Ok here goes... Got a 99 Blazer 4.3 4wheel drive. Bout 180K on it. All winter the truck has started and ran like a champ. Been below zero and starts without a problem. Now its giving me fits. About a week about, hadnt started the truck in a couple days...go out to start it and it wont fire. Turns over great, but no fire. I can hear the fuel pump running fine. Well after about 10 tries at the crank, trying starting fuild, it finally started. A little rough at first, but then fine. Runs great once started, can give it full throttle no problems. Thought that maybe it was just a one time deal. Ha.

Well, tonite, it did the same thing. It hasnt been started in a day or two, went to start it and had to crank it for a while. About 4-5 times, and it fired up. Once it gets started, the truck runs great. Oil pressure great(25-40 psi normal op.), good battery.

Could the fuel pump, regulator, or filter still be the problem even though once it is started it has no problems? When i try to start it earlier, a couple times it acted like it wanted to before it actually did. I push the gas pedal down, and after i tried it a couple more times it started. Kinda was thinking it could be a fuel problem, but didn't know. The truck has a sort of electrical problem...the dash lights where odometer and gear selector flash, but i know that is a sodering issue. And the dash does seem to freak out every once in awhile. The tach will jump around and different lights will flicker on and off. Doesn't effect performace of truck at all when this happens though.

Could really use some help. I do not know that much about newer cars, kinda young and helped my dad work on the older ones, but really lost on the newer ones. Tomorrow I am going to try and do a fuel pressure check to see what it says, since it will probably start ok tomorrow morning(knock on wood!) the pressure will probably be ok. Thanks in advance everyone!

 

Started fine this morning. Little hesitant, but fired up. Check fuel pressure later.

 

What you need to do when it won't start is pull a plug wire off and make sure you have a spark. You said it started after you used starting fluid, but sounded like you meant, not right then..The other thing with the flashing dash lights, tach, and that stuff may all be related to it not starting, could be the ignition switch.

 

It seems as though it will start after i try it for awhile. It never has a problem starting if it had been running at some point earlier in the day. Could I still be having a ignition switch problem if it starts fine when it has been running? Or a fuel pump/filter/regulator problem even though it runs good once started?

And yea...i dont think the starting fluid helped...so it might be something to do with the spark.

Could low engine compression cause the starting issue too? It seems like its got a slight knock when its first started but its not really noticable or loud. Oil pressure is always good above 40 at idle when started about 20-25 idle when warm. TIA