the engine is hard to start can you help me?

Hello,

Yes you can remove the top of the intake at which time you will be able to look for raw fuel at the pressure regulator. This is a very common problem with these trucks btw.

Here is a general guide that can help as well.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/engine-cranks-excessively-before-starting

Please let us know what happens, we are interested to see what it is.

Cheers, Ken

OK great, I think you mean the raw fuel will be in the cavity around the regulator and injectors if the injectors are bad. OK it maybe a few weeks before I tackle it. My work schedule want allow now , luckily I have a second truck to drive, But I will up date the post and let you know how it turns out. Thanks Ken

Okay, please let us know what happens.

Cheers, Ken

Well, finally got time to tear the 98 down. Sorry it took so long, got my son's ride up to date and off to college with him, had a accident while mowing and broke my foot, and all the other time consuming things that life throws at you. I removed the intake and found fuel puddled around injectors on cylinders 6 and 8. The truck had gotten even harder to start and when it was running I could smell fuel . I changed the injector unit with a new fuel regulator. I went from the factory spider to a MFI unit. Truck started and ran like a champ. I turned off and several times if fired up great. the next day when I came home it didn't want to start and the battery ran down.The starter had become very noisy and started spinning and disengaged .My fear was the flywheel had damaged teeth from the kickbacks that had happened during this process. I removed the starter to check the flywheel. The teeth were warn but still there. The bolt hole that the starter mounts to, had split and the outside piece of the ear was broken off The starter can swing to the side and disengage the flywheel. so bottom line it seemed to be fixed the day I finished, but I do not know for sure. Now, how in the world do I fix the starter mount problem!!!! The piece is broken off and i have it. There are two holes on the good side and the one that is broken but the starter only uses two. I uploaded a pic so you could see. Thanks for any help.

Welp, that's a bummer. The block is no good at this point. Call around and see if you can find someone that can weld cast iron would be the only way I can think of. If not its new engine time.

Sorry about that. glad you got it running though, hope your foot feels better, looks like its another curve ball.

Cheers, Ken

5.7l vortec, after sitting for a day or more truck becomes very hard to start, then seems to be missing at low speeds for the first 10 miles or so.If driven daily it seems fine.I replaced FI spider assy, didn't help. Replaced fuel pump and problem went away for 2 months and now is back worse then ever.Had mechanic check for 2hrs and couldn't find anything wrong.Problem seems to come and go.What should I be looking at next?
Thanks

You need to check the fuel pressure during the problem. This is a high pressure system that is very pressure sensitive. It needs to remain above 55PSI at all times.

Fuel pressure is OK.Today very wet and humid.Truck started fine but ran the worst it ever has.Engine miss up to about 40mph then runs fine.Idles smooth.No codes showing.If I rule out a fuel problem what would be the next thing to check?
Thanks,

lets check the fuel pump regulator vacuum line for fuel

yep it had fuel so I got a new one starts up great! thank you

Nice work, we are here to help, please use 2CarPros anytime.

I will

My truck will only start if i prime the carb.runs very good after it primed, and sometimes it will start after trying sevral times but mostly it has to be primed.

pull the vacuum hose off the fuel pressure regulator and turn the key on. If you see fuel spray out,replace the pressure regulator. The regulator is located on the fuel rail on the driver side of the engine.

We replaced the relay to the air conditioner compressor last fall. When the battery went dead because the air conditoner relay stuck a service tech used a portable booster pack to start the truck. Truck was starting normally before then and now we must crank two to ten times before it will start. The first several cranks it doesn't try to fire. Fuel pressure has been checked and holds for four hours. We replaced the crank sensor, cam sensor, fuel filters, rotor and cap.
If we turn the key on and off rapidly, before the fuel pump starts to pump, sometimes it will start when you crank on it the first time. The longer it sits the more we have to crank on it.

you said you have fuel pressure but im not sure you have enough volume of fuel. next time spraying starter fluid in the air intake then crank it over, if it starts right up then your fuel pump is not delivering enough volume of fuel to initially open the poppet nozzles on the injectors. this is very, very common on this fuel injection set up. the correct way to test it is to run a amp meter in series with the fuel pump, a good pump should pull around 10 amps. if your fuel pump pulls 8 amps or less it will take a long time to start and run. hope this helps

Thank you for answering so promptly. We were going to try the starter fluild in the morning. We didn't know if anyone else had this problem before and what they did to fix it..

well I believe I have 2 separate issues but too much info is better than too little

A couple months ago I started noticing a lack of power at heavy acceleration I could not get the engine above 3000 rpm except in park also could not get to go into passing gear (even manualy dropping to 3rd or 2nd) this got better as weather got warmer (felt normal with normal driving attitude)

My fuel pump has made a high pitched whine since I purchased vehicle 23000 miles ago (found that this can sometimes be normal)

Anyway what brings me to you is now the truck will not start I came home for a quick lunch about 15 minutes trying to leave the engine would just turn no start no cough quick troubleshoot found that I could not hear the pump whine

after replacing fuel pump truck started right up I let it run for a couple minutes called it good went to bed
overnight truck fired up in morning, again for a quick trip and again for lunch (about 9 milies driven)
upon my return the truck died in park and have not been able to start since I could not hear or see the fuel pump relay functioning could not hear pump (this one quiet) could hear pump running after jumpering relay pins 87 & 30
(constant 12v at 87 with 12v at pin 85 (relay terminal relay removed))
truck still would not start

I replaced the relay still nothing
I have not yet done the fuel pressure test or checked into my spark

I was wondering if you might have any other ideas before I throw a pressure regulator at it

OK first check for good spark if the spark is good then check the fuel pressure. I also would like you to check the cap and rotor, this type has a corrosion problem and I have had them toed to me to find it to be the cap and rotor.

This guide can help

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/car-cranks-but-wont-start

Let me know what you find.

carb cleaner wasnt enough to get it going but a quick shot of ether got it to turn over

found minor corrosion in relay sprocket not much but apparently enough to malfuction relay

got the pump going but could now hear it blowing bubbles in the gas tank (nylon tube lost its seat all no fuel was getting to the engine)

the truck starts and runs ok however it takes a little bit longer as though it is losing its prime

however the aforementioned problem is back as far as sudden acceleration (does not want to go above 3000 rpm or shift correctly) intermittant problem

I have not checked what psi the pump is putting out to engine now

thinking possibly dirty/clogged filter

Im pretty sure that its a HEI ignition under there but also sure the plugs could use a good cleaning or replacement

OK you really need to check the cap and rotor for corrosion and not it is not HEI that was back a few years it is a electronic however. Also if you would check the fuel pressure need to know what it is. Let me know what you find.

ok got the fuel pressures they are
60psi to prime and at start stays about
55 psi while idleing and fluctuates between 55 and 60 for everything else ( was unable to check pressure while driveing but did test with it in gear and brake on up too 1500rpm maxed)

At this point I had not pulled off EDI truck still working just harder to start and still falters on acceleration but working

I tried towing some vehicles with it with 97 cutlass had no other problems but with 92 s10 blazer about 20 miles out it started missing first just a pop maybe about twice a minute but eventually started sounding like popcorn I figured engine had pretty much had it so squeezed it as far as I could go as I got to a stop sign and let off accelerator the popping went away for the most part I still didnt have any power tho but it did make it back home

I pulled off EDI sure enough quite a bit of corrosion I changed the rotor and cleaned up the cap and changed the air filter so far still having the same problems allthough it is back to usual problems ( I can get it to miss sometimes if I put it in first and try to take off from there FYI first gear pedal to floor I can only do about 25mph at about 2700 rpm

In park I can hit 5000 rpm or higher with intermittant stumble about 4000 rpm
In neutral I can only get to about 3000 rpm

I should be changing plugs and wires sometime this week

also truck dies as soon as I pull the air cleaner off

OK the dieing when you remove air filter is ok shouldn't run without one anyway. I would like you to clean the mass air flow unit with mass air flow cleaner nothing else. Also check that cap and rotor if you haven't already. Once you do that and the wire let me know how it runs. If there is still a problem then you will need a digital multi meter so we can check the Mass Air Flow sensor.

i went ahead and changed the fuel filter first time ive ever seen black gas that ended up helping alot

also got wires and plugs changed ( changed rotor and checked cap prior to last post)

allthough it is still slightly hard to start a little slugish and lacking some torque It does now go above 3000 rpm for the most part the engine sounds healthy have heard or felt anymore misses from it

right now its acting like it is low on transmission fluid allthough it is not but it is definatly due for fluid flush and filter change in tranny, its getting pretty dark

ill get some mass air sensor cleaner tomarrow starting to feel like an idiot as most of this is just lack of routine maintenance

sorry have NOT heard anymore misses from it

Ok after you clean the mass air flow unit let me know how it runs and we will go from there. Don't feel bad we all get busy and forget the basic maintenance stuff.

well Ive cleaned the mass air flow havent drove much to say if it did any difference

however all previous symptoms are back plus more

anyway the truck idles fine
with slow application of acceleration rpm increases with hesitation or stumble every now and then

with quick acceleration massive hesitation plus backfire almost continueously (hasnt blown air cleaner off but I can see the hose stretch between maf sensor and throttle body)

after release of accelerator rpm increases back to about 900 rpm and it idles smoothly

(it was idleing at about 600 before plug and wire change)

now for the new i drove up to school about 20 minute drive went back to truck after getting directions to class the truck would not start back up (nowadays normal to fire up just at second crank) after about 5 attempts the battery was too discharged to turn engine I ended up getting a jump but still had to spray carb cleaner in to get it running in cab voltmeter showed 14 volts

the backfires started on my way home the next morning battery could only turn engine 2 start attempts

now I mentioned this because this has kinda happened before when I was trying to pull that blazer 2 weeks ago I pulled over because I had to restrap the tires on blazer I shut the truck down out of habit but could not start it again until I got a jump (engine would still turn but very slow when jump vehicle arrived) then after about 20 minutes of driving the backfires started

(I know I said misses sorry that was just wishful thinking and denial)

well I rechecked fuel pressure before the new problem was still at 60 psi to prime but would drop to 50 while running with slow acceleration pressure continued dropping got to about 35 psi at about 5000 rpm no longer backfires with quick acceleration just dies

now new problem on way home from work I could not touch accelerator without it stalling out it eventually died anyway could get it restarted for a bit with carb cleaner I got about 20 feet before it died again

I cranked the engine it turned ok but no start went to crank again and as soon as I got to run position all power went out dome lights everything

pulled and checked fuses they all looked good truck magically had power again truck started died then same power problem

in run and start I had absolutly no power at all accessory position worked


anyway pretty much nothing works accessory too

battery is just above 12 volts all fuses good the light on my cell phone charger is on and with the key in run position the gear indicator light comes on that is it no domes no brake lights nothing else

Does that all run through the vehicle control module?

I've been having an issue with my truck listed above k1500. it is having a hard starting lately but when it does it runs fine. i have already changed my cap and rotor. has a new fuel pump on it and is not throwing any codes. Sometimes it will start fine other times I will have to crank then stop a good 4 times sometimes even a dozen. My fuel pressure is holding tight at 55psi.

get a can of starting fluid next time you have a hard start spray it into the throttle body. Then tried to start it.

i Want To Fix My Problem Not Have To Spray Starting Fluid In Everytime Unless Its A Method You Use To troubleshoot

this test will tell us whether your getting fuel to the injectors or not. You will need to start here.

You need to hook it to a code reader that will show live data when it is not starting look at things like coolant temp,Intake air temp and readings like that a sensor may not be setting a code but may be giving false readings to ecm.