2003 Tahoe 5.3 Flex 201000 miles
Having a hard time starting my Tahoe. It will crank and then fire up enough to disengage the starter, then dies. If I leave the key in the 'on' position for about ten seconds it will start on the second or third try. I already replaced the fuel pressure regulator and that seemed to make it worse. One more thing I noticed, when it does start there is a strong odor of gasoline. However, I don't see any leaking of fuel anywhere.

Update: This morning it wouldn't start at all, just crank. The fuel gauge read a little less than half. I added about three gallons and it fired up on the second try. (It never starts on the first attempt.) Got a fuel pressure gauge at Autozone and hooked it up. First read with vehicle on, but not running was just under 10psi. While running it stuck right at 38psi - no variance. Shut it off and released the pressure and turned back to the 'on' position - 0psi. No matter how many times I tried 0psi in the 'on' position. It would still start and read 38 while running, but nothing when just turned on.


Thanks for any help,
JT

 

Welcome to the forum...
How does the fuel pressure look?
when was the last time the plugs where changed? are they wet with fuel?
Is the air filter clean?
Have you checked compression?