Cranks but won't fire on first try...

[cobra4v04]

I have an 04' Cobra that I bought new and initially noticed that when starting the engine sometimes the motor would crank for 2 or 3 seconds and not fire, if I turned the key off and then tried again it would usually fire right up. At other times it would fire up right away on the first crank but it would stumble for a second as if it was starving for fuel, then settle into an idle.
All this was apparent before I ever did any mods, which at present only consist of a K&N Fipk, MAC o/r H, and 3" Flowmaster catback. Car has less than 10,000 miles and the only time I had the dealer look at it they said they couldn't reproduce the concern.

Does anyone else have a similar condition, thanks in advance.

 

[SickBlackMach]

you can try and replace the fuel filter, perhaps you got some bad gas a few times?

 

[Tom's_03SVT]

do you let the fuel gauge come up before you try starting it? I wait to hear the radio turn on, before i start cranking...
Tom

 

[corpsedub]

mine takes a few cranks as well. but it only recently started this. alot of high end car guys, espesially the bimmer and audi guy's are noticing this after the ethonol reblend that the major gas companies are doing now. there was some huge thing about it on a few boards. dont know how much this plays into it.

 

[ShelbyGuy]

hard starting is almost ALWAYS an ignition problem.

look at your spark plugs.

 

[silvrbullit04]

mine does the same thing after it has been sitting for a while, when its warm, no problem, i had changed the spark plugs, and it still did the same thing after a while, so now i start it like a diesel engine, turn the key and let it set for a few seconds and then start it up, but when its cold it still takes a good 2-3 seconds for the motor to kick over, and when it does it idles high for about 2 minutes and then goes into the proper idle rpm. For some reason i think it is because its not building enough fuel pressure to crank right away? anyone know what might cause this?

 

[cobra29svt]

mine recently started doing the same thing about 2 weeks ago.

 

[striker_29]

Mine does it every now and then, and I always wonder about it when it happens.

 

[RedfireSVT]

Mine does the same thing. It used to only do it when it sat for a few days but now it's starting to do it on every cold start. New fuel filter on the way.