Taking car out of storage - pull fuel pump fuse...???
 

Hi there, I have been storing cars since I was 17 years old and I have always cranked the motor over a few times without either ignition or fuel to just prime the oil pump a bit. On the older cars, I would just pull the power to the coil or HEI distributor and crank away. I newer cars with the standard column ignition I would just pull the fuel pump fuse and crank away. With my Vette what will happen if I pull the fuel pump fuse and try to start it, seeing it has that push button start? Will it keep cranking and cranking? I would just like to turn the motor over a few times to prime the oil pump and get things moving a bit before combustion. Has anyone tried pulling the fuel pump fuse and tried starting the car?

thanks!

I have absolutely no experience in this, but am guessing 1 of 2 things would happen.

1- The engine wouldn't crank and display some message like no fuel PSI detected.

2- It will turn over for a few seconds and stop. This would be the same as if you ran out of gas and tried to start it. I can't imagine they would allow it to turn over so you would be out of gas and have a dead battery.

Anyone ever run their C6 out of gas before?

Push the gas pedal to the floor and hit the starter. It won't start, but will turn over. I just changed my oil last night and did this very thing. When you're ready to start the car, take your foot off the gas pedal. Works great!

San

I held the accelerator pedal to the floor. This tells the ECM that the engine is flooded so the ECM does not fire the injectors. I read it here on the forum first and had to try it..Cranked it over for 5 seconds, then released the pedal, hit the start button and it fired right up, no unusual noises..
There are also fuses for each injector bank, you could pull those two to prevent them from firing.

Wow that really works?!
Awesome info, thanks. :cheers:

I also read it here on the forum and got to try it last night.

San

Works great, just like this forum.

San

thanks guys! I will give that a try. :)

it worked GREAT. thanks guys!

You're very welcome.

San

The injectors keep firing but at a much reduced pulse width to create an overly lean mixture (~20:1) that won't support combustion until the flooded condition is almost cleared. If no fuel was added, the flood might clear without the car starting and you'll still be cranking the engine until the battery or starter dies.

Yep, GM has been doing that ever since they started using EFI in the '80s so there would be a way to clear a flood. I tried it on my '83 Cavalier as a test and it worked like a charm. Oh yeah, all this info is in the FSMs...that's where I found the info on my Cavalier and it's been in every FSM I've seen since. FSMs aren't just for repair info. There's a wealth of info about how different parts of the car work too, I couldn't imagine owning a car without one.

As an added note, if anybody tries to carjack you, the foot to the floor trick will cause a no start condition and the person will move on to another victim. I've told my daughter the same thing...you don't want them to get you to a location of their choice.

Good idea. :thumbs: Of course that only works if they try to jack you before the car is already started. ;)

No problem. I'm so terrorized, I panic and turn the engine off and then it won't restart! I'm so good at acting dumb, it's hard to tell the difference!:lol:

:toetap: Umm, I'm not so sure that came out right...:leaving:

Here's a thread from two years ago when a fellow ZR-1 owner had his engine coolant temperature circuit go haywire a thousand miles from home resulting in a "flooded" condition:
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c4-z...post1559207963
His new starting procedure was the foot to the floor "clear flood" mode to make the ECM "clip" the pulse width to the injectors that was commanded by the bad ECT sensor/circuit. I walked him through the procedure over the phone while walking with my beautiful girlfriend on a beautiful beach and got beautiful results...a nice trifecta!

That'll work! :yesnod: :thumbs:

By any chance are you related to my wife ?? :rofl: