99 Hard Start

I've done a little research on the boards here and I've found out this is a regular topic for Chevy owners.

I have a 99 Chevy pickup with the 327. It has 60k miles. In the past two months it's begun to have a hard time starting after sitting for a while. It just cranks and cranks and finally starts. Sometimes it's takes a couple of times to get it to go. After it starts it runs fine. No problem. And it starts fine once it's been started, but if it sits for a while ... it won't start again without lots of cranking.

I started with fuel filter - didn't help. Then I tried a fuel pump relay ... again, no help.

Any ideas?

Try pulling the vacuum hose on the fuel pressure regulator after the truck has run for a while. If gas drips out, the regulator is bad and should be replaced. If it is ok, the fuel pump may be bad. To troubleshoot, you need to do a fuel pressure test.

I'll see what I can do. As for a fuel pressure test ... that one is beyond my scope of knowledge.

It is a pretty easy test to do. You need a fuel pressure gauge (you can get one at any auto parts store, mine was ~$50), attach it to the port on the fuel line right above the passenger side fuel rail. You may need to take the palastic Vortec cover off to see it. Perform the following tests and post back your results:

Cold (ignition on, engine off)
Cold start
Engine warm (running)
Engine off (watch for leak-off)