hard starting/ surges

I have a 93 astro 4.3 . I just changed the spider, new plugs, cap, rotor, I have to hold the gas pedal to the floor to start it, fuel presure is 55. and holds there just fine now, (thats why the spider change) with the engine at some rpm the fuel presure drops to 50, but runs just fine, also at idle black exhaust , and the fuel smell. fuel pump is my next guess since I just installed a new spider. I did check the spider for leaks before replacing the plenum. I have changed the fuel pump before, and a motorcycle lift jack works great. ty in advance for any tips hints, advice Pete

I installed a new spider and fuel pump problem is still there, I thought for sure with all the posts about low fuel pressure that a new pump would fix it. :disappoin It still seems like a flooding situation, once I get it started it surges real bad, on the verge of stalling , give a little throttle and it runs fine.

Are you certain that you got the spider installed correctly? When I did my 95, I didn't get one of the poppets snapped into place correctly and had numerous similar issues.

yes all the poppets are snapped in good, tripple checked em, the problem is exactly the same as before

Fuel Pressure Regulator??? That will cause it surge and act like it flooded.

I have the same problem. Changed fuel pump, filter, and fuel pressure regulator. Still have the same issue. Fuel pressure regulator was clogged and I has sure a new one would fix my problem, but it didn't. I'll be working on it today too. If I figure out what it is I'll let you know.

FIXED IT!!!!! Ended up being the Engine Coolant Temp. Sensor. Just below the Thermostat housing. Threw a engine code along with many other codes a while ago. Fixed everything except that. Didn't throw another code so I kinda forgot about it. Talked to a teacher at Lincon Tech and he told me to change that. It wouldn't always throw a code if it went bad. That did the trick. All the other components I changed probably needed done anyway.........(that's what I'm telling myself.) Starts like a champ everytime now. Got some lucas oil gas treatment to throw into the gas tank just to make me feel better. Good luck.

Kevin

well so far no luck with all the tips from everybody, its been awhile since i messed with it. OK now that my mind is back to the van, this is what I have discovered, if I hold the coil wire about 1 inch from the distributer cap post and let the spark jump, the engine fires up, place the wire on the cap and it quits, weird huh. have new cap, wires, plugs. coil? :runaround:

well so far no luck with all the tips from everybody, its been awhile since i messed with it. OK now that my mind is back to the van, this is what I have discovered, if I hold the coil wire about 1 inch from the distributer cap post and let the spark jump, the engine fires up, place the wire on the cap and it quits, weird huh. have new cap, wires, plugs. coil? :runaround:

AC Delco plugs, wires, cap and rotor? Good parts make all the difference in the world. Don't waste your money on aftermarket ignition parts on these engines.