My 96 with the 5.0liter engine has always started great even when sitting for months. Recently it has started bucking. If I start it every day it seems to be OK but doesn't fire up immediately like it used to. If it sits for a week or so It's hard to start, and sometimes I have to break out the battery charger.
Once it's running it purrs like a kitten.
A couple of weeks ago I tried starting it, and it acted almost like it wasn't getting spark, it wasn't firing, although the electric fuel pump did run when I turned the key. After a couple of minutes, it started backfiring through the throttle body when I would crank it. Then after a minute or two, it sort of snapped out of it and started up, ran great.
Last night, difficult to start again, although this time it acted like it wasn't firing on all the cylinders and just couldn't get the momentum to start. The engine has 96,000 miles on it, and I recently did the intake manifold gasket change, although it has been running great after getting it started. After I did the gasket change I washed the engine down in the crank/damper area. I'm suspecting a bad crank position sensor. Sound right? Any simple tests?