Hard time starting, then runs fine.
 

First, thanks in advance for any help you guys can provide. I've searched the forums and haven't found anything that helps my problem.

I've got a 2001 Town & Country Limited with a 3.8L engine and about 140K on it. The transmission was replaced last year.

Beginning suddenly a couple days ago, it takes about five or six turns of the key to start. Sometimes up to ten. Often it will sort of start and sputter about for a few seconds, but I usually turn the key off to try again. Eventually, it cranks right up and runs like a top afterwards. When it finally does crank it does so immediately, with no pumping the gas pedal or prolonged turning of the key. This van has always started right up, and continues to do so, only after about 5-10 tries.

I ran the codes and got P0171, P0442, and P0455. The latter two I've been getting for a while and haven't paid much attention to. The P0171 is new.

I was thinking it may be a crankshaft position sensor, since I had a similar issue on my old Jeep Grand Cherokee. Either that or a clogged fuel filter, but I wanted to get some other opinions before I tackle that.

Any help is highly appreciated!

bump.

did you ever figure it out