intermittent hard start/no start

[sponge]

car is a 2002 3.4 with ~120k miles

only when car is hot, sometime will crank long, or it will take a few times to actually start. always starts right up every morning.

recent maintenance includes fuel filter, air filter, cleaned maf sensor, oil change and filter, pcv valve. i have no fuel pressure gauge, and i'm suspecting a failing fuel pump. what should i do?! any suggestions appreciated!!

edit: no codes at all!

[Fuzzyspudkiss]

My car does this all the time...Mechanic told me "its a GM engine thing" and that GM engines always take a while to start when they are warm...I had new sparks, cleaned the MAF...Starts perfect in the winter and runs perfect always...she just is "Cranky" starting when warm...

[zearchyo]

its a GM engine thing

how come my dont get cranky when hot, hey maybe u need a new mechanic

[colonel6632]

mine does this all the time too. warm, cold anytime. it'll crank, kinda fire on 2 cyl then dies. then cranks for a long time, then fire and runs fine.

it's doing doing it for 3 years, and my starting has been dragging to. so i'm not worried about it

[sleepyalero]

mine also does it, im pretty sure its a Gm thing... there is alot of "gm things"

[Fuzzyspudkiss]

[QUOTE=Fuzzyspudkiss;594907]its a GM engine thing [QUOTE]

how come my dont get cranky when hot, hey maybe u need a new mechanic

What engine do you have? My mechanic is awesome btw.

And yeah, there does seem to be a lot of GM eccentricities....unfortunately lol

[zearchyo]

okay. theres several of u guys, with this gm thing going on. is it a 3.4 engine thing? bc i have the 2.4 twin cam, with no start problems

[Redog]

How long is excessivlly long?

Mine doesn't seem to do this.

[Malibu369258]

My Malibu with the 3100 did that, the Alero with the 2.2 did not...

[a.graham52]

try priming the fuel system before starting it (turn the key to on for 5 secounds, then off and then crank) and see if that helps. could be your check valve in the sending unit is starting to leak?. its also possible that with the engine hot its causing the fuel to boil in the line much like an old carb engine would do.

[Fuzzyspudkiss]

When I prime the fuel system it doesn't seem to make a difference...there is about a 60/40 chance that it will take 4-7 seconds to start. I believe someone else mentioned this as well, but I've also noticed that sometimes it will fire on 2 or 3 cylinders but not have enough umph to start on its own (or so it sounds). Like I said before its not really a problem, it runs fine afterwards. Its just annoying if there are attractive women around and you car sounds like a Ford Pinto...

I have the 3400, I think its a 3100/3400/3800 thing...

[mastershake]

could also be the coolant temp sensor.

[a.graham52]

could also be the coolant temp sensor.

this is true. "priming" the fuel system would account for a lean condition (lack of fuel in the rail) so try starting it with your foot to the floor (clear flood mode). let her crank for a second so it lets fuel enter the chamber and then put the pedal to the floor and see if it starts better that way. of course once the engine fires let of the gas and dont let it rev way up. if its running rich during start up (ect, iat sensor fault) this could make a difference.

[AlbinoMonkeyRat]

for my LD9, cold starts, summer or winter, were always quick. (but loud in the winter). hot starts in the summer take a couple extra revolutions but it purrs quietly, and hot starts in the winter had more of a growl and seemed to fire up before I turn the key all the way :lol:. but get on the road after a few minutes, it mellows out, all conditions, to the same level.

[sponge]

wow this site is awesome lots of replies :D thanks all! it's not the coolant temp sensor that is new when the gaskets were done...and I will have to try the priming thing...I dont think it's a gm thing cuz I have a p.o.s. blazer that always cranks right up...and yes the reason for this thread is cuz this happened in front of three lovely ladies and I looked like a total scrub so I wanna get this taken care of!

again thanks everyone!

[sponge]

and also it runs amazing once started which confuses the hell outta me...tho my trans is going :/ lol

[MMGT1]

Sounds to me like you need to clean the injectors. Without proper atomization, fuel will "puddle" and its going to take a few cranks of the engine to get it to fire up. Our cars fire up in Open Loop, the computer could care less what is really going on and just uses a programmed table for start up. If your injectors are dirty, or an air filter is plugged, its going to make it really hard to fire up. If you do clean your injectors, find a shop that uses Forte CB-30... wink, wink...

[Rippasnortus]

I used to have trouble starting......it would crank and crank and not a sign of starting, other times it would start right up. Now when I turn the key to on if I can hear the hum of the fuel pump I know it will start when the key is turned all the way to start. If no hum I turn key off and retry till I hear the hum then to start. Mine has the 3.4 L engine and since it's been a pretty darn good car otherwise with almost 225,000 kms I can live with it.

[a.graham52]

I dont think it's a gm thing cuz I have a p.o.s. blazer that always cranks right up...
3400 and 4.3 are two COMPLETELY different familys. the 4.3 is like the black sheep of small blocks seeings how its a 350 cast with 2 less cylinders.

the 3100, 3400, 3500, 3800?, 3900? all their own family and design.

[sponge]

now when you say clean the injectors, you don't mean simply using the fuel injector cleaner you get from autozone do you? i haven't used that in a while

[a.graham52]

it wouldnt hurt. i use a gallon of 100LL from our local airport once in a great while.

[richthofen]

Sounds like what mine was doing for about a month, though kind of in reverse--it would be hard to start when cold, but would start right up when warm. Then one morning it just wouldn't start at all. Still chasing that one down but I'm leaning toward a failed fuel pump, so keep an eye on your situation and see if you can hear the fuel pump engage the next time it's hard to start.