hard starting

My 96 tahoe is very hard to start. it has been taking about 20 - 30 sec of cranking to get it to start. sometimes it stays running sometimes not. here are a few things i have checked or noticed.
- Checked fuel pressure 62psi not running
54psi @ idle pushing down on accel. jumps to 62 psi and levels back off at 54psi.
- fuel milage has Dropped (hovering around 10 - 11 mpg). previously it was about 15mpg comb. city/hiway
- engine runs rough for about 2 to 3 min after starting cold. usually lasts only few secs when warm.
- the check engine light is not on. checked codes and nothing shown.
- after disconnecting the battery (about half hour) the engine took even longer than it has been (probably close to a minute to start).
- i've checked resistance on a couple of plug wires and coil wire all were within spec.

Any help will be appreciated, I would like to get a few opions before i start throwing new parts at it.
Thanks

have you changed the plugs, wires, cap and rotor?

have you changed the plugs, wires, cap and rotor?
I did try this changed plugs, wires,cap, and rotor. still hard starting I did notice a strong gas odor coming from the intake. Opened the throtle body and looked down into the intake and it appeared to be a small amount of gas setting in the intake. So could one or more of the fuel injectors be leaking or the pressure regulator. The engine has backfired through the intake a few times.

Two things in my experience with 1997 5.7l Tahoe at 116K miles.

1) The injector on the CSFI system clog/stick. There is a Technical Service Bulletin (TBS) out on this. It was so bad that State of California got GM to agree to flush injectors and if that didn't fix it, then COMPLETELY REPLACE the CSFI with the (I beleive) MFI system UP TO 200,000 MILES or TEN YEARS. This applies only to California.

The solution for me is to run TECHRON fuel injector cleaner periodically. The TBS says this is the only thing that will help short of the "top end flush" that the dealer would do. This is no ad for techron, my Porsche 911 recommends the same thing.

If I get any hard-start w/backfire when starting, Techron goes in right away.

2) Normally mine starts with flick of the key. Lately it has taken a tap on acclerator. First place I look for idle related problems is the idle contol valve that bypasses throttle plate and sets idle electronically. These things get gummed up and stop responding well. It acts like the accelerator when starting engine. Remove and clean with carb cleaner.

On other vehicles it has caused low idle during warm-up, intermittent dying at stop light, varying/low idle speed, and probably other things idle related.

I think mine needs to be replaced, $76 at NAPA. Cleaned it and fixed problem for awhile. Cleaned again not fixed. I hate to replace parts without verifying it in some way.

Hi iam from the camaro forums but i also have a 962door tahoe I too have had a hard start issue that would come and go it may sound silly but Check out all the Ground wires and negitive battery post/wire the stupid screw in style post suck they losen up from time to time from vibration.

My cold start problem was AIC (air idle control) valve. Now engine starts with flick of ignition key.

I checked all the sensors.

Interestingly the vehicle would start fine at 30 degree 8000' altitude but not easily at 60 degrees 0' altitude.

Replaced with AC Delco 217-435 $62 www.discoutautoparts.com

I did finally fix the hard starting issue, what it turned out to be was 2 or more? injectors were leaking. after changing the injectors it starts right up. thanks to everyone that took the time to reply to my question.