I’ll do my best to describe what happened, because I feel like this is an easy fix.

After driving for about 20 min at highway speeds with no problems, I parked in the garage. I wanted to test the A/C pressure when I got home and remembered that to do it, the car must be running. So I turned it back on…

To my surprise, after turning the key and cranking the engine for the normal one second it takes to fire up, it didn’t. Cranking fine, starter turning, just no fire. Weird.

So I decided to crank a bit longer. Never have I needed to hold the key for more than a second, but why not. After cranking for about five seconds, the engine was trying to fire, you could tell gas was entering the system. It was like the 10th pull on your power washer after you haven’t used it in a while. I let off the key when I heard the engine start to fire, and it did. It came to life and ran fine. It was almost like I had flooded the engine.

A ton of things crossed my mind like overheating, so while it was running, I hooked up the OBD and the engine temp was 190f. Ok, fine.

The next day, I went to start and had to again crank for five seconds. It was on a trickle charger overnight like normal. This time, when it started, it was rough. Like only half of the cylinders were firing. I let it run roughly without touching it for about 30 seconds. During that time there was certainly a smell of gas in the garage. Almost like the correct amount of gas was going to the engine, but the engine wasn’t taking it. For Ss and Gs, I decided to tap the accelerator just to see what would happen. I fully expected the car to stall. Instead, it fired right up to normal conditions. While it was running rough, a check engine light came on, and then when I tapped the gas, the light went off.

Bewildered, I took it for a 20 min drive in near 100 temps, and was expecting the worst. Nope. Nothing out of the ordinary. No stutter, plenty of power, no CE lights, nothing. I had to park it and move on to other projects, and then get on the road for a work trip, so that’s as far as I’ve gotten.

I know there are dozens of reasons, so I wanted to get your take. To recap, never have I had to turn the key for more than a second before firing up. Now on consecutive starts, I’ve had to crank for five to seven seconds and it’ll either fire up normally, or like a car that sat overnight outside in the winter.

When I get home later this week, a new battery will be my first move. My gut tells me the fuel pump could be the culprit. Thank you in advance for your advice and patience.

 

Start with the codes but don't clear them. Include pending codes.

Could be a sensor problem so use OBD live data to check those you can for plausible values (ECT, IAT, ...).

Could be a dribbly injector i.e. more fuel in the cyl than the PCM expected.

 

Could definitely be a failing fuel pump. Can you hear it priming when the car won't start?

 

Thanks guys.
I’m not sure what I’m listening for to see if the fuel pump is priming. Can you describe that process?

One piece I failed to mention was that all plugs and coil packs were changed within the last month.

Maybe a bottle of injector cleaner in the gas tank wouldn’t be a bad idea.

 

was this a preemptive operation, or was there an on-going problem ?’


From my experience, gas treatment / fuel system cleaner (Techron or BK 44 are the only legitimate ones ) will only help keep the system clean.

But they will not dissolve a blockage of any kind. Only a pressure injector cleaning will fix a blocked injector. Buying gas treatment products to cure a problem is not productive.

But they will take your money and promise magic in a bottle.

Z

 

Sounds like a fuel pump/pressure related problem

 

If you have someone turn the ignition on, you should be able to hear the buzz of the pump in the boot, or feel the vibrations on the tank.

 

Thank you all for the advice.
The plugs were changed as a general maintenance step, no other reason.

Will the fuel pump prime during the first or second click on the ignition, or only when cranking to start (third position)?

 

It should prime on the second click, unless it's already up to pressure.

 

The symptoms were caused by the fuel pressure regulator rupturing which was allowing gas into the vacuum.

New regulator installed (surprisingly inexpensive) and it works like a charm!!!