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97 Malibu 3.1 v6 hard to start when warm


fritcr
01-31-2008, 06:38 PM
My Malibu is getting hard to start when it is warm. Usually after say 1/2 of driving it then get in to start it and it takes 2 or 3 tries before it will stay running. Always does start and never left me stranded but it seems to be getting harder to start. Any ideas? I just put a can of SeaFoam in the gas today to see if the injectors are dirty. Let me know if you have any ideas...
Rob

16th hippy
02-01-2008, 01:59 AM
first suspect would be the fuel pressure regulator. remove vacuum line from it, and if ANY fuel comes out of the vacuum fitting on it, then replace it. if not, then start by checking fuel pressure and so on, but the regulator is a fairly common problem causing hard hot restarts. please post back what you find.

fritcr
02-01-2008, 10:03 AM
Ok thanks for the advice. I did some searches and saw that but it was so col and we had a winter snow storm here yesterday that I didn't want to check that. I'm driving it today so I will pull that off when I get home and in the garage tonight. If it is the fuel press regulator how hard is that to install? Does the upper intake have to be removed?
thanks for all of the help as always!
Rob

16th hippy
02-01-2008, 10:44 AM
nah, is on the fuel rail on front of engine. bleed off fuel pressure, pop old one off, make sure to get all o-rings out, and install new one. takes about 10 minutes or so.

fritcr
02-05-2008, 01:52 PM
I pulled the vac line off but there is no gas. I forgot to ask but I assume the car should NOT be running when I pull the line off? I just drove it home...shut it off and pulled the line off...no gas. It is driving me nutz. It has been very slowly getting worse. I only used to happen every once in a while but now it is almost every time when it is hot. It always starts but takes 2-3 tries. It also seems to "gallup" for a bit when it does start. Sometimes it also gallups when ideling in gear at a stop light a bit. It is not missing either. New wires, plugs, and Idle air control thing too.
Any advice?
Rob

16th hippy
02-05-2008, 02:35 PM
remove line with engine running and see if any fuel comes out.....even if not, this is a known problem that casues the hard hot restarts. at this point would prolly just go ahead and replace it if nothing else is wrong. they are pretty cheap.

fritcr
02-06-2008, 08:03 AM
Ok you know what. I'm just going to pick one up today and put it on. I'll let you know if it fixed it. Thanks again for the advice.
Rob

fritcr
02-11-2008, 03:23 PM
I have not driven it a lot but it seems to have fixed my problem. Thanks so much for everyones help. The new Fuel Pressure Regulator seemed to do the trick. The car still seems to surge or idle up and down a few times before settling down when first started but then it is fine after that. I can live with it.
Rob

16th hippy
02-12-2008, 03:28 PM
no worries, that's why we're here. as for the surging idle, check the trhottle bosy...if it is kinda dirty, would be a good idea to clean it. there are many things that can cause that, but that's about the first place to start.

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