Hard cold start

[The_Raven]

Howyadoin,

The last two mornings, my '96 SLS has been really tough to start. I had to crank it 4-5 times, at about 5-7 seconds per attempt. Once it fired up, it ran fine. Ambient temperatures were in the 40-45 deg. F range, battery voltage around 11.3. Voltage went to 14.3 immediately after starting, went down to the high 13s after a minute or so.

Any recommendations on what to check first? Fuel pressure regulator, maybe?

Thanks!

[bjbinsjo]

had the same problem on mine and the fuel pressure regulator was the culpret. the dealer wanted to replace the injectors ($100 each) as well because they come with new saels and they said injectors had to come out to replace the regulator.

i said NFW and they looked for and found some seals ($4 ea).

[The_Raven]

Howyadoin,

I know you probably get tired of hearing this, Guru, but as usual your remote diagnostic skillz are par excellence...

Fuel pressure maxed out at 36 PSI with ignition in run, warm engine not running, and lost 8 PSI within 2 minutes of shutting off the ignition... GRONK!! Replaced fuel pump (looked to be original) and fuel filter. Now she goes right to 50 PSI before starting, and only loses 4 PSI after shutting. We'll see how she does in the morning.

Man, what a ballbuster of a job... Took 2 1/2 hours once we determined the pump wasn't putting out enough pressure. And the smallest part of the job is probably the hardest! Lining up the threads on the screw-on cover that secures the pump into the tank while the springs on the tank are pushing up against you isn't fun. They put a reference mark on the tank to line up to the mark on the pump, but the alignment there is obvious because of the location of the electrical connector. The cover should have a mark to tell you where to start turning so the bloody thing will sit flat. Thank God I have a mechanic who has a healthy dose of Clue (and works nights!)

-Rav