jbbad

Howdy all,

My girlfriend has a 93 SR5 with a 3.0 V6 that sometimes takes 15 minutes to get started on the first start of the day. Doesnt matter if its 90 degrees or 20 degrees out nor does it matter if its first thing in the morning or the afternoon. Have to continuously turn the key and pump the gas, rinse and repeat over and over. Once started runs like a champ and will start easily throughout the day even if it sits at work for 8 hours. Just the first start of the day. She took it to a guy who said cold start ignition, replaced that, no help. Have searched the forums on here and there are similiar issues but no solutions as of yet. Any ideas?

Thanks

scope103

Based on your search, what have you done so far?

First, don't bother "pumping the gas." In the bad-old-days of carburetors, there was an "accelerator pump" that squirted extra gas when you pushed the pedal. Carburetors really didn't like sub-0°, so you could manually enrich the mixture by pumping the gas. It might help. But since Fuel Injection took over (what, 30 years ago?) pumping the gas does nothing.

I'd check the timing and the plug gap; not the most likely cause but so easy to do it should have been done first. Next, I'd check fuel pressure (if the pump has a bad check valve and is weak, it has to crank a while to build up pressure in the rail). It turns out this isn't too hard. Jumper FP to B+. When the key is turned on, listen at the Fuel Pressure Regulator: on mine I get a quiet whine for about one second as the fuel pressure comes up. Then try to start it, now that the rail is pressurized.

(If this fixes the problem, replace the fuel pump (and the filter). Do NOT just drive around with the jumper in place! If you get in an accident that breaks a fuel line, you want that pump to shut off immediately.)

rollcenter

Take a ohm meter and read the resistance on all 3 of the pick up eyes in the distributor one may be bad a new distributor from NAPA 200 bucks fixed mine after 2 years of replacing everything else

Janos01

When you start your 93, does the engine turn over at all in those 15 mins or is it just a clicking sound when you turn the key? A bad ignition coil might cause or as scope103 stated a bad fuel pump. Also as mentioned check you plugs and distributer.