About three weeks ago I took a 1700 mile round trip in three days. My car started and drove without any problems for the entire trip. After about two days of being home my car started having issues. Every now and then when I start it cold it turns over but doesn't start. It takes two to three tries but it finally starts. If I drive somewhere, turn it off, and are gone for more than ten minutes it's almost guaranteed that it's going to have trouble starting. When it does start it barely catches and sounds like it's being choked before the rpm's rev beyond idle and then back down. When the car is started it has absolutely no issues, it idles, accelerates and shifts perfectly. I though maybe my battery, starter or alternator were going bad so I took it down to Autozone and had then tested. They all passed. I thought maybe I had a really dirty air filter so I used the K&N recharge kit and cleaned it but with no success solving the problem.

My only guesses are my fuel pump, a sensor, dirty throttle body or plugs. Any ideas of where I should start (Pun intended)?

 

Good chance the fuel pressure is not holding when the engine is off. Try priming the FI system by turning the key ON & OFF several times, wait a few seconds between On & OFF, then try starting the engine. If the engine now starts right up, it indicates that the fuel pressure is not holding, and you have to figure out what is bad. Could be the fuel pump, pressure regulator, leaky injectors, or an actual fuel leak.

 

I tried priming it this morning and it started just fine. Are these components capable of being tested by a novice mechanic or should I just take it into a shop? If I'm capable of testing those with a basic home tool set which is the easiest component to test first?