Well i’ll just give you the basics. I have a 92 LS auto and it has a ridiculous starting problem. The check engine light stays on for varying amounts of time before it turns off and i can turn the car on. In the video i took below, the CEL turned off after 12 minutes and the car finally started. I’m not too good at describing so watch the vid and maybe one of you guys can help me out. Also you might have to turn up the volume a bit because my phone’s audio is terrible.
Check the main fuel relay (MFR) connections, or the MFR itself as it is a common culprit to a starting problem.
Here’s how a properly functioning start should go:
-turn key to ign on
-CEL should come on, should hear the fuel pump prime
-MFR + CEL should come off after priming (edit: a loud click of MFR)
It does not seem your car is doing that.
I’ve read to do a preliminary test jiggle the MFR and see if it starts. If the CEL comes off after or while you jiggle the MFR then the MFR is the problem.
If not then try a known functioning MFR. You can find these at a junkyard for fairly cheap.
Hope it works out.
Thanks for the suggestion i’ll try it out asap and come back with results.
Alright i checked the relay and i noticed this:
It seems that the wire that connects the fuel pump to the relay is burnt or something. Could this be causing the problem?
Man thats a mess… check the wires and connections on those.
Looks like those wires are all in the right spot according the service manual.
Not sure why there are two BLK/YEL wires tho… is there an alarm system?
Yeah i know its a mess. I got it like that and didn’t bother cleaning it up. There isn’t an alarm system but i think there used to be one because there is a little indicator light to the left of the steering wheel. I think i’m going to replace that damaged wire and see if it works.
I would fix the wiring issue/check the MFR and if that doesnt solve your issue then I would check your ECU. My friend had a similar problem with her 92 LS (5-speed) and her car would do something similar. She would turn her key to start it and then have to wait up to 20 minutes for her CEL to go out before she could start the car. We pulled back the carpet on the passenger side floorboard and found that the ECU showed signs of water damage (caused by those 8 clips that are under the cowl that dry out and crack allowing water to drip down onto the passenger floorboard.) We replaced her ECU and it fixed the problem. Good luck with your issue!