90 dx hard to start after sitting a day or two.

ppruepprue Wagonist
in Electronics, Fueling & Air Conditioning
After my wagon sits a few days it will not start. The motor just spins. You have to pump the gas a few times and eventually it will start up. It will start and run perfect after that initial start and as long as its being driven. When I park it and it sits a day or two, same problem. It's got a fairly new main relay, new dist. cap and rotor, fairly new plug wires, plugs and a new ignitor so I don't think fire is the issue. The fuel system seems to not be priming on that first start up. I'm not smelling any fumes. A mechanic told me to turn the key but not start the car a few times then on the 4th or 5th time try cranking the car, same result. I assume this is an attempt to prime the system.

When the car does eventually start up, I hear a muffled backfire under the hood then as I said the car is good to go.

The engine is 100% bone stock.

Any suggestions? Please Help.

Thanks

Comments

  • bam-bambam-bam Council Member
    Do you hear the fuel pump running when you turn the key on? It should run a short burst to prime the system, about 2 seconds.

    Another thing I've run into a couple of times: a faulty coolant temp reading can cause flooding, to the point where I had to Clean or change spark plugs.
  • ppruepprue Wagonist
    Some times I hear it and there are times that I'm not sure if I hear it or not. I haven't pulled the plugs to see what they are looking like. I've also noticed my mileage has decreased a little.
  • Silvertoe88RTSilvertoe88RT Wagonist
    pop the fuel line off the fuel filter put it in a cup and have a rag, see if it pumps- its not the safe way to do it but will give you the idea if fuel is being pumped. now it could be the pump is failing, the filter on the pump, the fuel filter, or the pressure regulator.
    flow test the pump, pressure test the fuel system, replace the fuel filter if it is old.
    confirm the injectors are spraying good- mist is good, drips/stream is bad.

    could you have water in the fuel?
  • ppruepprue Wagonist
    She lives!!, actually she wasn't dead. Just dying a slow death. The problem turned out to be the distributor. My rookie mistake was that I would get the car to run before I would try to troubleshoot the problem, the result was I couldn't find the problem because it would run perfect. A mechanic friend helped me with it and we didn't look at it at all till the problem presented itself. No fire, no pulse, no pump, no prime, blah blah blah. My friend told me a fast instantaneous death is sometimes better than slow death, I would have found my problem faster.

    Thanks for all the hints and suggestions.
Sign In or Register to comment.

© Vanilla Keystone Theme 2025