Starts cold fine, long crank when warm
 

I've done some searching, not found this specific issue.

2000 blazer 4 door 2wd LS
163k miles


First start of the day, 100% of the time, starts before I can get my hand off the key-- half a second, no problem. Beautifully. Magically. Like a dream made of dreams.

After that, though, even after running for a 10 minute commute (muahahahaha!), I consistently get long crank times. Sometimes I'll have a half-second crank 4 hours later at lunch, but typically I'll have long cranks the rest of the day.

About 15% of the time it will randomly bust right off after being driven, which always surprises me, but long cranks are the norm after the first start of the morning.

Long crank, in this scenario is 3-6 seconds of continuous cranking, or two 3-second cranks with a break between.


Per PO's records:
I don't know if the spider has been replaced, not recorded if it was.
Rotor and cap replaced in 2017.
Records indicate the fuel pump was replaced in 2016.
I don't know with what parts.

If it was consistent, I would buy a fuel pressure gauge and see what the situation is there.

Is there a particular reason yall could think of that 1st start of the day would be different? What, if any, condition would generate a different condition after having sat overnight for 10ish hours?

Already done a lot of repairs using the forum and a manual. Probably pull the ebcm, re-flow joints in a month or so and do a write-up just for funsies.

Texas Panhandle- lows overnight have been between 20s and 50s since I got this, highs on the 40s to 70s. A little bit of snow ( <5") but typically dry conditions.


Other notes:
Crack in the upper portion of the radiator tank, JB welded until I can buy a $70 unit from rockauto-- still has a small leak, so coolant level fluctuates but never less than 2" below top of tank when dead cold. Don't know enough about this make to know how coolant can influence starting.

Former aircraft mechanic and farm kid; not afraid of doing anything on the vehicle, but I don't have an OBDII scanner (yet) so I can't read fuel trims.

Have not changed the fuel filter, but will be doing that tonight if the wind stays down.

Thanks for your time,
Ross

My truck had a similar condition when I first got it. It ended up being a leaky regulator. I’m thinking that after driving it and then shut off, fuel would seep out through regulator diaphragm and flood engine, making next restart difficult. After a period of time (overnight), flooded fuel would evaporate and morning startup would be fine.

If anything, it’s a good excuse to upgrade to the mpfi spider :)

Btw, since it’s still winter you could probably get away without pressurizing the cooling system so it doesn’t piss out antifreeze until you can pick up that new radiator

That makes a whole lot of sense, Billy.

The smell of fuel and the lag time to a solid start.

The spider upgrade was going to have to be done eventually anyway. May as well get 'er done.

Many thanks!


---Edit---

After pricing some parts, as much as I hate to, I'll probably just be doing the pressure regulator and associated gaskets because.... money.

I'll swing by the pick and pull this weekend and see if I can find a feasible upgrade but I have my doubts.

That totally sucks, but I definitely understand where you’re coming from.

Here’s one thing to consider though, considering the amount of time and effort to get to the regulator. You definitely don’t want to be doing this again. Cost involves a good L.I.M. gasket set, then a flush and refill of antifreeze. The risk of accidentally screwing something up or something going sideways (cross threading a fuel line... ugh don’t ask me how I know this).

Then, after everything is done, you find out it wasn’t the regulator after all, but a leaky poppet hose valve in the central spider unit... or, something else goes bad in there a week after you do it. Trust me, you’re better off doing it right and have peace of mind, and OEM AC/Delco is always the safest bet. Decent prices can be found if you take a little time and search around online.

Good luck with it, I hope it all works out for ya

Oh, believe me, I would rather put a new ACD spider in there.

Out of curiosity: I may be missing something.

I was able to pull a whole spider (unfortunately not the mpfi version) out of a blazer this weekend. And I didn't see any reason to remove or disturb the lower intake manifold.

Just the upper plenum and associated jibberjabber came off. Is there a reason I'm not seeing that I would need to flush coolant and replace the LIM?

I did get a pretty new radiator though. Newly enough installed on the donor that the hoses weren't stuck on. Flushed it out proper before installation of course.


Having said that, I have a donor spider and fuel regulator sitting beside me right now. Any way to test this dude?
There was no significant carbon on the intake manifold from the donor car, so either it was leaking so badly it washed everything out or someone was in there and cleaned it not too long before it wrecked.

Given the new state of the radiator and hoses, I'm wondering if it overheated and someone put a new head gasket on the donor, cleaning as they went. But that's bigtime speculation.

By the by, I pulled an ebcm for $50, swapped it and it fixed my abs and brake lights being on all the time. I'll probably reflow the solder joints in the old one, test it and try to sell it on here. Do you think would that be well-received or nah?

You’re totally right, my bad. I’m just used to pulling everything apart and replacing everything.
Pulling just the upper part makes the job a whole lot easier, and way cheaper if you can get junk yard parts that work. I remember back when almost everything I got was out of junk yards, and to be honest I don’t ever think one of those parts went bad during the time I owned those cars

Edit; PS, I had the same issue, parking brake light and ABS on, I you-tubed it and found out how easy it was to fix; I reflowed all the solder connections and now it works good as new.
Btw, the wiper control board goes bad the same way, if your wipers ever decide not to turn on when you want them to, you’ll know what to do :)

Jyunk
 

That's because Junkyards are a magical place of wonder and hope! The magic of the junkyard imbues the parts with staying power.

Did this solve the issue? i've hit a similar issue plus hesitation and general con****ery.

I would love to be able to answer that question for you but I haven't been able to spend any time on the rig.