'98 Bonneville, hard starting after intake replacement

[HotRod53]

We just had to replace the intake and I understand they are prone to failure. Once we got the car back it is now hard to start!

The first crank turns over forever and will not fire most times. The second crank usually fires right up BUT if you cranked long on the first try the motor will be loaded up with fuel. I checked the regulator solenoid on the fuel rail to see if it leaked fuel thru the diaphram which I have heard of, it seemed OK. The mechanic put a guage on the rail and he said that the pressure comes right up but seems to drop.

I just read about the connector on the left side kick panel, I haven't tried that yet. Because the motor loads up I'm thinking that the pump is OK and once it starts it runs fine. We also ran some fuel system cleaner thru it twice.

What I don't understand is that we didn't have this problem until the intake was replaced....Any suggestions?

[HotZ28]

Did the original UIM leak coolant into the intake. Did you change the plugs after the intake replacement?

[HotRod53]

Yes, it did leak coolant into the intake and we had white smoke as my wife described it. No, I did not replace the plugs since they were almost new.

This engine has only been in the car for about 20K, the last one blew when the oil bypass valve stuck and spun the bottom end out. The second replacement blew too because they reused the bypass/filter assy. I had provided belt/hoses/tstat/wires/plugs for the new motor but I didn't know until later that I lost all of those parts in the second swap. I then replaced them again.

[HotRod53]

Update: I removed the carpet and found the ground conector, it had no corrosion and was just slightly oxidized so I cleaned it and reassembled it anyway.

[wafrederick]

There is a chance that there is coolant in the cylinders.Remove the plugs, crank the engine over until the coolant is gone and put in new spark plugs sticking with AC Delcos.