91 that won't start

[NoDOHC]

Originally Posted by FRED

To me that sounds like one or more leaking injectors. The fuel rail will stay pressurized over a half hour on a good system. IF one or more injectors is leaking it will cause flooding and or washing down of the rotor/housing.

A leaking injector makes the car stall at stoplights, idle erratically, stink very badly while driving and sometimes hesitate on throttle transitions.

After sitting for a few days, the rail pressure will have bled through the fuel pump and possibly the FPR. There is no more fuel pressure to leak into the engine and cause flooding. After 2 days, any gas that leaked in after shutoff through a leaking injector would long-since have evaporated.

If it were a leaking injector, hot restarts would be the worst by far (take this from a guy who has had leaking injectors).

Low compression also doesn't seem to relate to the problem. The compression will not change appreciable between 5 hours and 5 weeks, as it is mostly related to engine temperature. (Hot restart issues tend to crop up first with low compression).

What I found with my '91 is that leaving it on a battery charger will make it start much better than without, I wonder if this is because the cranking speed is lower with a partially-discharged battery - typically low cranking speed increases the chances of flooding.