Have a 1997 GMC Jimmy. It started off just giving us trouble to start,?

[steven h]

But a good 5-10 minutes of cranking, and it would finally turn over, then it ran great, no stalls or anything at idle. The problem is only on the initial start. If you got it to start, ran around to the mall and stores,..no trouble with the subsequent starts, just the intial. Unless you let it sit overnight again and then the next morning, the intial start would be a problem again! Now, it won't turn over at all unless you give it a shot of ether, then it runs like a charm...sounds like its not priming itself.

 

[Molson02536]

But a good 5-10 minutes of cranking, and it would finally turn over, then it ran great, no stalls or anything at idle. The problem is only on the initial start. If you got it to start, ran around to the mall and stores,..no trouble with the subsequent starts, just the intial. Unless you let it sit overnight again and then the next morning, the intial start would be a problem again! Now, it won't turn over at all unless you give it a shot of ether, then it runs like a charm...sounds like its not priming itself.

There are a few thing that can cause this issue. Your fuel filter my bad dirty and cause to much fuel restriction, your fuel pump is weak or the return check valve to keep the fuel pressure primed and will need to be replaced. The other that would come to mind is a faulty fuel pressure and is leaking fuel in to your upper intake platinum which is what i am leaning towards, since you mentioned that it only happens when the jimmy is parked over night.

What happens is when the engine is off and the Jimmy is parked over night, the fuel will leak in to the upper intake platinum causing your engine to be flooded with gas. Note that also starting your engine with starter fluid is like playing with fire and if your have a upper intake backfire from the starter fluid, your going to spend more money to replace not just the fuel injector system, but also the intake platinum since it's made of plastic.

Next time your have your Jimmy parted over night and before you start it. Take the throttle body bonnet off and open the throttle body to WOT and inspect for any signs of excessive gas smell coming from through the throttle body. That would be a good indication that you have a fuel pressure regulator leaking.

The bad news or worst news is that you have to take the upper platinum off to get to the fuel pressure regulator which is a part of your fuel injector system. You don't have to replace the whole unit, just the fuel pressure regulator.

Good luck and post back what fuel pressure you have at the shredder valve, you should have a reading of 62-65 PSI when the system is pressurized and will drop about 5 PSI when the engine has started.

Good luck and be safe.