Oldsmobile/Buick Repair: Old 98 1987 hard starting, resistor pack, coolant temp

Question
I am having difficulty with my 1987 Old 98 Regency V6 3.8 L.

The car runs like a champ once started. The issue is to get it started once the car has stat for the night and worse when really cold.

Here it what happens. It fires like its going to start but doesn't. In order to get it going 9 out10 times I need to pump the gas pedal and hold it.This is even worst when the car is cold (I live in the northeast so we have cold weather and the car sleeps outside)

I can hear the gas pump run when the key is first turned.

I also have a service engine soon light that comes on when driving down the road, sporadic and turns off and I do not know if the 2 symtoms are inter-related.

I usually do most of my car repairs but, I have no clue where to start with this one and the weather was too cold(-25) for me to work on it outside, so I sent it to the local shop. I went to pick-it up friday and they said they could not find anything wrong.

So now I'm back at square one and still looking what could be causing this. Could this be caused by an oil pressure, gas pressure, gas return, a relay, ignition module...

I've check the fuel pressure yesterday at the rail 43lbs with no regulator and 30 lbs with regulator at idle.If I rev the engine the pressure drops to 28lbs steady.

Could this be the coolant temp sensor, crank sensor or the fuel pump.

One more question conserning the heater fan. The fan works and does not work (Sporadic). When it works all speeds work fine so I presume the resistor pack is OK, after it starts usually comes on after 5 minutes of driving(a bump seems to help start-it)once on it has never stopped. If I turn the ignition off for a few minutes it does not 9-10 times come back on we do not touch anything on the heater control.What could this be cause by fuse, relay, bad connection, blower motor?

Any help or clue with resolving these two problems would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Marc,  

Answer
Hello Marc,
First, I need to know if it is throttle body injection, which looks like a carb, but has two injectors in the throat, or MPFI, which has an injector in each intake manifold runner.
The pressure is different for each.
The throttle body injection should have about 14 PSI.
But if you have the other kind, I think your pressure is dropping too much. That could be from a stopped up fuel filter.
Any chance you have water in the gas tank?

I think your fan motor may be about worn out, but I would sure connect a test light to the wire right at the blower motor to see if power is still there when the blower doesn't work.
A bad ground wire, or loose motor screws could also be the problem. But I suspect the motor brushes. Can you hit it and make it work?

Van