Difficulty starting my car

ALRICHFELD

MEMBER
1998 SATURN SL1
4 CYL
2WD
AUTOMATIC
31,200 MILES

When first starting my car after it has been sitting for a while, I have to depress the gas pedal a few times before it will start. When it does start, it hesitates and chugs for a few seconds, then setttles down and runs normally.
Could this this be the Fuel Pressure Regulator or something else?
Thank you very much for your help.

2 Replies

ANDREWS AUTOMOTION

MEMBER
5 POSTS

It is fuel pressure reg. If you don't fix it right away turn key on & off 3 or 4 times before starting to pump up fuel it should start

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Friday, February 18th, 2011 AT 2:23 PM

SATURNTECH9

MECHANIC
30,869 POSTS

What andrews automotion describes is the fuel pump bleeding down that was very common on the 1997 S model saturns I haven't really seen it on the other year S model saturns 1997 used that fuel pump that year only and I have replaced a lot of those pump's for bleeding down. The condition you describe is a bad coolant temp sensor when you hold your foot to the floor the computer put's the car into clear flood mode it turn's off the injector's. The reason the car start's then is because the engine is flooded and the cylinder's get a chance to dry out the fuel and the engine can start. When the coolant temp sensor's go bad they always read colder then actual temp cause the engine to flood. It's very common for the S model saturn coolant temp sensor's to fail there only 10. Also inspect the connector going to it if it's corroded replace the connector too. Let me know how it goes.