Sonoma Starting Problems

I have a 98 sonoma with a 2.2 L. Half the time i go to start my truck it starts fine. The other half it wont start right away. I hold the key for about 5 seconds and the truck wont fire up. Then i stop and do it again about 5 seconds later and it fires right up. After it fires up sometimes the engine surges a little. I havnt waited to see if it stalls out i just always press on the gas lightly until the surging stops. Oh and it doesn't start/not start at any particular times. Sometimes it doesnt start after it sat for 8 hours and sometimes it doesnt start after it sat for 5 minutes. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

I have a 98 sonoma with a 2.2 L. Half the time i go to start my truck it starts fine. The other half it wont start right away. I hold the key for about 5 seconds and the truck wont fire up. Then i stop and do it again about 5 seconds later and it fires right up. After it fires up sometimes the engine surges a little. I havnt waited to see if it stalls out i just always press on the gas lightly until the surging stops. Oh and it doesn't start/not start at any particular times. Sometimes it doesnt start after it sat for 8 hours and sometimes it doesnt start after it sat for 5 minutes. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

hey i am having the same problem with my 96 sonoma 2.2 L. if the truck doesnt run for 8 hour then it wont start. I then have to jump the battery becasue it drain when im trying to start it, eventually it fires up and runs fine. I took it to my mechanic, both of use went over it changed everything we thought was wrong but it has spark the fuel pump runs its getting fuel but still no solution.

Hi all,

I need to add a 98 Sonoma with 2.2 Litre and 5 speed as a vehicle that won't start. The truck ran fine yesterday, but today it will just crank, but not start. Now my truck has 200k miles, so it doesn't owe me anything.
How do I check to see if it is fuel or spark that is causing me this problem?

Thanks,
Kevin :confused:

Hi all,

I need to add a 98 Sonoma with 2.2 Litre and 5 speed as a vehicle that won't start. The truck ran fine yesterday, but today it will just crank, but not start. Now my truck has 200k miles, so it doesn't owe me anything.
How do I check to see if it is fuel or spark that is causing me this problem?

Thanks,
Kevin

I have a 98 sonoma with a 2.2 L. Half the time i go to start my truck it starts fine. The other half it wont start right away. I hold the key for about 5 seconds and the truck wont fire up. Then i stop and do it again about 5 seconds later and it fires right up. After it fires up sometimes the engine surges a little. I havnt waited to see if it stalls out i just always press on the gas lightly until the surging stops. Oh and it doesn't start/not start at any particular times. Sometimes it doesnt start after it sat for 8 hours and sometimes it doesnt start after it sat for 5 minutes. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
I am having the same problem with my '93 Sonoma with a 2.8. Like yours, just holding the key for a few seconds and it will start. The truck will do this for a few days then work fine for several days. I have also noticed that sometimes my clock and radio have lost power. Right now it won't start at all.

I had a similar problem with my 97 Sonoma 4.3 - it turned out to be a cracked coil. Easy fix but annoying at the time. I was coming up on a 100K so I figured I couldn't go wrong by changing the plugs,cap,rotor,and wires too :)

I have a similar problem with starting. I pause before hitting starter to let the fuel pressure build back up (allow fuel pump to run for seconds), then it starts. My gm mechanic son suggests that It could be the backflow valve in fuel pump or check valve in the fuel injector system allowing pressure to bleed off when not running.