HELP-Car won't start

[Gobig_us]

Last wednsday started my car went to work. Left work at 5:30 and the car wouldn't start. I kept cranking and cranking and it finally started. Drove it home and parked it. Tried to start it again and it fired right up. Next morning went out and it wouldn't start. Cranked and cranked and it finally started. I've noticed if the car is warm, it will start. If it's cold, it won't. So, left my car at the girlfriends parents all weekend cause we were out of town, when we got back it started, first crank, but just barely. It did this until yesterday evening when I left work and it wouldn't start. I cranked and cranked for easily 5-8 minutes and it started. When it does finally start up, it's like nothing is wrong, starts on first or second crank. Tried to leave this a.m. and car won't start. It seems like it's not getting any fuel. It's almost like the fuel pump relay is stuck. That is just a guess cause I have no idea what is wrong. Has anyone come across this problem? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[jlevie]

There are several possibilities here. The first thing to do is to establish whether this is just a fuel issue (dying pump, bad relay, bad FPR, clogged filter, bad CPS, bad DME), or whether is also involves spark (bad main relay, bad CPS, bad DME, etc).

A check for spark when cranking over the engine would be the first step in diagnosing the problem. If there's no spark, the main relay, CPS, coil, or DME are suspect. A check to see if power is applied to the DME will tell if the main relay is good. While you can check the resistance of the CPS, the best diagnostic is to swap in a known good unit. Likewise for the coil and DME.

If there is spark, a check for power to the pump when cranking the engine will tell if the relay or DME is at fault. If there's no power to the pump you can check to see if both coil power & DME supplied ground are present at the socket. If they are, the relay is bad or the wiring to the pump is damaged. If there is power to the pump, but it doesn't run, the pump is bad. If the pump does run, the filter may be clogged or the FPR could be bad. Running the pressure and delivery tests in the Bentley would be the next diagnostics.

[Gobig_us]

I pulled the fuel pump relay and cleaned the prongs. Put it back in, tried to start it, nothing. Pulled the oxygen sensor relay and cleaned the prongs, put it back in and the car started right up. I'm almost certain, what I did, didn't fix this intermittent problem. I'm gonna let the car cool down and try and start it again.

jlevie, thanks for the input. I'm gonna head over to my Mom's where all my tools are and do as you have suggested.