Hey all. I've got a '91 Camaro Z28 with a 350 tpi motor. I've been really impressed with how it starts up so quickly-at the tap of the ignition switch on the steering. What are the key components that make a Chevy engine start up quickly ?

 

Ha wish my car started up nice and quick like yours...

 

Its not that its a chevy. Its the fact that it is a fuel injected engine with proper ignition. Good plugs wires cap and rotor, and fuel injection. Its a good combo for reliability. I just dont care for TPI when it comes to performance.

 

id say
the starter...have you ever tried to start it with out the starter?

 

Thats more true than you might think. My '91 RS started after holding the key in the start position for a few seconds. After installing a new starter she fired up as soon as I moved the key. I got to enjoy that for a few weeks before I blew the engine.

 

Fuel injection has NOTHING to do with it, and neither does the fact that its a Chevrolet. Of all the injected cars I've owned, none starts up quicker than my car, which is carbed.

You need decent compression, a strong starter motor, proper fuel delivery, and a STRONG spark. Most associate carbs with poor starting, but that's due to tuning issues.

 

What he just said.
The quickest starting cars I've ever had were carbe'd, though my '96 Chevy 1500 (vortec 350) starts in about 1/2 a revolution.
"Ra.....LA-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la..."

I love that.

-Tom

 

I dont agree with that, but thats ok. We dont have to agree. I have had plenty of carbd cars that start up easy too, all of them in fact. But fuel injection does play a part in the quick starts, especially in cold weather, of newer cars. And more particularly, of newer cars, the ignition.

 

yep..here in MI its bitterly cold in the winters...when my car was TPI id bump the starter and it fire right and idle like it was 80 degrees...with my carb it needs a little more "attention"...but on warm days a simple pump on the gas pedal and it fires right up like the FI did

 

I guess I should have prefaced my opinion with: I was talking about how a carbed engine started WARM. Obviously, setting the choke and getting the proper pump shot, and then drawing that through the intake takes more time than a MPFI engine, which does all that automatically. But once warm, a well tuned carb will start as quick as anything.

-Tom

 

It is a combination of things. The injectors putting fuel right at the intake valves, doesn't have to travel through the carb and manifold, the "right" amount of fuel added for start up, higher compression than the 70's carbed cars, good ignition system and strong starters.

 

Had three TPI engines, none started up without several revs. First one had the cold start injector, still a long crank time. Figure a port injected engine should start quick. Had a Cutlass with the DOHC that started too quick, hear some lifter noise for a few seconds. Had to remember to hit the starter quick before fuel pressure came up to get a couple revs on the oil pump. Wish my TPI engines would start like that.

 

There is no reason why they can't and unless they are 89's they should. My 85 would start right up with a flick of the ignition switch, even in the bitter cold of a N.D winter...without a block heater.
I've played with the 89 code (ARAP) in prom burning and GM had made it so it took a good 5+ seconds of cranking to get it to start. By changing a couple of parameters it will now start in 2 seconds or less.

 

What exactly did you change?

 

In ARAP if you look at "Crank fuel PW multiplier vs Ref pulse" The first 5 or so spaces are 0, adding no fuel for starting. I changed the first one to 1.0 and the others to .1.

 

The 9'th injector was GM's band aid solution to not using enough pulswidth on start up or a priming shot.