Cold start problem solved

[Kurt W. Deschler]

  Turns out that the cold start problem that I originally thought was
flooding from the cold start valve was not that at all. The reason that I
thought that was because on very cold days it would fire at first, then
not at all. Open the hood, disconnect the cold start valve and then it
would slowly come to life after a bit of cranking. The colder it was
outside, the worse the problem got. No problems once started or in warm
weather. Drove it 2000 miles last weekend as proof.
  Wed was a perfect 10 degree morning to troubleshoot this. Pulled the
cold start valve out and watched it while running the diags. Looks fine
here. Then watched it during cranking. Mist good, duration sane. Crank
again and again but now its not squirting. Back in diag mode and cold
start valve clicking, but no fuel. And no buzzing noise from the back of
the car. Whack that fuel pump relay and it all comes to life.
  The problem was that the fuel pump relay had turned into a thermostat
switch. The relay contact arm had bent up enough that it would only make
contact when it was above 30 deg or so, or when I opened the hood and
caused enough vibration to seat it. The initial firing was likely from
residual pressure. Burnished the contacts, set them back to the correct
height and now it starts like a charm in the cold.

        Kurt
        '87 5kcstq (now featuring cold start)