87 S10 Hard Starting

I got an 87 S10 4x4 with 2.8L motor and when i go out in the morning shes hard to get started like i she'll wind over alot but once she starts i can shut it off and she'll start right away if i try her again. If i leave her for a few hours she'll be hard to start again, its like waiting for gas to get up to the motor, should the gas run back through the fuel lines when shes shut off?

might want to check fuel pressure. have you done a good tune up lately?(plugs, wirers, cap and rotor, air filter,and fuel filter.)

plugs, wirers, cap and rotor, air filter,and fuel filter, has been done

check fuel pressure.

I have THE EXACT same problem in my 87 S10 Blazer 2.8L 2WD. (Takes a while to start when the engine is cold but once it's warm it's okay).
At first, I thought it was tune-up related. But then my dad watched one time as I started the vehicle after it had been sitting for a while; he said he saw a little bit of blue smoke come from the tailpipe only when I was trying to crank the engine and then it quickly disappeared. This is due to a valve guide seal leak inside the engine. Obviously, this cannot be easily fixed so you basically have to live with it until a motor rebuild or swap I guess.

I have THE EXACT same problem in my 87 S10 Blazer 2.8L 2WD. (Takes a while to start when the engine is cold but once it's warm it's okay).
At first, I thought it was tune-up related. But then my dad watched one time as I started the vehicle after it had been sitting for a while; he said he saw a little bit of blue smoke come from the tailpipe only when I was trying to crank the engine and then it quickly disappeared. This is due to a valve guide seal leak inside the engine. Obviously, this cannot be easily fixed so you basically have to live with it until a motor rebuild or swap I guess.

No, a small about of oil will not cause a significant starting problem.

What you are seeing is your base timing is retarded too much.

When it warms up, the engine will advance the timing which will bring it up to above 0 base timing and that is why it smooths out.

Set the timing with a timing gun to zero with the timing wire unattached from the PCM in the engine compartment.

The small amount of oil will be probably from a valve seal leak which is easy to fix and doesn't require an overhaul or even removing the heads.

Could anyone tell me exactly how to set timing? i do have a timing light

I know the truck do puff a small amount of blue smoke when tring to start like you said

Could anyone tell me exactly how to set timing? i do have a timing light

If you haven't set timing before, get a buddy to help you. Setting the timing marks is pretty easy once someone shows you, and having an extra hand is great so someone can move the dist. while the other watches the timing marks. All the info is on your emissions label under your hood. You want to make sure of your info, clean the pointer plate next to the crank pulley before you start. It is also important to disconnect the ecm connector (probably under the carpet on pass. front side) when setting the base time. If you have no label under your hood, stop by a dealership and see if they can help, or perhaps someone here has the setting for the 2.8 l. I have a 4.3, so I can't assist there.

BlazerLT: How am I wrong? His problem is just like mine: interior engine oil leak...hence the blue smoke when cold starting and absence of smoke when warm. What does this have to do with timing and why do you say I'm wrong about my suggestion that it's a valve guide seal leak?

BlazerLT: How am I wrong? His problem is just like mine: interior engine oil leak...hence the blue smoke when cold starting and absence of smoke when warm. What does this have to do with timing and why do you say I'm wrong about my suggestion that it's a valve guide seal leak?

Wouldn't the delayed starting be due to a spark plug trying to fire in oil....about a week ago we replaced the head gasket on a customer's Accord and oil had already leaked into the cylinders a little bit and upon completing our work, it took some cranking to get the car started and blow the oil out.

S mal puff of blue smoke at the start is not a significant oil problem that would cause a poor start condition.

S mal puff of blue smoke at the start is not a significant oil problem that would cause a poor start condition.


That's because we're not talking about a significant oil problem...I'm postulating that it's a small valve guide seal leak which causes 2-3 seconds of cranking when starting a cold engine. This is why it does not happen when when the car's been recently started and is warm. The SMALL leak has not leaked enough oil to coat the spark plug, therefore firing is easy.

That's because we're not talking about a significant oil problem...I'm postulating that it's a small valve guide seal leak which causes 2-3 seconds of cranking when starting a cold engine. This is why it does not happen when when the car's been recently started and is warm. The SMALL leak has not leaked enough oil to coat the spark plug, therefore firing is easy.

If there was enough oil to cause a hard start condition, you would get a LOT more blue smoke than a small puff.

So how would i go about setting the timing and can i set it good enough for it to run good until i gets my hands on a timing light.

It would be best to use the timing light while setting it.

You can disconnect the timing wire and try turn the distributor like you were timing it and see if you see an improvement.