never starts on the first try

[Irish Pride]

My 91 has got to the point where it does not start on the first turn of the key. 99% of the time it will fire right up on the second turn but once in a blue moon it will take a third time to get it to fire. If the car has been sitting for a while, like over night, it sputters for a few seconds once it starts and then the idle will smooth out and it runs fine from that point on. Once i turn it off it will not restart on the first try. Any thoughts?

 

[luigisho]

Fuel pressure leaking back into the tank?

 

[Phoenix]

Fuel pressure leaking back into the tank?

Yea im gonna go with a faulty checkvalve , which is in the fuel pump.

 

[kevinspann]

I had an issue like that on my mom's Buick. The Schrader valve in the fuel rail was loose/bad. I replaced it, and the car fired right up on the first try.

 

[jonheese]

My first thought was the check valve too. Try this:

Next time you go to start it, just turn the key to "ON", not all the way to "START". You will hear the fuel pump hum as it primes for a couple seconds. Then turn it off. Repeat this procedure 2-3 times and then see if the car starts right up.

If this "fixes" the issue, then it's definitely the check valve, and a new fuel pump is in your future. If it still takes 2-3 actual cranks after 2-3 "primes" to start, then it's something else, but I think that's very unlikely.

 

[Irish Pride]

I'll give that a try here in a little bit.

If i'm looking at a pump in my near future should ireplace it with a higher pressure pump?

 

[jonheese]

Eh. Not unless you plan on needing it for something.

For a stock SHO with a properly functioning fuel delivery system, I'm aware of no benefit to using a higher flow (not pressure) pump. All it will do is cause more fuel to flow back to the tank through the return hose.

 

[Jh8990]

yeah like he said just prime the fuel pump every time before you start it.

 

[StAnGbAnGeR]

Meh....I just dealt with a very similar issue on my SHO. Put a fuel pressure gauge on it, and see what it reads on the first priming. My car was only seeing 12psi max! (after multiple priming's!) I ended up removing the pump and sender to find that the brass fitting in my fuel pump was 1/2 out, causing pressure to bleed into the tank. I chased my ass around on this, checking codes and all. The fuel pump issue seemed to cause quite a few other issues. Hope this helps. You can also view my thred here ----->http://www.shoforum.com/showthread.php?t=112807

 

[SuperHO]

i had the same issue on my 95...i ended up replacing the sending unit with the one out of my old 92 with my same pump and everything's been fine ever since. last i checked, a walbro 155 was cheaper the OEM...i personally feel if you gotta replace something, upgrade in the process.

 

[SHOclass]

Same issue on my 95' a while back, but it seemed to happen more often in warmer weather. I ended up replacing my starter after dealing with that issue for quite some time, and I did not replace my fuel pump. Now it starts right up first time, our issues sound similar but maybe yours needs a different solution.