when i start my car it takes a few more seconds to fire up, i don't feel like its getting enough fuel pressure or something, i know some cars you barely turn the key and they fire right up!!!!
what's the problem??? any help would be appreciated.

 

Please do not take this as an insult, but a clarifying question: When you go to start the car, do you turn the key to ON and let the gauges sweep and the fuel pressure build, before you take the key to START?

Have you changed the fuel filter? On the 97 - 98 Vettes, the filter is tucked up into the frame rail on the rear driver's side. What about the plugs?

Again, no meaness intended, just food for thought.

Best regards,
Joe

 

this is an on going problem lately . a fuel psi test should be done . ive found an improvement by swapping grey relays in underhood elect center. im still testing

 

try leaving it in the on position... you should be able to hear the pump pressurize behind the driver seat if you listen carefully... when it stops go ahead and try to fire up...

 

I'm battling the same issue. It takes a little longer to fire up the first attempt, but if I back off it will catch, or on the 2nd attempt it will fire right up. Also if it sits for a few hours it fires right up. It's only when the car sits overnight.

I've replaced my battery and swapped the ignition relay but yesterday the problem was still somewhat there. Last night I pulled the negative battery cable because even though it was tightly clamped it would still rotate at the terminal if I put moderate pressure on.

I removed the connector lug and removed the plastic sheath, and the connector end had a lot of white corrosion due to an old battery leak (original battery). My theory is that the negative cable was not making a tight enough fit so during startup it may result in a high resistance in the ground circuit and affect the ignition from firing. After the initial flow of current is discharged, the circuit makes enough of a contact to fire up fine. Warmer temps may affect this condition. I thoroughly cleaned the connector end and reclamped.

So far this morning the problem seemed to be lesser, but I still need to test it a few more times. If this doesn't fix the issue, the next thing is to crawl under the car and check the engine block grounding point which is used by the PCM, FI and Ignition systems.

This problem is starting to surface more often on this forum, so I'm still wondering if gas formulas are changing enough to effect the PCM timing during ignition. Ethanol will cause hard starting, and for those of us that don't refill the tank that often it could be more prevalent.

 

Last week I was having two problems. The first was a gasoline smell and the second was slow starting. I had the fuel filter replaced (the dealer said they should normally be replaced at 50,000 mi, I have 45,000). Both problems were resolved. The slow starting resulted from reduced pressure caused by the slow leak at the fuel filter.

 

try priming the pump a few cycles. Turn the key to on until you hear the fuel pump stop pumping (primed) then off... repeat this process a few times before an initial start. If this helps then you've limited it to fuel.

 

I would buy this as an explanation for my issue (slow start), except I've tried several things that seem to rule out the fuel pressure:

• Turn key from ON to OFF several times. Each ON cycle energizes the fuel pump for 2 seconds, so there should be enough pressure to fire, but it's still slow on the first crank.
• Hit START for a single crank then back off. Then hit START and it fires immediately.
• After 3-4 hours of sitting, car fires up on the first crank.
• When the car is slow to start, if I crank it and then release, it usually catches and fires after I stop cranking. With the help of another forum member, I'm convinced this points to a possible ground issue and am in the process of fixing issues to see if it gets better.
• It only happens in the warmer months. In the winter the car fires immediately.

Also, I only have 33K miles.

 

I've been seeing this exact problem for the last month or so. At any rate, I am going to put a fresh tank of Techron in. There was a time in the last few months that I've had to use something other than Techron due to time.

 

what year is your vette? my 97 was doing that and i found the problem was in the rear fuel feed tube...it has a built in check valve only on 97 and some early 98..check the fuel pressure on the rail and see if pressure drops off quickly after turn key on....

 

I'm joining this club.

3-4 cycles needed to get fired up. I'm concerned about starter life (with LT headers, I'm not too motivated to change the starter anytime soon.)

I've eliminated electrical / igntion issues (I think) and am now looking at fuel pressure issues. (H/C & bolt-on engine, car runs strong once it gets started, just like you guys, right?)

I did a 20 min. fuel pressure leak down test on the fuel rail and the gauge held the pressure at about 54-55 and I've read that the pressure should be 55-60.

If the engine runs strong once it's fired up, what else is there to troubleshoot?

 

JC in XTC5 Wrote:

"When the car is slow to start, if I crank it and then release, it usually catches and fires after I stop cranking."

Not very often but I have seen this due to a faulty ignition switch (electrical portion – not the lock cylinder). What happens is you loose the ON power when you turn the switch to the START position. Soon as you let off the starter and rotate the key back to ON everything’s powered back up and the engine fires up. So when you’re cranking it the PCM thinks you turned the key to OFF. Hope this makes sense. Anyway just something else to think about and good luck with this problem.

 

good tip ron worth looking into. i checked my 1st start cranking psi. it was good , came up fast and to spec but didnt hold psi.it dropped within 20 sec. 2nd test it held .i still want to put a 'noid' on and check 1st time cranking. funny thing is i put in a new relay and changed fuel filter. it seemedto make an improvement but still its not like when you just turned the key it would bam fire. ironicly i did not like that in winter i want a little cranking rpm for oil psi. careful what you wish for i guess. i,m still gonna test cuz my 07 z06 is due in jan [maybe]