1987 Suburban hard start when hot?

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slow-poke

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I just bought a 1987 Suburban with the TBI injection. It has an edelbrock intake manifold, K&N air filter and Headers on it. It starts fine when it is cold but when it is hot I have to crank it quite a bit.
I have found that if I open the throttle about quarter throttle crank for a couple seconds then let the throttle out while still cranking it will usually fire up.
Any body got any ideas on what the problem is?

Thanks for your help.
 
It may just be time to clean your throttle body. Or your fuel pump or fuel pressure regulator may be getting weak. Find a gauge and connect it to your fuel line and check the pressure. I'm not sure what it's supposed to be, but someone here that works on them, should be able to tell you the parameters.
 
I've had this problem w/ my 1990 2500 w/454 TBI. I assumed there was an issue where the ruck needed to cool down; because the two incidents have been on road trips, one after climbing a mountain road, and the other in the hot desert. In both situations the truck was shut off, and then I tried to start it again immediately (to roll up power windows the kids left down). Both times absolutely nothing happened after turning the key. However, a few minutes later, it started right up.

I'm writing this because I want to confirm this is normal and not some problem I need to fix.

Thanks everyone! ;)

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/3313930/1990-chevrolet-suburban-2500/
 
It's not normal for the truck not to start when it's hot. When you say nothing happened, you mean the starter wouldn't crank or the engine wouldn't fire?
My wife's Cadillac wouldn't start when it was warm. Turned out to be the FPR. My guess is both of these issues is fuel delivery related
 
VanGo,

Just to clarify: NOTHING happens when I turn the key, no sound, no crank, nothing. But w/in minutes I tuen the key, the starter engages and it starts again. I though maybe the engine heat near the starter had something to do with it or vapor lock, but I'm not an engine mechanic.

Are you saying the Fuel pump regulator went out on your wife's cadillac and caused the started not to crank either?
 
Last edited:
BeachBourbon said:
VanGo,

Just to clarify: NOTHING happens when I turn the key, no sound, no crank, nothing. But w/in minutes I tuen the key, the starter engages and it starts again. I though maybe the engine heat near the starter had something to do with it or vapor lock, but I'm not an engine mechanic.

Are you saying the Fuel pump regulator went out on your wife's cadillac and caused the started not to crank either?
Click to expand...

Her car cranked but wouldn't start. The FPR fixed it

It's not vapor lock, your starter would still crank. Not oven a click of the solenoid? I wonder if the connections to it might be corroded. Could be the ignition switch too. I'd visually inspect all the connections on the starter and then put a meter to it when it fails - probably easier said than done though.
 
I'll check out the starter connections. The whole engine was rebuild, less than 10,000 miles ago, so a loose connection makes more sense to me than some of the alternatives. Thanks for the input!
 
The headers could also be causing the starter to overheat and swell to where the armature won't spin inside the housing. If you don't have a heat shield on the starter, you may want to get one. If you do have a heat shield, make sure that you still have the braided ground strap from the engine to the firewall. Sometimes when these get broken, they can cause a hard start once the engine gets warmed up. I don't know why.
 
Chuzz said:
The headers could also be causing the starter to overheat and swell to where the armature won't spin inside the housing. If you don't have a heat shield on the starter, you may want to get one. If you do have a heat shield, make sure that you still have the braided ground strap from the engine to the firewall. Sometimes when these get broken, they can cause a hard start once the engine gets warmed up. I don't know why.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the Info. I was wondering how the heat of the engine may be connected to this problem, and those are some good things to check out over the weekend. I don't have much experience with heat shields for starters, are they easy parts to find/install for a 454 chevy?
 
I put a heat shield on my starter that I got from Speedway.com. I finally decided on the fabric wrap around style for two reasons. One is that it shields heat from all sides, Two you can double up the fabric near very hot surfaces for extra protection and Three it is very easy to install. I haven't truly tested it yet due to the fact that it's February, so I'll have to check back in. However, the other benefit of adding this was that I was forced to take a good long look at my starter and discover loose connections and bare wires. These were easy fixes, but I had no idea they needed Fixin' till I got nosey and started pokin around!
 
Those wires could have been the problem, good luck.
 
BeachBourbon said:
I put a heat shield on my starter that I got from Speedway.com. I finally decided on the fabric wrap around style for two reasons. One is that it shields heat from all sides, Two you can double up the fabric near very hot surfaces for extra protection and Three it is very easy to install. I haven't truly tested it yet due to the fact that it's February, so I'll have to check back in. However, the other benefit of adding this was that I was forced to take a good long look at my starter and discover loose connections and bare wires. These were easy fixes, but I had no idea they needed Fixin' till I got nosey and started pokin around!
Click to expand...

I'm glad the fix was easy. Like I said earlier, bad connections are common causes of no start issues. I hope the fabric heat shield doesn't just end up collecting a lot of road crap around your starter. Usually it's used to shield from header pipe heat on race tracks. Different environment from day to day driving.
 
VanGo said:
I'm glad the fix was easy. Like I said earlier, bad connections are common causes of no start issues. I hope the fabric heat shield doesn't just end up collecting a lot of road crap around your starter. Usually it's used to shield from header pipe heat on race tracks. Different environment from day to day driving.
Click to expand...

I'm worried about the same thing, and that's part of why I went w/this option. It's easy to take off and or replace. If it gets dirty, I can remove it, wash it and replace it. I could even just take ten minutes to put it on before a summer road trip and leave it off the rest of the time. It seemed like a flexible option to me, and I like that.
 
Glad to hear that you seem to have whipped the problem.
 
BeachBourbon said:
I've had this problem w/ my 1990 2500 w/454 TBI. I assumed there was an issue where the ruck needed to cool down; because the two incidents have been on road trips, one after climbing a mountain road, and the other in the hot desert. In both situations the truck was shut off, and then I tried to start it again immediately (to roll up power windows the kids left down). Both times absolutely nothing happened after turning the key. However, a few minutes later, it started right up.

I'm writing this because I want to confirm this is normal and not some problem I need to fix.

Thanks everyone! ;)

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/3313930/1990-chevrolet-suburban-2500/
Click to expand...

OK so I got a $20 starter HEAT SHIELD after this thread, and finally got to put it to the test last week, so here's the feedback from the road test. I did an extended road trip that required extreme mountain climbing, extreme heat, stop and go traaffic in hthe heat and extended travel time. Desert heat - no problem. Brutal mountain roads - no problem, extended summer driving - no problem! The Beach Bourbon started up everytime! This accessory is worth every penny!
 
BeachBourbon said:
I put a heat shield on my starter that I got from Speedway.com. I finally decided on the fabric wrap around style for two reasons. One is that it shields heat from all sides, Two you can double up the fabric near very hot surfaces for extra protection and Three it is very easy to install. I haven't truly tested it yet due to the fact that it's February, so I'll have to check back in. However, the other benefit of adding this was that I was forced to take a good long look at my starter and discover loose connections and bare wires. These were easy fixes, but I had no idea they needed Fixin' till I got nosey and started pokin around!
Click to expand...

The true test would have been to install the shield and NOT fix the wires to see if the problem went away. My guess is the loose connections were causing your problem.
 
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