I have a 2003 Chevy Monte Carlo and starting about 9 months ago I started to notice that it was not always firing right away when I would turn the ignition. Sometimes it did fire just fine, but sometimes it took a little longer. It slowly became a little more frequent, then sometimes it would start and then die right away. Still other times it would fire just fine. A buddy of mine has a diagnostic computer and we hooked it up, and even though the delay happened while it was hooked up, no codes or anything would show up.
As of today it still seems to be gradually getting worse. I have started tapping the accelerator as soon as it fires, to prevent the stall. Now I think I have even smelled a slight hint of gas from time to time when I start it, maybe because of tapping the accelerator.
I have talked to several “car guy” friends, purchased the Haynes Manual, and I still cannot figure out what to change or even check, any ideas???
How many miles on the car? Are the spark plugs and wires original? Does parking facing up hill or down make a difference? Does how long (hour vs three days) make any difference? How is the power on the freeway once you get it running?
Is there any relationship to rainy or mornings with lots if dew?
There are now close to 60K miles. The plugs and wires have not been changed since I bought it with 17K miles on it. I haven’t noticed any correlation with up/down hill. The length of time does not seem to matter and neither does hot/cold from what I can tell. Once it is running, it seems to have all the power it should both on the freeway and in the city. But maybe since it has been so long I don’t even realize.
No, I haven’t noticed any relationship to rainy mornings or anything. I park in a garage anyway.