try cycling the key on for a couple of seconds and off for 5 seconds and do this several times before even cranking it over if it now starts up quicker would suspect a fuel pressure problem and might change the fuel filter to see if it helps but likely has a bad fuel pump.

 

i have a 96 dodge intrepid with the 3.5 and the cranking time befor it starts is long but its longer when the car is cold if anyone has any ideas i would appreciat it if u could help me

 

If the auto is normally driven on a lot of short trips it probably the cold start injectors are clogged, if so the engine doesn't stay at operation tempature long enough to clear all fuel residue and it evaporates on the injectors leaving varnish. You can try a good fuel system cleaner in your gas for a couple tank fulls, I use Chevron Techron it is more expensive than the others but actually seems to work, don't waste your money on the 1.88 Wal-mart type stuff. I had a similar problem with a Toyota Supra, the dealer solved the problem the first time for about $400.00, the second time I solved it for about $20.00 with Techron. Have a nice day. Geo

 

If after cleaning the injectors you're still having problems I would take a look at the pressure regulator on the fuel rail.

Hope this helps,

Bob

 

I had a friend's 95 intrepid 3.5, that had the same problem and I tracked it down to the fuel injector o-rings. It's a pretty involved job so make sure you have the time,tools,and manual before you tackle it yourself!

 

Sometimes a bad throttle position sensor will cause hard starts.

Any codes stored in ECM?

If you press down on the accellerator pedal slightly, will it fire up?

The throttle position sensor is simply a variable resistor attached to the shaft of the air intake throttle plate. Sometimes they can develop wear points that cause the ECM to miscalc the A/F ratio.

They're fairly inexpensive ( < $75) and easy to replace.

Any difference in starting hot versus cold?