Hello all,

I need help with my 92 firebird.
When I bought the car it took about 10(or more) seconds for it to start. So I did a full tune-up(plugs, wires, cap and rotor, and
coil, oil change, air filter, radiator flush and refill, oil pressure
sensor, new battery and serpentine belt, fuel filter and even mistakenly broke the temperature sensor and replaced it. With all these services the car STILL takes about ten seconds to start. I
have read on this site elsewhere(I think), that BEOFRE I go spending money on a new fuel pump, I should replace the fuel
pump relay. What do you think?????????????
I need some you "techies" to help me diagnose what the problem might be.
I own a 1992 firebird with a 305 c.i. TBI V-8. I initially thought it
might be the fuel pump but spoke to a mechanic friend of mine
and he told me that I a fuel problem and it might not be the pump. He suggested taking it somewhere to have it tested but I
thought some of you might be able to give me some suggestions
as to trying a couple of things that might remedy the problem.
Incidentally, the mechanic friend is about 200 miles away and the car CAN'T be moved(due to having no insurance).
I forgot to mention that whomever had the car before me
decided to take the stock exhaust off and mount a muffler where
the catalytic converter should be. Don't know whether it would
help to put a cat PROPER exhaust back on to help??????

Oh buy the way. HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Thanks guys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I forgot to mention that when the car does start and it gets
warmed up after I shut it off it will start right up BUT if it sits for
say 20 minutes it goes right back to hard starting.
I also forgot to say that the engine runs smooth and it has no
misfire in it.


Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Just have some questions for you:

1. Do you have any way of checking the voltage at the battery (you can use the gauge in the car or a voltmeter)? The battery volts should be around 12.6V with the engine off and 14-15V with the engine on. I noticed you replaced the battery but the alternator may be bad (probably not).
2. Have you, or had someone else check the timing recently?
3. Did you double check to make sure that the firing order is right when you did the tune-up?

These are just a couple of things I can think of at the moment. I don't think that putting a muffler where the cat was would cause any of the problems you are experiencing. I wouldn't worry about the fuel pump or the relay just yet, but we'll see.

 

Well, thinking about the battery situation, I noticed that the
voltage gauge stayed just around or above the 13 mark.
Someone else said something about the timing. I know I would
need a timing light to check it but I have never done this. How,
would I go about adjusting the distributor??????????????????
How would I go about checking the firing order? I have never
done that either.
I thank you for your diagnostic suggestions..


Keep em coming. I will get this thing running if it kills me....

 

IF YOUR CAR RUNS FINE NOTHING IS WRONG WITH YOUR FIRING ORDER. ACTUALLY MY TBI TRUCK WITH A 350 JUST STARTED DOING EXACTLY WHAT YOU SAID YOURS IS DOING. I DID THE JUMPER ON THE A AND B SIDE OF THE OBD1 AND PULLED A #42 CODE AFTER I TRYED TO START THE TRUCK AND IT DIED. IM SURE MY PROBLEM IS THE DISTRIBUTAR BECAUSE IT IS MY 2ND AUTOZONE PIECE OF CRAP AND WHEN I GOT SOMEONE ELSE TO TRY AND CRANK IT OVER, I HEARD ALOT OF WEIRD NOISE COMING FROM THERE. DUNNO ABOUT THAT.

ABOUT YOUR TIMING. IF YOUR CARS ANYTHING LIKE MINE, THERES A BROWN AND TAN WIRE UNDER THE BLACK COVER ON THE PASSENGER FIREWALL . YOU DISSCONNECT THAT WHICH TAKES POWER AWAY FROM YOUR ECU. YOUR MARKS SHOULD BE LINED UP WOITH THE "BIG V" ON YOUR TIMING MARK. THATS 0 DEGREE'S TIMING WHICH IS WHAT YOU WANT. DONT DISCONNECT THAT WIRE WHILE THE CAR IS ON. PLUG IT BACK IN THEN START IT UP. YOUR TIMING SHOULD THEN ADVANCE AROUND 20 SOMETHING

 

I think you are correct that the fuel pump relay is suspect. The next time you try to start the car, just turn the key from "off" to "on" and listen for any noise (like a fuel pump running) coming from the back of the car. The ECM will command the fuel pump to turn on at the key transition so there's enough pressure to start the engine faster. If that relay goes out, the fuel pump won't be turned on until there's a set level of oil pressure being sensed (approx 5psi). It sounds like you have to crank the engine until the oil pressure goes up. Since it takes a little while for the pressure to bleed down after everything's pressurized, you're able to restart faster. That would explain the shorter start times after the engine has started once.

Good luck!