hey everyone, I am new here. I have been reading tons of stuff on C4s and C5s. I have only posted twice but I have run out of ideas on whats going on with my car.

I have an 87 with iron heads.
Everytime I start it I have to put starting fluid in it. Doesnt matter if its hot or cold. Once it starts it runs fine. Runs on its own no issues.

I have replaced the fuel pump, fuel filter, fuel pump relay, TPS, IAC, MAF power and burnoff relays.

One of the tests I performed was a fuel pressure test. Hooked it up and turned key to on position. Solenoid/relay clicks, fuel pump hums for 2 seconds than it stops. I get 0 pressure on the gauge.

Another test was to hook up fuel pressure tester and get it started with starting fluid and see what my pressure was. It was holding at 21-22 psi at idle. I believe that is low.

Is there anyone out there that has good knowledge about the TPI 87 that can help me find the issue?

I did do a search for this but nothing came up with a definitive answer to the issues I am having.

Thanks for everyones time. Photo attached is the pressure at idle.

Steven

 

That's way low should be ~41-47 psi w 0 vacuum. Pinch off the return line to the fuel pressure regulator and see if the fuel pressure increases. You can also remove the vacuum hose to the FPR and if it smells like fuel, the diaphragm is likely bad.

 

Stew,

while I had some time today I did a small test to see if the pump is putting out fuel or not. I unplugged the fuel line from the sending unit and plugged in a seperate hose that went to a bottle. I turned key to the on position and fuel came out. I then disconnected the fuel filter on the engine side to make sure fuel was coming through at a nice steady smooth rate with the key in the on position. It passed. I hooked it back up and now just need to do your test on the FPR. I will look into it tomorrow after I get off work. Thanks for your suggestion.

Steven

 

'87 brother here. 0 fuel pressure after ignition on (no start) says there's a problem alright. It should pop to 35-40 psi right away, since the ECM turns on the pump for two seconds to do exactly that. And hold for a while, maybe lose 5 psi in 10 minutes. Zero pressure says pump is not pumping, relay is broken, etc., all of which you already chased. Next is the fuel regulator as stew86MCSS396 mentioned. Check that now.

Couple of pages from the FSM (field service manual) to assist, let me know if they are hard to read:





I have a question for you. Are you sure your '87 has iron heads? They came from the factory with aluminum.

 

Thanks alot for the suggestions. Yes, my corvette was manufactured in February of 1987. It has Iron heads which is a strange thing. I even did the magnet test and they stuck. Also, the valve covers are held on by bolts on the outside.

And yes my engine is dirty. I just want to get it running semi reliably before I start doing small things to it to clean it up. The guy who had it before me neglected it really bad. He never changed vacuum lines or anything. Never changed plugs. I was surprised he changed the oil.

 

Guess a PO (previous owner) swapped the engine or maybe just the heads.

 

Were you in the midst of doing maintenance when you took this pic? Looks like couple of missing bolts on the runners. Not a huge deal but when sourcing parts, eventually you might want to dig deeper as to what engine you have. My '90 originally came with a 1 piece rear main seal roller cam but PO swapped the engine for a earlier block w the 2 piece RMS but at least it's outfitted with retro roller lifters.