The truck is hard to start cold. Starts good after initial startup and when warm. Fuel pump was replaced 2 yrs ago. Primed system has 60 psi, and drops to 50 psi after 1 hour, and to 45 psi after 2 hrs. Cranks fine, but feels like it’s not getting gas. Spark is strong. Will show signs of life and finally starts after the following procedure: Turn ignition on until fuel pump primes system, then turn off for 20 seconds. Repeat 3-4 times, then engine will start. Coolant temp switch correctly acknowledges temp at 68 deg (or the current correct ambient temp), so that doesn’t appear to be a problem. I detect no smell of gas, and truck runs fine once started. Got a feeling that I'll need to remove the intake plenum, but I would like to know other areas to check before I start ripping things apart. Truck has about 185,000 miles, but engine long block was replaced about 40,000 miles ago. Would appreciate some direction. Thanks in advance.

 

It could very well be a problem with fuel delivery. Checking pressure and leakdown at the service port does not provide enough data to accurately diagnose the fuel delivery system. 60psi is borderline low, but without knowing what the pump is capable of providing, we have no way of knowing where the problem might be. At the top of this section there is a "how to" sticky that explains testing fuel pressure & leakdown. Post all 4 readings and we can analyze them.