Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) hard starting!! please help.

[countryboy]

My friend bought a 98 24 valve auto. He has put a new lift pump and injection pump when you first start it you have to crank for fifteen or twenty seconds before it will start but once you get it started it runs fine it seems like the fuels bleeding off he doesn't have any leaks that we can see. any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[JCyrbok]

air in lines

just a shot in the dark but check all of the lines and fittings to make sure there is no leak or crack in the lines from moving them arond during the pump installs. Also check the banjo bolt sealing washers, they can be cracked if over torqued or mis aligned. I always lube mine with diesel before I torque the bolts down on them. He did use new washers on ALL of the banjos right? two washers per banjo? Has he checked that the fuel filter is not clogged from any gunk in the lines that may have been knocked loose during the change. sure sounds like air in the lines.



Mine did this after I installed my FP sender, but only did it the first time I started after I installed it. Had to crank for about 20 seconds to get it to fire, but ran fine after.



Hope this helped.



J-

 

[JCyrbok]

lift pump

oh yeah a certain % of the lift pumps from the fatory are sub standard, check to make sure that it is running at the 25% duty cycle while cranking and then kicking up to 100% when it fires. I would think that if it is not running at the lower setting that the VP may have enough ass to get enough fuel moving after about 20 seconds for the engine to fire, then the FP relay would tell it to run at full capicity and it would pump fine.



Does it do this every time wheter hot or cold engine?



Any other mod's that may be causing this?



J-

 

[Big White Beast]

KISS.......

If he changed the lift pump and then problem started thats where I would look first. It won't necessarily leak fuel. It could be sucking air allowing the fuel to creep back towards the tank. Remove all the fittings, check the washers and retighten. Have him check the O-ring on the filter cover if he removed that.



A slim possibility would be if the new pump isn't operating correctly causing an over pressure when trying to start. That will cause a hard start condition. The ECM actually drops the voltage to the pump during start time so I doubt this would be the problem.



Garrett

 

[countryboy]

the problem existed before he put the new lift pump and injection pump on he has checked everything from the tank foreward to the injection pump. everything is stock

 

[ProspectorTim]

Old thread... but any chance of finding out what the problem was?



My truck has the same symptoms. Dealers have replaced lift pump and injector pump, and the problem persists. There are no visible leaks. The dealer says the installed a clear tube in the fuel line and there were no bubbles. I changed the fuel filter. There is no evidence of fuel in the oil.

 

[scramblin]

I have a buddy that has the same problem. Its only hard to start when cold or if it has sit for a while. help..... Truck is a 98 24v 5 speed 4wd.

 

[JR2]

There is a chance that this TSB would help. Its for winter fuel and hard starts anytime.



JR2

 

[datamm]

Check injector Tub

Had the very same problem with mine. Only would not start if sat around awhile. The injector tub going to cylinder 6 had a bad o-ring. It was very hard to detect. I would spray soaping water over injector lines. Finally saw a bubble forming from number 6. There is a round rubber seal on the injector tube. not the injector itself. If you want more details you can pm me.



Dave Tamm