Oldsmobile/Buick Repair: 1990 V-6 LeSaber Starts Hard, fuel pressure regulator, vacuum hose

Question
Hello, A friend has just dropped off his LeSaber to diagnose a starting problem. I am not an expert in Fuel Injection so I am hoping you can save me some time. To start the car I must put the pedal to floor. When it does start it runs rough, blows black smoke and there is a heavy smell of fuel for a short while. The engine then smooths out and seems to run fine. I get a code 12 from the scanner telling me everything that reports to the ECM is fine. Before I go out buy a pressure gauge I was wondering if a bad fuel regulator could cause the engine to flood then run fine after it starts? If not do you have any suggestions where to start? Any help will greatly appreciated, Thanks  

Answer
Actually, I would expect a bad fuel regulator to allow the pressure to be too low, not too high.
A ruptured fuel pressure regulator will allow the gas to be sucked into the intake through the vacuum hose, so check for raw gas in the vacuum hose to the regulator.
Autozone will probably LOAN you a pressure tester, when you want to test it.
Dirty injectors could cause fuel to dribble into the cylinders, especially after shutdown, and act like a flood.

Van