I have a '98.5 24 valve , manual trans .<br><br>Lately when the weather is hot it has a hard time starting .<br>It has always started by just &quot;touching&quot; the ignition.<br>It now always starts fine in the cool of the morning, but once I try to start it after its all warmed up or when the weather is hot, I have to crank it for a few seconds. <br>The first time it happened , I had just taken a long steep grade pulling a trailer . I pulled into a rest stop, shut her down , ten minutes later I tried to start it and I had to crank for a few seconds before it started. It was in the upper 90's that day. <br><br>Several weeks before this started occurring I changed the fuel filter and I didnt bleed all the air air out. It took a little bit of extra cranking before it started. ( its acting the same way it did then right now , but as I said only when its hot outside or when the engine is hot.)<br>It &quot;feel&quot; as though there is air in the fuel system. But Im thinking that if there is a way for the air to sneak into it , there would surely be a fuel leak in that spot and I would see it .<br><br>I can still hear the electric pump running when im in the &quot;wait to start&quot; mode. <br>It cranks really good ,it has 2 nearly new batteries.<br>The engine still runs at the same temp it always has.<br>But obviously something is wrong here !<br><br>Any help would be appreciated .<br><br>Thank you very much !!<br><br>Brett<br>

 

You need to carefully check the return line to the fuel tank. Sounds like the line may be leaking and loosing prime when it's hot. A leak of the return line can be hard to spot so don't expect dripping. Also, make sure the manual bleed valve on the fuel filter is completely closed by pushing down on the rod.

From Dave Fritz's site there are two other things to look at:

Engine hard to start when hot - Replace bad fuel lift pump and/or TSB 18-15-00
00-01 Hard start and/or a no start condition - Service Action #00-11 replace fuel pump

 

My truck did that for a few days this summer. Seems to be fine now. I didn't fuel at the normal location when it had the hot, hard start problem. Back to my normal station and it hasn't happened since.

 

Mine has been doing that lately, and I believe is is the lift pump because I have also noticed erratic fuel pressure swings at times. The way I get around it is when it is hot and I go to start it, I wait until the fuel pressure shows on the gauge, and immediately hit the starter. If I wait for the &quot;wait to start&quot; light to go out, or longer, I have to crank it for 2-3 seconds. If you don't have a gauge, try turning to the ON position for only about 1 second (before the lift pump stops running), then start. I, for one would be curious to learn results of this method from other experiencing the same problem.<br><br>I have a PE4100 and a prototype lift pump driver, but I still need to find AN-8 banjo replacements without buying a whole kit. Anyone?<br>

 

NO NO! I am still on the stock lift pump. I haven't installed the PE4100 yet, because I need AN-8 banjo replacements.