scottkern3

Hey all!
First post. My dad just gave me his '98 silverado and has been hard to start when it's cold. He took it in about 2 months ago and they said it was probably the Cats.(they weren't sure). I just wanted to run it by you guys before I spend $350 on new cats. After it starts, it runs fine. I can turn it off and on, no problem when it's warm. If it sits overnight or for a couple of hours it takes forever to start. I had to drive my car this morning because it was taking too long. The other day I gunned it and it seemed to hesitate and wouldn't pick up speed like it should (it was warm when I did this). It has run fine other than that hesitation that one time. Idle is perfect, no check engine light, it's just the starting cold thing. I bought a fuel pressure tester but don't know where to hook it up at. Is there a ballast resistor on this thing? Please help! Thanks.

Scott

An89Chevy

how many miles on the truck. i doubt its the cats. does it have a hard time turnig over?

cdusthockey

sounds like you're having some fuel problems. i bet your fuel pump is going bad. explains why your truck is hard starting and why you dont have enough fuel when you put her to the floor.

scottkern3

Well, I just replaced the fuel pump relay, dist. cap and rotor. Still the same. I got it started but it took about 5 min. I'm not sure what to do, I guess I'll test the IAC tomorrow. It's getting spark continously(I had the timing light hooked up). Ideas: Air Intake Temp. Sensor, Coolant Temp. Sensor.

It has 225,000 miles on it. the engine was replaced at 100,000 under warranty. It turns over like a champ. It gets to the point where you think it's going to start... then nothing (still cranking though). It gets to the point where you would stop cranking on a good starting car.

scottkern3

I bought the wrong type of fuel pressure tester... I need the screw-on type.. post back soon.

scottkern3

ok , the fuel pressure is 45. when I try to start it drops to about 38 then when I stop cranking to goes back up to 45. if I don't do anything it slowly goes down to about 43 in about a minute then holds at 43.

scottkern3

I read on another forum that the pressure should be between 58 - 64 so I bought a fuel pump $239. Since the tanks full I'm going to take the bed of the truck off. I took off the 8 bolt holding it on last night (pain in the ***). I'll take off the bumper and rear tires, slide the bed back 2 feet and supposedly I should be able to get at the tank. I'll post tomorrow how it goes and if that was the problem.
I drained the tank on my suburban 2 years ago to get to the pump and I don't want to do that again (40 gals).

scottkern3

Well it was the fuel pump. It seems like nobody cares anymore but I still want to post for the nect guy who ends up on this forum lookin for answers. It was a pain to get the bed off by myself. It had to be lifted (the front of it) and slid to the rear. The fuel line connectors sucked too, I would either get the right tool for that or be prepared for alot of patience with a small screwdriver. overall, it wasn't that hard but was very time consuming. It took me about 5 hours and thats with me not knowing how to take a bed and bumper off. It only took about 20 min for the actual fuel pump, after I moved the bed.

biggame

Thanks for continuing to update the thread. Someone will find it useful.

James

scottkern3

No problem, I just wish this thread was already made before it happened to me. It's just wierd to me that the truck would still run sometimes. The other 3 fuel pumps that I've replaced went dead and it was obvious, it didn't occur to me that they could slowly go out. If someone decides to drop the tank be aware of the locking fuel lines that go to the pump (2 of them). I could see that being an issue with little slack in the lines but if you have the right tool, it would be definantly easier.