starting problems with my 87
Thread Starter
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Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 87
Likes: 1
From: cleveland tn
starting problems with my 87
i have a 87 coupe w 185000 miles on it. the last week ive had a few problems with it starting.On occasion, i will crank the key and it just keeps turning over and wont fire. i can sit for a few min and it will fire right up. I had my wife turn the key during one of the times that it wouldnt start,and i did not hear the fuel pump kick on,but then 5 min later, it was fine. Also, yesterday as i was driving home, i noticed that the range guage and the ave fuel guage went to 0. could these to problems be related? any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Team Owner
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 40,156
Likes: 45
From: San Pedro CA
wow, dude... you need the Helm Factory Service Manual.
Something is amiss, and that book as the diagnostic trouble-shooting guides that will help isolate it. Seriously.
As a SWAG, check the Fuel Pump Relay.
Something is amiss, and that book as the diagnostic trouble-shooting guides that will help isolate it. Seriously.
As a SWAG, check the Fuel Pump Relay.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 5,002
Likes: 5
From: No Opti Here Tn
St. Jude Donor '06
Drifting
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 1,339
Likes: 2
From: port charlotte fl
There's a fuel pump enable relay as part of the dreaded VATS sytem along with the starter enable relay.I know from personal experience the starter relay can become intermittent so perhaps the other can too.Check out www.vatssucks.com
Last edited by staugur; Nov 2, 2007 at 12:30 PM.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 6,130
Likes: 2
From: seattle WA
Check the wires going into the fuel pump relay connector, pull it off the firewall and take a look......my wires insulation had shrunk back about an inch and wires were coming into contact with one another...other members have found the same thing. You may want to also check the connection to the fuel pump itself, and you can try using a jumper wire from the positive terminal on the battery to terminal G on the ALDL, this provide 12 volts directly to the fuel pump and bypasses the circuit...your fuel pump should run until you disconnect the wire. If it does it points to a problem in the wiring going to the fuel pump.
Race Director
Joined: Jun 1999
Posts: 14,924
Likes: 9
From: Merritt Ils Fl
[QUOTE=rick lambert;1562580071you can try using a jumper wire from the positive terminal on the battery to terminal G on the ALDL, this provide 12 volts directly to the fuel pump and bypasses the circuit...your fuel pump should run until you disconnect the wire. If it does it points to a problem in the wiring going to the fuel pump.[/QUOTE]
If the pump doesn't run it has gone south. I would suspect this is the case.
If the pump doesn't run it has gone south. I would suspect this is the case.
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Team Owner
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 20,324
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From: Summerland B.C. Canada
Start reading 
http://members.shaw.ca/corvette86/6E3-B%20Symptoms.pdf
http://members.shaw.ca/corvette86/En...ButWontRun.pdf
http://members.shaw.ca/corvette86/Co...rt%20Valve.pdf
http://members.shaw.ca/corvette86/Fu...mDiagnosis.pdf
http://members.shaw.ca/corvette86/Ig...System-EST.pdf
http://members.shaw.ca/corvette86/Co...0View%2086.pdf
http://members.shaw.ca/corvette86/6E3-B%20Symptoms.pdf
http://members.shaw.ca/corvette86/En...ButWontRun.pdf
http://members.shaw.ca/corvette86/Co...rt%20Valve.pdf
http://members.shaw.ca/corvette86/Fu...mDiagnosis.pdf
http://members.shaw.ca/corvette86/Ig...System-EST.pdf
http://members.shaw.ca/corvette86/Co...0View%2086.pdf
Drifting
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 1,339
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From: port charlotte fl
Racer
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 322
Likes: 0
From: Chapin South Carolina
The range dropping to zero would indicate to me that you having a wiring problem. Because the Fuel Sender Unit and the Fuel Pump run off different wires. But if you have a short in the fuelsender wire it will cause the range to either zero out or Max depending the ohms. I had the wire to my fuel sender go bad at the connector located in the back next to the firewall.
