when I bought it, the seller said the starter was on the way out because it would not start on the first try most of the time. he was wrong, the starter engages everytime, but it does not start, just cranks for about 3-5 seconds and then starts, and idles fine.

The car runs and drives perfect once it is going, but it does not start perfect. I have not checked fuel pressure, that is gonna be my first check, but would a crankshalf sensor do this?

fuel pressure regulator, battery cables (bad ground). My 92 started hard till I put a fuel rail on from the jy. when they unhooked the fuel lines it still had fuel in it, so I figured the fpr was good. $25. A new fpr runs $50

yeah, sounds fuel related.

Fuel related?



The car runs fine once started. Even at WOT? Plenty of fuel. I'd be checking the IAC and passage (TB cleaning). It may be overly rich or overly lean on start due to improper AFR. That is controlled solely by the IAC.

Try cranking it over with the throttle held SLIGHTLY open. This would determine if the IAC isn't passing enough air to the engine.

On the off-chance that you have a leaky fuel injector pooling fuel in the LIM preventing a start (overly rich), hold the throttle to the floor (WOT) and crank for 5 seconds or so. That prevents the injector pulse, and will clear out some pooled fuel. Then start normally. Does it start right away? If so, it could be a leaky injector or FPR. But I suspect the IAC is the culprit.

I did the fuel filter today, and I cut up the old one before putting on the new one


it looked pretty bad to me,




but it didnt seem to fix the issue. I will get a mechanical gauge on it next.

First thing I thought was...gasoline - metal case - saw blade but that apparently worked out okay for you. Maybe you filled the thing with water from both ends before you put the saw to it.

Second thing was the saw blade cutting through the paper made it furry and appear to be solidly blocked. But the rest of the filter does not appear to be blocked once you discount the metal chips and loose paper particles from the cutting.

Eh, it would have been a nice little explosion if it had caught spark, but it was so wet it could not get any spark.

are the fuel pumps external in these cars? I saw a large black box next to the filter that had gas lines going to and from it. It looks like an expensive unit if it needs a new pump.

after reading wrens diagnosis, i would agree. its getting plenty of fuel if it rund fine at wot.

did you try to clean the iac, maf, or tb plate?

ha, you guys were all wrong!

Yesterday I swapped the MAF, IAC and TPS from my bonneville onto the PA, there was no change.

I bought a fuel pressure tester today and threw it on the PA. There was initially ZERO pressure at the schreider valve, but after 2 primes it was up to 40psi. The car still didnt start as quick as it should have, but it did. Once I shut the car off, I noticed the pressure drop to zero within seconds. I did the exact same test on my bonneville, and the bonneville held the pressure just fine. What would cause it to lose pressure that fast?