i know this has been beaten to death, and i tried a search but im unsure. I just bought the car last week.
It started out that the car would take two tries to start up. On the second try the car would fire up fine. The first try, the car would fire up, stall and die within seconds. Now today my gf told me that it took her 4 tries to get the car running. could this just be a tune up issue? What could be wrong?

 

How many miles? Could possibly be needing an tune up and/or an alternator. Thats all i can really think of off the top of my head, sorry.

 

193,000. if it were the alternator, wouldnt the battery go dead? Also, one of my friends said it could be the fuel pump or fuel pressure regulator?

 

If it's the FPR, make it a point to see if you smell gasoline, if so it quite possibly is the FPR, but first and foremost, try changing the fuel filter, could just be clogged with crap. Otherwise, its probably TPS, o2, or IAC sensor, or possibly your injectors or CSI.

 

Get a fuel pressure gauge and monitor the pressure after the key is turned to the Run position without the engine running. Sounds as though you have a nasty pressure drop possibly caused by leaking FPR, injectors, fuel line, or fuel pump pressure valve. Fuel pressure should be 37-47 PSI.

 

the girl before us had the injectors replaced. i think also the fuel filter. is the fuel filter hard to replace? i can look into that. i can smell gas near the gas tank..is the fpr difficult to replace? im also gonna try to clean out the tb and iac stuff tomorrow. I'm also going to do a tune up as well

 

Fuel filter is just in front of the rear wheel, requires 2 wrenches to remove. While you're under there, look for badly rusted fuel lines, and up and around the tank as best you can for more rust. Rusted fuel lines cause gas leaks sooner or later (which is why mine are getting replaced NOW).