well the car doesnt want to start on the first try (ever) and always starts on the second try. i am getting tired of this and want whatever it is fixed. i asked my mechanic and his buddy says "well the LT1 is a quirky engine, it'll do that"

to bad everyone else can start theres up first try.

then when it does start it sounds like its running but not up to full strength.....a little throttle and its purring great and runs great under all conditions.

can someone please tell me what this might be ?
he also said that it just needs to be driven as i just bought it and it used to set alot. the previous owner told me that it has always done it ? ? ? ? so what is going on here? i am trying to clean up the injectors but only with max 44 (fuel tank additive), i will do the full flush with toluene throught the vacuum lines if you think that will fix it.

thanks

 

I had a similar problem. Went away when I got a new opti...

 

Does sitting for a while make it worse? Like you take it for a ride, park it and come back 2 or 3 hours later and it starts fine but let it sit for a day and the problem shows up?

If so it could be the check ball in the fuel pump sticking open allowing pressure in the fuel lines to bleed off. Try doing 2 things one easy and the other a little harder. When you know the problem is going to occur, try turning the key to on but do not start the car. Then turn the key off after 5 seconds. Then turn the key to on with out starting again for 5 seconds and turn the key off. Then try starting the car. If it starts on the first crank, you know the fuel is running back in the fuel lines.

By turning the key on an off, you are priming the fuel lines by turning the fuel pump on and off. The other thing you could do is hook a fuel pressure gage to the fuel rail and see how fast the pressure bleeds off. Try the key trick and let us know what happens.

 

Check the fuel pressure, when you turn the key off does the pressure slowly bleed down? When you first turn the key on what is the PSI, does it loose pressure with the key in the on position?

 

Mine has to crank for about 5 secs on the first start of the day. I know my opti is worn though it has 127k on it.

 

Its not the pressure that cuases the problem, its that the check ball that is there to hold the pressure leaks, thus cuasing the pressure to drop. This causes the primed fuel system to no longer be primed and thus the hard starts.

 

I have read about another situation like that where the primary curcuit for the fuel pump has failed (fuse,relay) so there is a secondary circuit triggered when you actually crank the car (triggered by opti?). I read it on this board but I'm not sure about the details. Someone here knows for sure or you might try a search. Good luck.

 

I've checked this in my 93 service manual, and it's the same thing: check ball in the fuel pump letting pressure bleed off.

 

It seems the consensus is to start by checking your fuel delivery, i agree with them.

 

If the relay goes, there is nothing that backs it up. If you lose the low resolution from the opti, it will shut down the injectors and the pump.

 

yep//fuel pump..

 

thanks for all of the replys........i have been starting it from only about 6/8 of a turn and it usualluy goes 1st time now. if it persists and it will because it fickle......im going fuel pump first.

thanks again

BTW.....Boyd Coddington Smoothie II's and Nitto 555's should be in in about another week, i am excited

 

It's your fuel pump. I went through that for a year and finally replaced the #*$%%^ thing. Does it start better with a full tank than less than half? That was my other symptom. You are going to love the install for that pump.

 

Hey Rob, in my 94 the fuel pump is activated 2 possible ways. The relay and if that fails, the oil pressure switch once the oil pressure reaches 4psi. That is one of the troubleshooting items for hard starting. You have to crank a long time to get the pressure up to 4psi. So is the 96 or 97 different?

 

Since there is only one wire to the oil pressure sensor and it goes to the gauge, I don't see how it is possible for the pcm to know what the oil pressure is. I believe the sensor is capable of suppying the information because it has three terminals, but since there is only one wire leaving... I know what it says in the book, but I believe it is a throwback to when they did have this enabled. MHO.