes into the from intake from the fpr and it was dry and didnt smell of gas. The guy at the shop says that he thinks the fuel pump is going out, but couldnt tell me for sure if it was an injector problem or fuel pump.

The tech said that if the injectors were leaking then i'd have driveability problems and it would smoke when i drove it.

I am guessing that my next move would be to pop the injectors out and charge the rail with fuel to see if any leak.