Been having a problem for a while where my 2000 wouldnt fire right away every time. I would take the key out and try again and after 2-3 trys it would fire and run fine. So i assumed it was a fuel issue (it was throwing pcm code 0171 and 0174). No it wont fire at all, i dont hear the fuel pump priming when the car is turned on. Is there an inline fuel pump relay somewhere? The owners manual only shows What's in the under hood fuse panel.

Any ideas??

 

^^^^ exactly. It cranks fine, just would not run. Occasionally it would start but be at extremely low idle then die. But once it started correctly it would run with absolutely no issues

 

Well that gives me a solid start. I'll keep the forum updated in case anyone else is experiencing this problem!

 

Probably a different issue, but mine (very) occasionally will not start right away. It'll fire and run for about half a second, then die. I know it's gonna die when I don't see the gauge needles sweep. I crank again and it starts up properly right away, and the needle do their happy little sweep. Has never failed to start on the second crank.

 

I've posted this here before and I'm guessing that many discount this possibility, but, it can be your starter. On mine, I went through what you are for about a year and a half, maybe two. Finally broke down and bought a new starter (genuine AC Delco GM one) and put it on. Viola, ALL electrical/"fuel" issues on the car went away.

My thought was, and this is just my theory... the starter motor which turns the car over ok, is weak. That weak motor pulls more current while cranking than it should. The PCM does a 'sample and hold' digitally on the system voltage and uses that initial voltage reading it takes as the reference to all other engine sensors while running. Makes sense in that sort of system, you would not continually sample a 'known constant' voltage. Only, they don't sample it when it's constant.

So anyway, the additional current draw by the starter makes the system voltage lower, thus that low reading gets used as the bias for everything engine related, and it runs like chit. Stumbles, stalls, won't idle at the set rpm, etc. Turn the engine off and back on and it's fine. Huh, how about that. Second time it turns over the engine isn't as hard to move, thus less current, and the voltage is proper and the engine runs better than it did on a cold start.

Hey, if you're chasing your tail and have any doubt about the starter, just replace it. And do so with a quality one, not a generic poj. And fyi, I did have the starter wiring off several times trying to make better contact (on the old starter) to no avail.

I also didn't want to waste money but I actually did the starter because I was going to replace what I felt were perfectly good battery cables, and they cost as much or more than a new starter. Glad I chose the route I did, the battery cables were just fine and still are.

 

any updates from the OP?

 

Sorry for the delay in response, took me some time to get a few hours to look at the issue. Voltage to the fuel pump was a little low so I narrowed it down to isolate that first. Found a good amount of corrosion under the battery on one of the leads; cleaned that off and didn't see any other issues. Haven't had the problem now in over a month!! Hopefully the corrosion was just limiting the power to the fuel pump causing it not to prime correctly. If it comes back up i'll post updates!!