Hard to start.

Ok well in my last post I was asking for advice for a rebuild as my motor died. Turns out it was a blown head gasket. 2 Days later with the felpro 1035 headgasket and arp head studs installed i'm having issues starting the car now. Once the car starts up and idles for a short period of time it runs fine. Problem is before the head gasket blew when I turned the key the car would fire up almost instantly. Now its acting like a car with a carb. You have to turn the key and keep bumping the gas pedal to finally get it to fire up. Probably after a 30 seconds to a minute it will fire up and get going. Its a bit rough at the start but will smooth out and run fine. I've gone over everything I did on the re-install and everything appears to be hooked up and installed correctly. Anyone have any ideas where to start looking for the problem? I'm running out of ideas here.

1) I've already double checked the timing and such on the vehicle. Everything at TDC then once started timing has been knocked to 16* with spout out.
2) Fuel pressure is 43psi with vacuum line disconnected. 36 PSI with vacuum line connected.
3) Double checked fuel lines are hooked up correctly in case I got retarded and hooked em up backwards somehow.

I'm running out of ideas here. Everything ran perfect prior to the headgasket now i'm having all these problems. Anyone have an idea where my fault may lie?

P.S. Also forgot to note i'm using a 255lph fuel pump. It is turning on when the key is flipped. Once thing I did notice is if i flip the key 3-4 times the fuel lines will pressurize to 40psi then fall back to 0 within a matter of seconds. Did this before, but the car did not have a starting problem.

What codes did you get?
What is the vacuum reading at warm idle?
How fast does the FP bleed down? Are you using a stock regulator or after market?

Vacuum at cold idle is -20psi warm idle its about -18 to -20 psi. The bleed down of the FP is instant. I can flick the key a few times up to 40psi and soon as I flip the key off give it 3 seconds and all fp is gone. Using a BBK adjustable fuel pressure regulator. As for codes, not guru enough to do the light code pulling method unfortunately and non of the local parts places will pull codes off it.

After a bit more working since my first post now once the car warms up every so often the vacuum will spike and eventually cause the car to die. At idle i'll sit at -18 to -20 psi then it will flick up to 15 to 10 and jump around a little bit. Not sure whats causing this but we are still looking.

once the car warms up every so often the vacuum will spike and eventually cause the car to die. At idle i'll sit at -18 to -20 psi then it will flick up to 15 to 10 and jump around a little bit. Not sure whats causing this but we are still looking.

It isn't the vacuum causing this. Vacuum is a reaction to the engine's operating conditions. Something is causing the idle to fluctuate and that causes the vacuum readings to change.

Probably won't solve the idle problem but it may help the starting problem - put the stock fuel regulator back on it. May help the bleed down problem too. It should not bleed down that quick.

Ya i've come to the determination that either the afpr got damaged when I was taking the block apart to replace the head gasket and head studs or the fuel pump just went bad. Gonna replace the afpr this week since its the easiest of the 2 to do currently and see if it fixes it. If not gonna have to figure out the easiest way to drop a gas tank that is completely full..... uggg thanks for the replies pete. I think the vacuum/idle problem is an easy fix just gotta figure out whats causing it, might even have to do with the fuel system issue, who knows. I'll find out soon and keep you posted. Thanks again Pete

16* timing?

Ya Garrett 16 degrees btdc, at 10 degrees the engine for some reason hates life, but when you bump it up to around 16 with the spout out it purrs like a kitten, not detonation or knocks with it like this under 25psi.

Originally posted by aKa TaGyOuRiT:
Ya Garrett 16 degrees btdc, at 10 degrees the engine for some reason hates life, but when you bump it up to around 16 with the spout out it purrs like a kitten, not detonation or knocks with it like this under 25psi.

Somethings not right, 10 deg on a more or less stock engine should work just fine. Is the 16 deg what you needed before you blew the head gasket?? If so, try 10 deg timing.

Gonna replace the afpr this week since its the easiest of the 2 to do currently and see if it fixes it. If not gonna have to figure out the easiest way to drop a gas tank that is completely full..

Why not go through the fuel system diagnostics and see if anything needs replaced. How did you set the old afpr? You did use a gauge??

I agree with Robert. Something else is wrong if you need 16* advance to get it to run smooth

Well the thing is pete there have been multiple problems and we were hunting for the way to get it to run best at the time. First I had a leaking BOV now thats replaced, blew the headgasket which is replaced with the 1035 felpro and arp head stud kit torqued to 118 ft torque. Its been one thing after another. I'll attempt to back down the timing once I get the starting thing fixed. As for the afpr it had a stock regulator on the rails before, but like i said i'm running 25 psi and what the guy told me when we did the install is it would need more gas the afpr and 255lph pump would fix that problem till I get to the point of capping out the injectors. So I went ahead and opted to have him setup the afpr while we were installing the motor 4 months back.