Can someone help me with starting problems?

Question

I have a 99 ford explorer, and have re-built the engine, replaced the fuel regulator, fuel pump and battery! And for some reason i am still having problems with it starting right away! every mechanic i take it to cant figure it out..... it WILL start but it takes a while! and black smoke comes out of the exhaust when it starts. but when i keep the gas petal floored it start faster!

Answer 1

to prove if your car is running rich,remove one spark plug and inspect,,i guess it should be black by now because of the black smoke,,that will cause your hard starting,,,

possible cause,,

sparkplug
PCM
injectors
air cleaner
timing
and ,on,on,on

Answer 2

I agree about the injectors leaking. Flooring the gas pedal puts the pcm in flood/clear mode, which is why it starts faster that way. The correct way to identify this is to do an injector leak down test, or even an injector flow test might pinpoit the bad one. It is possible that something else is the cause, as well, like the mass airflow meter, or even the ect sensor. The only real way to know is to hook up a tool that can test all these things, and can monitor the inputs to the pcm in real time. Like we at the dealers use......

Answer 3

is the fuel pressure staying above 10 psi over night or does it fall to zero? Injectors could be dripping down and flooding the engine.

Answer 4

I have to agree with John Paul. The injectors must be leaking.
The black smoke is fuel.
The injectors can be tested, or just replaced. At least, they must be cleaned.

Answer 5

It is a ford, so you should expect problems. You may be getting too much gas to the cylinders when trying to start, check the injectors.

Answer 6

It is possible that whoever rebuilt the motor criss crossed the vacuum lines, or the timing could be off have those both checked out