I had a little trouble starting my shark this afternoon. The car has not been driven for a week and when starting it took about 10 seconds of cranking, then she sputtered and died. Cranked again and she sputtered and knocked a little for another 10 seconds, then the idle picked up and we were in normal warm up mode. But with a strong fuel rich smell emitting from the exhaust. Drove the shark for a while with no issues. Let her sit after driving (not long enough to cool down) and attempted to start -- fired right up no issues. Everything on my CIS has been replaced except the aux air valve, and the car has been starting and running fine until today. All fuel pressures and leak down rates were within spec. the last time I checked (about 6 mos ago). Some things that have changed since attempting to start today include:

-- Re-installed my cat (replaced my gutted cat).
--I adjusted the idle mixture last week.

Could this just be a fluke, or can an improper idle mixture cause starting issues? Anyway, I thought one of the seasoned CIS guys out there may have experienced something similar and can share some knowledge.

 

Seasoned? Like with celery salt or something?

Did you adjust the screw immediately in front of the distributor? That's not just adjusting the idle mixture. I moves the A/F mixture for the entire operating range. The adjustment is very touchy. Personally won't touch it (again) except on a dyno.

After having sat for a week the system may have bled down and you needed several cranks to get the fuel pressure back. This would be due to a bad check valve at the pump.