This 88 s10 with a 2.5l engine has worked wonderfully for a long time now. 2 months ago I parked it and the next day couldn't turn it over. It tried but the pistons wouldn't move. Removed spark plug #3 and it was full of water. Changed the head gasket, the valve cover gas, the manifold gaskets. Put it all together and it runs like a champ.. about 3 weeks later it is hard to start. Very hard. It turns over OK but doesn't fire. After 20-30 short tries to start, it finally hits a couple of times. Within 10 more tries, it starts to hit more often, then finally starts. Once started, you need to keep it revved a little or it will die. After about 1/2 mile of driving, all is well, it runs great from then on. After shutting it off, it will start right back up, unless it sits for a long period of time,3-4 hours, then it has problems again.
I had what seemed to be the very same problem about 3 or 4 year ago. I was getting water dripping on the distributor from the intake manifold water jacket exit port. It would cause the distributor to send the spark to ground instead of to the spark plug. after a lot of trying, it would also start then.
This is not the problem this time. the distributor and spark plug wires and plugs checks out very good. The oil is great, no water in it.
Could this be something as simple as the fuel filter? I have never really worked on the fuel end of a car, but I suspect that the pump keeps pressure on the fuel line and the injectors release it into the intake port or carburetor. I have no idea what the pressure should be, but I did not find a valve that will release it if pushed.
Could anyone give me a layman's explanation of how it all works? Does excess fuel return to the tank?
or if you have any other clues of what is gong on here, I'm open to any suggestions.
Thanks Rex