Hard start

astrozam · Post by **astrozam** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 2:35 pm

o.k,this is on my 95 astro,not guaranteed to work but its worth a shot if your symptoms are the same,2 days ago van ran great,got home parked it then the big snow hit. Next day went out to start it and it just wouldn't catch,cranked well had spark and fuel but would not catch.Today went back out same thing so I checked my cap and rotor replaced both with OEM,had a funky plug wire replaced that as well,still nothing.Checked the ignition coil and the pick-up coil both o.k,phoned CAA for a tow over to the garage,old timer driver gets in holds gas pedal to the floor then trys crankin it over just lets up on the gas pedal a bit and boom she fires up like new,guy says he see's this problem with these vans a couple times a week.

So hold the gas pedal to the floor (don't pump) then crank,letoff just slightly on the pedal and it should catch

p.s don't crank for more than about 7-8 sec at a time,let it rest about a minute before trying again.

Another trick which has worked in the past especially when the plugs and cap have moisture on them is to spray a very light coat of wd-40 on them,let it sit for a few minutes then give the above method a try.

If you have any tricks to get a hard start started,add them to this thread.

Water Boy · Post by **Water Boy** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 5:47 pm

New to me.

What is your engine/intake/year?

astrozam · Post by **astrozam** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 6:01 pm

Water Boy wrote:

New to me.

What is your engine/intake/year?

95 astro 4.3 cmfi

SafariRob · Post by **SafariRob** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 6:11 pm

Zam, on the older TBI vans, you did a "clear flood" by holding the gas pedal to the floor and cranking the engine. Is this the same for a 95? Even if it is, it doesn't explain how the engine got flooded to begin with.

astrozam · Post by **astrozam** » Wed Dec 19, 2007 3:18 am

SafariRob wrote:Zam, on the older TBI vans, you did a "clear flood" by holding the gas pedal to the floor and cranking the engine. Is this the same for a 95? Even if it is, it doesn't explain how the engine got flooded to begin with.

Well, the engine got flooded cause I like a dummy pumped the pedal,I know this is tabu for a F.I but sometimes aggravation takes over where intelligence leaves off,lol

Water Boy · Post by **Water Boy** » Wed Dec 19, 2007 5:28 am

astrozam wrote:
SafariRob wrote:Zam, on the older TBI vans, you did a "clear flood" by holding the gas pedal to the floor and cranking the engine. Is this the same for a 95? Even if it is, it doesn't explain how the engine got flooded to begin with.
Well, the engine got flooded cause I like a dummy pumped the pedal,I know this is tabu for a F.I but sometimes aggravation takes over where intelligence leaves off,lol

On a CFMI there is NO PUMP. So you can't technically flood it by pumping the pedal.

I could be wrong here.
But hey, my wife has told me that I've been wrong at least once.

astrozam · Post by **astrozam** » Wed Dec 19, 2007 1:32 pm

Well all I can go buy is the strong smell of gas,and the loud bang from the gas detonating,lol plus what the old-timer said.

Not sure what you mean theres no pump,after stopping cranking the key when it wouldn't start I could hear my fuel pump run for an additional 10sec's, normally when I turn off the key it shuts down in a sec.Its been running great the last few days.

Mr_Roboto · Post by **Mr_Roboto** » Mon Dec 24, 2007 8:34 pm

Well, back in the carb days when you would jam the good pedal there was what is called an accelerator pump. This would richen the air fuel ratio considerably whenever you pushed the pedal down. So if you were trying to start it and pushed the pedal down ten times, it would give 10 "shots" of fuel into the intake. This means that it would flood it out. It could have something to do with the coolant temp/intake temp sensors or the ECU programming. Besides that, he is right about the "flood clear" mode, it will go into it any time you are above about 2/3 throttle.

astrozam · Post by **astrozam** » Sun Dec 30, 2007 10:36 am

Mr_Roboto wrote:Well, back in the carb days when you would jam the good pedal there was what is called an accelerator pump. This would richen the air fuel ratio considerably whenever you pushed the pedal down. So if you were trying to start it and pushed the pedal down ten times, it would give 10 "shots" of fuel into the intake. This means that it would flood it out. It could have something to do with the coolant temp/intake temp sensors or the ECU programming. Besides that, he is right about the "flood clear" mode, it will go into it any time you are above about 2/3 throttle.

Thanks for that info about the carb pump Alex,have not had any problems since and our temps and humidity have been up and below freezing about a half a gazillion times since,oh well its just another thing to consider if you can't get er started and you've given her too much gas.

Chevy & GMC Vans

Chevy & GMC Vans

Hard start

Hard start

Re: Hard start

Re: Hard start