[V8] Strange no-start fuel issue

[Kneale Brownson]

A faulty check valve or leaky FPR or injectors would mean longer cranking whether hot or cold while the pump rebuilds pressure, but eventual starting regardless.  Sounds like the Ignition Reference Sender (one of the two flywheel sensors) or a combination of that and the other one, the Engine Speed Sender.  Both play a part in telling the ECU it's OK to supply fuel and fire the ignition.

Scott Simmons <indischrot at gmail.com> wrote:  This could be a faulty check-valve at the fuel pump? Letting fuel 
pressure drop while sitting.

~Scott S.

toml99 at todomundo.com wrote:

>>
>So here's the problem. Car starts right up,runs/idles/drives great. 
>I can even drive it 1/2 hour down the road, turn it off, starts right 
>up. If it sits for awhile(1/2 hour, up to today when it was 5 hours 
>in the ski area parking lot and was about 40 degrees out), cranks but 
>no start. Quick spray of starting fluid, and sparks right up. If I 
>left it overnight in the driveway, will start first crank in the 
>morning. First time this happened, I tried the cold water on the 
>sensors trick, and nothing. So, in today's case, the motor was not 
>even warm when I got back to it, so it's not necessarily a 
>temperature thing, but is starting to seem like a time thing. I 
>also stopped twice on the way down for 5 minutes or so and started 
>fine. I'm guessing, something electrical is telling the injectors 
>not to open, and that the starting fluid sparks it up and the fuel 
>flows/or some vacuum thing opens up when motor starts, and all is 
>fine....If it wouldn't start at all, I'd check all the fuel delivery 
>stuff, but it's running great(after it starts). [In the 87 Saab that 
>I just rebuilt and had gone thru all the tests for "no start"(had 
>fuel pressure/injectors worked/spark etc, decided to swap out the ECU 
>and sparked right up]. I "blinked" out no fault codes the last time 
>it wouldn't start. Any Ideas?...Sincerely Tom La Plante