Long start on a 98

My 98 is taking a long time to start... It has a brand new fuel pump, o2 sensors and crank position sensor.

It will never start the first time I turn the key on. It will just crank infinitely.

Once I try cranking it and then turn the key off and then on again it fires right away.

I tried letting it prime the tank a couple times and that has no effect on the starting time.

Also, it may not be related but it has a bit of a rough idle for a few minutes after starting. TPS maybe?

ert01 said:

.. It has a brand new fuel ....

Click to expand...

Airtex ?

If you don't have an Airtex fuel pump assembly (junk), then I would try refreshing all of your grounds. Here is more.
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Grounds can be the root cause of many electrical gremlins. Refreshing grounds is NEVER a bad idea, and the investment of your time in this procedure is always well worth it!

You can't tell much of anything by looking at ground connections!! You must remove, scrape, clean until shiny the cable/wire ends and whatever they bolt to. Be sure to remove all paint from any ground connections.

Start with the one on the back corner of the head, and where it attaches to the firewall, as it deteriorates over time and is an area that makes it susceptible to damage. Best to replace that woven cable with a #4 or #2 gauge cable. You can attach the one end to the intake manifold if you would like.

Next go over to the engine dipstick tube stud. Remove the nut and clean the wire ends and scrape the block until shiny at the stud. Reattach tightly.

If you are so inclined, add at least a #6 cable from the negative terminal of your battery to one of the bolts on your radiator support.

I'm actually not sure what brand the pump is. The whole tank is new (insurance bought it all... Was rear ended). It did this both before and after the accident.

I could check the grounds but I'm not sure why it would start so easily on the second try but crank so long on the first try if the ground was to blame. Seems like that would cause a more continuous issue.

Either you didn't get a new fuel pump or you got an Airtex. I would assume, based on the symptoms you described, that the fuel pump Check Valve is failed.

I had a leaky injector that would bleed down if I left it off for a while. When I restarted it I had to turn the key to ON for a second before turning it completly to start or it would take days for it to build enough pressure to start. Also sometimes it would run rough after it did start for 30 seconds or so, I believe this was caused by one cylinder being flooded. If I gassed it good it would blow it out faster and it would run fine. I was also getting gas in my oil from it leaking down.

I swapped injectors and it runs great and starts immediatly every time now.

I just tried priming it a LOT (like six times) and it starts better now. So now I'm thinking that they reused the old pump in the new tank. If I wanted to add a check valve to the line what size/type do I buy and are there any brands to avoid?

I'll still look at doing injectors too... At 260 000km I think it's time to replace them anyways.

Fix the issue with the check valve in the tank instead of adding a bandaid and potential for additional leaks and problems.

An inline check valve for a 98 is NOT a good option. It may work for the older systems, but the newer fuel systems design makes this a bad idea.

Search this forum and online if you don't believe me.

Replace the fuel pump assembly and be done with it. Go BOSCH. It is well worth the extra money. In no uncertain terms, do NOT go Airtex. I am trying to save
you from continued fuel pump heartache with this advice.

You should put a fuel pressure gauge on it. Your problem could be the pump but it could also be your fuel regulator. There are some good posts on how to check the regulator using a fuel pressure gauge and also how to check if your pump is allowing reverse flow.....