Broke down - no start - fuel pump?
Thread Starter
Cruising
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 14
Likes: 0
From: Englishtown NJ
Broke down - no start - fuel pump?
Hey everyone,
I was driving west on Rt 80 last night on my way to pocono for this weekend's PDA hpde events. I was cruising along went the car started to stumble and just shut off. I was able to get over to the shoulder with no drama.
Car cranks but wont start. Almost sounds like its starving for fuel. The gas gauge was just under 1/2. Had the car towed home, 110 miles, ughh!. I was 5 miles from the nj/pa border.
I'm out in the driveway now, car has spark. I even put 3 gallons of gas in to just make sure i wasnt stupid enough to run out of gas.
-I can hear the fuel pump buzz when i turn on the key.
- I put a cheapo fuel pressure gauge on the fuel rail and it reads zero, but i just have funny feeling that i cant trust the gauge.
- I'm thinking of taking out the fuel pump/sending unit to see if the sock is clogged, probably a long shot though.
- I even swapped fuel pump relays, no luck
Its just driving me nuts, the car was running great and just quit
I was driving west on Rt 80 last night on my way to pocono for this weekend's PDA hpde events. I was cruising along went the car started to stumble and just shut off. I was able to get over to the shoulder with no drama.
Car cranks but wont start. Almost sounds like its starving for fuel. The gas gauge was just under 1/2. Had the car towed home, 110 miles, ughh!. I was 5 miles from the nj/pa border.
I'm out in the driveway now, car has spark. I even put 3 gallons of gas in to just make sure i wasnt stupid enough to run out of gas.
-I can hear the fuel pump buzz when i turn on the key.
- I put a cheapo fuel pressure gauge on the fuel rail and it reads zero, but i just have funny feeling that i cant trust the gauge.
- I'm thinking of taking out the fuel pump/sending unit to see if the sock is clogged, probably a long shot though.
- I even swapped fuel pump relays, no luck
Its just driving me nuts, the car was running great and just quit
Race Director
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 16,795
Likes: 62
From: Lake Havasu City, AZ
Did you read any messages on the DIC ?
Did you pull the codes?
What codes do you get?
Follow this link for a code how to....
http://www.stengel.net/diccodes.htm
Did you pull the codes?
What codes do you get?
Follow this link for a code how to....
http://www.stengel.net/diccodes.htm
Racer
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 405
Likes: 0
From: Colorado Springs CO.
Tom ......... It's unusual for a car to shut down as you describe without showing any current error codes. The one you list is a (H) history code and likely not related to the current problem.
The '97 and (I think) '98 cars had a different fuel management system where you could actually run out of gas when showing fuel available on the guage. Since you added 3-gallons, that's probably not the problem?
So, I'd agree with you that it sounds like the engine was starved for fuel, which like you would take me to the fuel filter. However, I doubt being able to blow through it would suggest it was OK. If there is dirt/sediment in the filter it would be circulating in the filter while driving. Your test was at rest where the grunge would have settled to the bottom of the canister. If you haven't replace the filter lately, or ever, I'd spend the $40 bucks and do that first.
The '97 and (I think) '98 cars had a different fuel management system where you could actually run out of gas when showing fuel available on the guage. Since you added 3-gallons, that's probably not the problem?
So, I'd agree with you that it sounds like the engine was starved for fuel, which like you would take me to the fuel filter. However, I doubt being able to blow through it would suggest it was OK. If there is dirt/sediment in the filter it would be circulating in the filter while driving. Your test was at rest where the grunge would have settled to the bottom of the canister. If you haven't replace the filter lately, or ever, I'd spend the $40 bucks and do that first.
Pro
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 593
Likes: 1
Did you check the vaccum hose going to the fuel regulator ?
Try another ign key, for it the one used has a dirty/bad resistor then PCM would turn fuel off as part of VATs.
Use a PCM scanner and check to see if PCM is commanding injectors ON.
If PCM has been tuned in the past the tuner might have shut off some error codes so you would not see them.
Also check with scanner if MAF and MAP are working and also check if MAF is dirty or bad.
With key on pump would take fuel rail pressure to about 60 PSI and turn key off. Just pressing in the shrader valve gas should hiss out.
Try another ign key, for it the one used has a dirty/bad resistor then PCM would turn fuel off as part of VATs.
Use a PCM scanner and check to see if PCM is commanding injectors ON.
If PCM has been tuned in the past the tuner might have shut off some error codes so you would not see them.
Also check with scanner if MAF and MAP are working and also check if MAF is dirty or bad.
With key on pump would take fuel rail pressure to about 60 PSI and turn key off. Just pressing in the shrader valve gas should hiss out.
Originally Posted by Tom98
Hey everyone,
I was driving west on Rt 80 last night on my way to pocono for this weekend's PDA hpde events. I was cruising along went the car started to stumble and just shut off. I was able to get over to the shoulder with no drama.
Car cranks but wont start. Almost sounds like its starving for fuel. The gas gauge was just under 1/2. Had the car towed home, 110 miles, ughh!. I was 5 miles from the nj/pa border.
I'm out in the driveway now, car has spark. I even put 3 gallons of gas in to just make sure i wasnt stupid enough to run out of gas.
-I can hear the fuel pump buzz when i turn on the key.
- I put a cheapo fuel pressure gauge on the fuel rail and it reads zero, but i just have funny feeling that i cant trust the gauge.
- I'm thinking of taking out the fuel pump/sending unit to see if the sock is clogged, probably a long shot though.
- I even swapped fuel pump relays, no luck
Its just driving me nuts, the car was running great and just quit
I was driving west on Rt 80 last night on my way to pocono for this weekend's PDA hpde events. I was cruising along went the car started to stumble and just shut off. I was able to get over to the shoulder with no drama.
Car cranks but wont start. Almost sounds like its starving for fuel. The gas gauge was just under 1/2. Had the car towed home, 110 miles, ughh!. I was 5 miles from the nj/pa border.
I'm out in the driveway now, car has spark. I even put 3 gallons of gas in to just make sure i wasnt stupid enough to run out of gas.
-I can hear the fuel pump buzz when i turn on the key.
- I put a cheapo fuel pressure gauge on the fuel rail and it reads zero, but i just have funny feeling that i cant trust the gauge.
- I'm thinking of taking out the fuel pump/sending unit to see if the sock is clogged, probably a long shot though.
- I even swapped fuel pump relays, no luck
Its just driving me nuts, the car was running great and just quit
