[BobHank]

I'm having the same problem with my 2001 Taurus.
But mine's intermittent. I'm bringing it to the shop tomorrow.

Member -shorod- posted this to help with my problem.
I suppose it's possible that your fuel pressure regulator is not working and/or you have a leaky fuel injector or two. When you don't crank the car over long enough, the injectors release fuel into the cylinders but don't have a chance to burn it. A bad regulator and leaky injectors could be allowing excess fuel to get into the combustion chamber. When you try to start the car again, the already wet spark plugs become saturated with the additional fuel and cause the plugs to foul. After sitting for 3 hours the excess fuel makes its way past the rings and the fuel on the plugs has time to evaporate.

I suppose if you have bad gas (watered down, old, etc.) it could cause it to take longer and a hotter spark to ignite the mixture. Check your plugs when the car won't start to see if they are wet with gas and to make sure the plugs still look good.

To recap, I'd start by checking the fuel pressure, condition of the spark plugs, and condition of the gasoline. When you are checking your fuel pressure, release the excess fuel into a glass jar and carefully store it for a day or so. See if you can see any separation occuring, like gas and water separating.