Hard to start...out of idea's, help?
 

So I read through all the threads till my eye balls starting bleeding... nothing I read helped me out so maybe somone can...PLEASE. I have been dealering with my 98 trans am conv. for about a month... 1 problem after the other, just can not get a break. Well anyway I am having trouble starting my car... yeah yeah I know what you all are saying... fuel problem, electrical or something like that... well I dont think so. Everything works great except the care will not start... it turns over, everything clicks and works just something is not right. Had the electrical system tested.. good, fuel system works cause i had it checked..good. I am out of ideas... I have to keep turning the car over and over until finally it starts, sometimes a few turns, others a lot of turns. I am thinking maybe a bad ground somewhere, but i looked and did not notice anything loose... could I be overlooking something?? :confused:

I have recently installed SLP cold air kit, but the problem happened few weeks after that.

just a thought have you check battery lately?

Yes I had the entire electrical system checked... to include the battery. If I took it somewhere to have it looked at I would not know what to tell them to even look for or where to start.

Vaccum leak? Did you remove the intake or throttle body perhaps?

How do the sparkplugs look? What are the gaps?

Try swapping a mass air flow sensor with a buddy, that could be an idea. Perhaps one of the elements inside was damaged.

Have you checked the air pressure in the tires lately? :jest:

does this problem happen everytime youtry starting it? after it sits all night? when it's hot? that would help narrow it down some.

my guess though would be a worn fuel pump. the fuel pump should hold pressure in the system after it's shut off, many times the pump will allow the fuel pressure to bleed back into the tank, and the next time you go to start it...it has to rebuild that pressure which will cause extended cranking. now on top of the pump bleeding pressure it could be weak, fuel filter dirty and causing a restriction. I'd start there

you can go to any parts store and buy a cheap fuel pressure guage, hook it up, start the engine, check pressure, shut it off and it should hold. not sure on the exact spec of how long it should hold what pressure...but if it falls pretty fast and the guage has no leaks...that's a good start.

also a fuel pump flow test could be done. and there are more complex test with a scope and low amps probe to see what the pump is doing! :D but that needs to be done by someone who knows what that is and how to read the scope! lol

Update
 

Ok so here is my update.. and thanks for the help so far..

This happens at anytime, hot or cold, day or night, rain or shine.

Well bought a new SLP MAF thinking the maf was shot... nope but hey got a cool new MAF... Installed new walbro fuel pump, works good, checked the pressure when I changed the fuel filter also. Like I said before battery checks out fine, so does the alternator. It seems as the days go on it become even harder to get started. No Vaccum leak checked all around the engine, no hissing sound or anything. There is very little gas smell coming out of the exhaust and right when the car does finally start it has rough idle and acceleration then it all goes away like nothing is wrong till I try to start it again. Was running Lng Bnk 1 and 2 lean codes but I cleared them and they have not come back. The car shakes like a MF when trying to turn it over, just something will not let it start. Spent a good amount of money already trying to fix it, anyone have anything else?

So both the old and new fuel pumps and fuel filters have produced this same condition?

Getting any O2 sensor codes?

Have you had the injectors checked? (you can do this at home with an Ohm meter)

Have access to a scanner to log some LTFTs?

Have you checked the plugs? Next thing I'd do would be to change the plugs.....

Don't mean to hijack your thread but I'm also in the same boat looking for a solution to this problem. Mine started after I detailed my car and decided to leave my stereo on and doors open during the 5 hour process (yeah I'm a dumbass). I've replaced the battery and I've gone to the shop as well but in the 2 days it was there it didn't have this problem so they were not able to diagnose it. I'm going to do plugs, wires, fuel filter this next week. Could it be the starter? One mechanic said the starter could be sticking, not quite sure what that means though.

Did it hold pressure when you tested? You might have a leaky injector or 2 if the pressure doesn't hold.

Ok here is the newest...
 

Ok so still no luck... but after doing 200+ miles this weekend the engine light came back on throwing me P0171 System too Lean (Bank 1) and I would only give it another couple days before Bank 2 come on also. (Did this about 400 miles ago)

Wrote down some specs from my scanner... This is from a warm idle after about a 20 min. drive.

ENG RPM 650 +/-
IPW 1 & 2 2.8Ms
IGN TDC +18.0Dg
MAF 3.80Gm
MAP 30Kp
CAL. LOAD +0.7

SHT FUEL 1 +13% Jumps around +/- 2 or 3%
LNG FUEL 1 +24.9%
SHT FUEL 2 +8% Jumps around +/- 2 or 3%
LNG FUEL 2 +24.9%

Not sure what all of it mean but there it is.
And also seems that if I leave the car in the "on" position for about a min. then it starts up without having to keep cranking and cranking.

Yes this has happened with the new and old fuel pumps and filters, I did recieve a couple 02 codes when I first put my new MAF on but they went away im guessing after the computer adjusted. And I was having this problem before and after the new MAF.

The injectors and plugs are on my list of possible problems, but just want to narrow it down as much as possible before I go spending more money.

And in reply to LS1_Fonzie post, sounds like a seperate issue that just happened to happen at the same time... the only thing that would have done would have been your battery being drained, but should of recharged once you got it started. If anyone else post in regards to this please specify who you are directing your advise to so that things do not get complicated... thankyou!

Definitely check for leaking injectors. Check if it holds pressure. I had leaky injectors in my 93' Formula and the thing would crank and crank and finally start but run rough. I bought some used injectors and it fired right up and ran great.

The only way I knew it was the injectors was because I got so tired of messing with it that I had a shop diagnose it for me. They stuck something called a wand in the intake and it detected unburned fuel.

With leaky injectors, did it just crank everytime you tried to start it? In my situation it seems to happen once every 7-10 starts, all the other times it fires up just fine and runs without any problems.

Just a thought
 

Have you checked the temerature sensor? If you have any type of scsnning software try checking the temerature reading. The 98's have a temperature sensor that has seperate leads for the guage and computer so it is possibe for the guage to read correctly and the pcm to think that it is -32 degrees on a hot summer day. You most likely would get a code but it is definately worth a shot. My car did all kinds of crazy shit just because of a faulty coolant temperature sensor and the guage would read correctly but when I hooked up ls1scan it said somthing stupid because the sensor and wiring was screwed up.