I've seen similar posts to this but mine seems to be unique. My car's 3 years old and has only 31,000 on it. 90% of the time my car starts with a short turn of the key. Lately (in the past 48 hours) it takes a little pedal action and some serious cranking time, for a fuel injected engine (anywhere from 6-10 seconds), before it will start. The posts I read didn't really come to a decisive conclusion as to root causes. Could it be the FP regulator, the filter or someting else? It seems to happen more after driving the car for a while, although the first time was when cold. Otherwise, the car drives like new and retains excellent mileage (34+). Any other ideas?

Couple of things come right to mind.

Plugged fuel filter, if I get a car in the shop, and it has hard starting and the filter is more than 20k old I start right there.

I have more ideas for you if you need them, but lots of times I solve hard starting with a fuel filter




- 2004 Cavalier - 124k, owned since new

I am having the same problem.. but my car is older and more k's.. lol... my fuel filter is new. My thoughts is a faulty injector or IAC valve.

Does your exhaust smell rich when you ahve a hard time starting it?