this is a 1988 pontiac trans am gta 5.7 350 TPI, 129k,ive been having this issue for a while, and i need some help. hopefully someone can shed some light on this. ive been having a long start issue first only when hot but now even when cold. i will turn key, fuel pump will prime, i crank it and it will be about 6 seconds then if it starts its very rough at first, but most times i have to give gas in order to start. ive had white smoke before, but now only happens when i give gas at startup. all fluids are good and i use fuel injector cleaner regularly. one thing i really noticed is the ridiculous gas milage i get and a fuel smell when i park the car for a while or in my garage. also a coolant smell when in bumper to bumper traffic with ac on. theres also an occassional squealing pulley near my ac compressor or smog pump, cant really tell. other than that she runs great. there are no codes. heres whats been done.
tb coolant bypass. ive installed magnaflow cat, hypertech cap coil and rotor. msd wires, denso iridium spark plugs, 160 t stat, 3 piece air dam, bbk fuel pump, fuel filter, and new fuel sending unit. new alternator, new battery, new belt tensioner, ac copmpressor, new belt, new ac condensor, new ign module, new iac, new tps, set factory idle to 500 rpm before iac took over, tps at .58 volts., still idles a little odd. ive got a bbk fpr that i will be installing once i get my plenum off, a couple bolts are messed up. my fuel pressure was 45 psi, when i had it checked, fuel leaked from the line coming from the fpr when gauge was removed. long cranks slowly began after installing powermaster 9600. last starter wouldnt start after hitting it anymore. maybe its my y pipe too. I apologize for the long read. any advice is much appreciated. thanks.

 

i have the exact same problem with my 86 firebird, its been eating me alive for the last two years but it starts everytime just takes a while. but ya exact same symptoms and i find its much worse when hot. sorry i can't help

 

i spoke to a mechanic today about my fpr, he said it was most likely a leak in the fuel pressure diaphragm, seeing that the fuel isnt supposed to squirt out after testing the pressure which was still 45 psi. the diaphragm is right beneath the fuel pressure regulator. I also readjusted my idle again today, but this time i disconnected my timing connector which i should have done last time i adjusted my iac, then i redid my tps. it starts better and idles better but the issue is still there. my next move is still the fpr plus plenum gaskets. thanks for replying greek bandit, atleast im not alone here on this.

 

What is a TB coolant bypass? Cuz white smoke is symptomatic of coolant getting into your cylinders. Not important but you don't need to use fuel injector more than maybe once a year Just a waste of money if you do it all the time. A lot of gas stations have detergents in them already.

 

i bypassed the coolant hose that normally goes into the throttle body straight to the heater control valve ( i think its called,) supposedly the stock setup is only neccassary in places where a freezing engine is an issue. heres the link, itll make more sense than i am:
https://www.thirdgen.org/coolantbypass
as for the injector cleaner thanks for the tip.

 

Here's an update for anyone who may be listening. I went ahead and put in a new fpr diaphragm and bbk adjustable fpr and felpro gaskets myself, dont ask me how long it took... anyways my long cranks are GONE!!! 95% percent of the time it starts up right away. the rest of the 5% it starts up after a second or so which is still great, it idles at about 1000rpm when i start and comes down to about 650-750 or so, my idle screw is still set at 450 and the tps is reading .54 just like its supposed to. when i am driving normally im doing about 2000rpm give or take ( is this where im supposed to be?) but everything feels just right, i do have to press down on the accelerator pedal a bit more firmly than i did before.
Anyways there was a couple discoveries.
theres a small leak at the bottom of my fuel tank that explains the fuel smell ive had all along, it was a sorry jb weld job that i cannot replicate because of the wetness of the fuel. I guess only now with the fpr fixed its began showing itself and i think (correct me if im wrong) that its this hole that is robbing me of the extra fuel pressure needed to start up everytime (the 5% i mentioned) anyways thats one idea.
The second thing is my smog pump started to seize a bit. Its hard to tell where the noise is coming from but i know its atleast the sp because i had a hard time turning its pulley when checking the pullys for noise. its only lightly sqeaking now since i pried it loose. another thing is theres a metallic fragment noise around that same area near my ac compressor/ belt tensioner and sort of in the middle of my engine , is my ac clutch going out??? hmm. k hopefully this helps someone diagnose a little closer. one last thing, my coolant starts to boil when i park for the day. but while i drive im doing 190 and under. Thanks.