Hi all,
I have an 88 GTA that I bought last year. One of the previous owners put a large cam in it (and I am assuming roller rockers, springs, etc.), CAI, cat back, distributor and wires. The car is significantly faster than a stock 350 TPI (compared to a few friends of mine), but I am not quite sure exactly what was done to the engine.
With that said, the car almost always has trouble starting and it needs me to press the gas to fire up. I replaced the fuel filter, it didn't seem to help. The starter is new, so I don't think it's that. I am thinking the fuel pump is on its way out, but it primes fine and while driving there are no issues.
Any input is welcome.

 

Define hard to start. Hard cranking? Too much cranking? Spitting sputtering?

 

It cranks ok, but it cranks too long. Once it starts, it's fine. And it seems that to get it to start i have to give it gas.

 

What's your fuel pressure when cold and the key is turned to 'on'?
is the cold start injector still being used?

 

Bare with me on this, but is there a gauge that displays the fuel pressure? I have the stock digital dash. And I'm not sure where the cold start injector is located, but I am assuming around the TB. Is it any of these?

 

Ninth injector on the intake base between runners drivers side. To check fuel pressure there’s a port rear on top of rail passenger side. Was the car tuned for the cam ?

 

Looks like the injector is still connected. I will need to buy a fuel pressure gauge to check the pressure. I don't know if it was tuned when the cam was installed. That was all done by the guy the previous owner bought it from and unfortunately he passed years ago.
(Adding some pictures for reference for future members)

 

Was the evap hose disconnected from the tb just during the picture or is it always that way? It's a vacuum leak if the port isn't capped on the tb.
Might want to check the tps reading with a multimeter too. It's in a maxed out looking position which isn't very common.

 

I don't see a disconnected hose to the TB, would you be able to point it out in me picture (I must be missing it). I see what you mean about the TPS. I will check it with a multimeter. What should the reading be? 0.54? What would be the reason for someone to adjust it to the max position?

 

I looked at it goofy. The circled line looked like it was your evap hose. You're all good there.

 

https://www.thirdgen.org/tpimod2/

Reasons to max it out? No idea, maybe they thought it ran better instead of real tuning.

 

Thanks for the input. I guess my takeaways are to check and adjust the TPS and also check the fuel pressure. I'm wondering if the bigger cam with no tune would cause issues starting specifically. I recently got the timing adjusted and it runs well. Just the starting issue that's lingering.

 

I also just remembered, when I changed the fuel filter, I started the car about 20 times in a matter of 30 minutes or so to test and apart from the first try, all other tries it started right up. So I'm thinking maybe there's something in my fuel tank clogging up the filter?

 

exactly why I asked about fuel pressure. It may not be priming the pump on first go, so it has to crank to activate the oil sending unit to power the fuel pump circuit.

 

I'll have a look in a week or so once I get the gauge. I'll report back.

 

Always work checking the timing... Long cranks can mean the distributor is too advanced... Especially affects cold starts...

 

Thanks for the heads up. I did actually a few days ago and it had to be adjusted. But it didn't help with the starting problem.

 

I was doing some work today and I noticed some of these teeth were ground up on the flywheel. You think this may be the cause?

 

If it cranks ok and not grinding then, no. That will prevent it from cranking fine. It'll grind and not make normal cranking sounds if it's a problem

 

Checked the fuel pressure today. It's reading 40 when the pump primes and around 37 when the car is idling. So that seemed normal-ish. Then adjusted the TPS to 0.54. So far it seems to start up normally after the adjustment. So let's hope that's what it was.