1992 cold start problem

[plymouthcranbrook]

I have a 1992 Cavalier that I have owned since 1999. It now has 138,000 miles on it and up till now has been pretty reliable.
About 2 months ago the car began to take longer to start in the morning than usual. Just a few more spins of the starter, then ran ok. I then notice a few drivability problems, stumbling, a low speed miss sometimes, and a miss under load in the higher gears. My first thought was that the fuel pump might be getting weak as it is original. I had thought that I had replaced the fuel filter last year when I changed the rest of the fleet.(Note, this car only gets about 5000 miles of use a year). However when I got underneath the car to see how bad the pump change would be, I saw that the filter was rusty and nasty looking. Checking my records I realized that it had been 4 years and 30,000 mile since a change. So the filter was changed and the starting got a little easier and it began to run better for a time.
Now that the weather here is getting colder the starting and also driving issues returned and were worse. I checked the computer for codes and only found one, about the air conditioning sensor not working. Since the Air had been removed several years ago I felt I could discount that. So I began to think of what could cause both hard starting and bad driving. So far I have replaced the water temp sensor, Air intake Temp Sensor, plugs, burned out muffler, Throttle position sensor, and cleaned and re oiled the air filter. I checked the spark jump with one of the gap gauges. All four plugs had a hot blue spark that jumped to 30 on the scale(millimeters I suppose) Misting the wires did not cause a problem(they only had about 30,000 miles on them anyway and are top level Napa wires). I checked the coils for corrosion and found none although they are original as is the module. Yesterday I replaced the Crank shaft sensor and low and behold that seemed to solve the drivablilty problems at least so far. But at 25 degree today the car still didn't want to start right off. Turns over fast, acts like no spark or fuel. If I turn it over a few times, stop and try again it will fire, usually sputtering a couple of times and then starting or needing one more try and then it starts and last night and today then ran well. I have tried turning on the key to build up fuel pressure and that doesn't seem to make any difference. I also tried holding the pedal to the floor in case it was flooded but that really doesn't work. Note the car no longer has a converter as cars here older that 1995 are not smog tested. I have also ran Tehcron through the engine twice and no improvement.
I am out of Ideas and would be grateful for any Ideas that anyone else would have.
Thanks.

I also listened to the injectors with a stethoscope and all were clicking regularly. Three are original and one is about 5 years old.
I haven't checked the ohms on the injectors yet as it is a pain to get to a couple of them

[inafogg]

if you have access to a fuel gauge i'd check the pressure

[ctwright]

may have leaky fuel injector(s) or a bad fuel pressure regulator, when u check the pressure, clamp off the line b/t the gauge & fuel pump, if it leaks down too fast other than the specs for your vehicle the next thing to check is for leaking injectors, and fuel pressure regulator, after first making sure you don't have a leak in the lines anywhere. If it doesn't leak down on first test then clamp off the line on the side b/t the gauge and fuel rail, if it leaks then it could be a leak in the feed line under the car maybe or bad check valve and you may need new fuel pump. If everything is within specs, then do an ohms test on your coolant temp sensor, make sure it is within specs as well for the temp it is at the time.

[plymouthcranbrook]

I thought of testing the fuel pressure but I cannot find the pressure test point for the car nor have I been able to find a spec for what it should be. I did look for leaks and couldn't find any nor is there an odor of gas either running or not. I did find toay that if I crank the engine a few times(3 or 4 seconds) then shut it off and recrank it starts right away. I realize that this might lead to the idea of a weak fuel pump but since turning the key on and letting the pump run and then doing again to start doesn't seem to make any difference though. Thanks for the ideas.

[inafogg]

auto zone shows 41-47 psi for the 2.2 or 2.4
connector is on fuel rail or so they say
on my 98 2.4 there is no schreader valve you need to connect in line

[plymouthcranbrook]

Originally Posted by inafogg

auto zone shows 41-47 psi for the 2.2 or 2.4
connector is on fuel rail or so they say
on my 98 2.4 there is no schreader valve you need to connect in line

Thanks for the information. Car now running pretty good, just occasional hard(that is, takes a couple of trys)starts. I am going to try to live with it as it is now 25 degrees here in the day and my garage has no heat.

[inafogg]

heard that!!!
good luck

[plymouthcranbrook]

Had to break down and put in a fuel pump yesterday. Problem solved

[plymouthcranbrook]

And two fuel lines and two brake lines, gotta love rust. Little leak in the return line at the quick connect. By the time I was done(6 hours later) I had to replace all those. That is why I didn't want to start this project. Sigh...