'98 Cavalier mystery problems...

[Liz73]

Hopefully someone on here has an idea on how to fix this:

My battery died a few weeks ago so I had a new one put in. Two days later, I go to start it and it won't start. My brother-in-law said it was the alternator and he replaced it. It started right up afterward, but the next morning I go to start it and it doesn't start right away. It makes a sound like it wants to start but just doesn't "catch". I have to try starting it 3 or 4 times while pumping the gas for it to finally start.

When I finally get it going, it makes a squeaking noise which I thought was the serpentine belt because it was in bad shape, but my brother-in-law replaced that too and it still squeaks. He thought the rough starting might just be that I needed a tune-up, so he did that on Satuday. It made absolutely no difference whatsoever, the car still won't start right away if it's been sitting for longer than a few hours. If it's only been sitting for an hour or two it starts up fine.

He's pretty much stumped now that he's fixed what he thought was causing the problem. Does anyone know what else it could be? Any info would be greatly appreciated!

[J-Ri]

Check the fuel pressure, you may have a bad pump that is letting the pressure bleed out of the line and if the volume's too low it could take a while for the pump to fill the line with gas. For the squeak, if it sounds like the belt, the tensioner may be loose. Prolonged cranking drains the battery which makes the alternator put more load on the engine which can lead to a slipping belt.