For awhile now my blazer (1998 4.3L) has had a hard starting issue. It turns over for about 10 to 15 seconds before it finally starts and then it runs fine and also gets good gas milage; around 18 - 21 mpg. I bought a fuel pressure gauge and it reads 62 psi when I turn the key on and then it drops to around 52 to 54 psi while its running. When I turn the engine off the fuel pressure drops rather quickly (about 30 to 45 seconds) to around 20 psi and then fairly slowly until it reaches 0. The fuel filter has been recently changed. It also has about 109,000 miles. Does this sound like the fuel pressure regulator?

Thanks,
Brandon

 

Should I just pull the intake and check everything out?

Is there anything else I can check that might be causing this?

Anyone???

 

Judging by your fuel pressure readings your fuel pump is working fine (you need about 60 psi to start and she drops to 50+ psi during runtime) so your OK there. It's a '98, so you have to start thinking about, plugs, wires, cap, rotor, fuel injectors dirty or leaking, fuel pressure regulator (maybe????), vacuum leaks, etc...I'd pull the intake and clean up in there. Be careful around the fuel spider, the fuel poppet nozzles can be brittle as well as the lines connecting the poppets to the injectors. Take your time around removing the fule lines in the fuel metering body, you want to note the orientation of the o-rings and metal washers as they come out (if they come out) with the fuel pipes. Use lots of carb cleaner to clean up the intake area. Have you changed out the fuel filter lately? That is a rather unpleasant job, though. Good Luck.

 

I'd vote for trying the fuel pressure regulator. Sounds like it's a little slow to bring the pressure up to begin with. Make sure the vaccum tube leading to it doesn't have any cracks or leaks in it as well as that will make it seem like the regulator isn't doing it's job.

 

i'm having the same issue. going to run some fuel injector cleaner through it, acting like a stuck/open injector, most likely from debris or the fuel spider....is the fuel spider really that common of an issue? I'm told it is