Friz- HELP!!

[five-oh]

Alright, I hate to show that I'm a bigger idiot than you guys already know, but I'm at my wits end. The '86 is kicking my tail.
In June, I drove it over to a friends house with a for Sale sign on it due to a car swap meet going on. I noticed it took a couple of cranks to start when I backed out of the shop, which was unusual, since this car has always either started with the first revolution or not at all.
But, after starting, it ran perfectly for the 20ish miles to his house, including a couple of times of getting on it. Parked it, got a ride home. Fast forward a week, I go to take it home, and it won't start. No fuel pressure. I get mad, call a buddy with a tow truck, and have it towed home, where I leave it without attention until I can look at it without wanting to burn it.

I went out this weekend and began checking fuel pressure-0. Checked fuses and fire to pump-we are good, full voltage. Next-take the new fuel pump I installed less than 200 miles ago out. It is dead. No workie. Replaced with old pump that had no issues I had in shop. Replaced pulsator with fuel injection hose. Still no pressure. Pump definately kicks on and runs as it should- you can hear it. Next thought is fuel pressure regulator. Does that make sense?

Otherwise, I don't know where else to look. I have nearly no fuel pressure now. Pressing the Schrader valve results in no spurts, just a little gas oozing..if at all. Not enough pressure to activate the gauge.
Doing my best to diagnoise , not throw parts. Right now I hate this witch. It's half a step from becoming a donor car for a street rod.

[WW7]

Bobby, while your waiting for Friz to log on, how about the fuel filter, could that be clogged?? Also have you pulled the vacuum tube off the regulator to see if there is gas in it, if so, it would be the diaphram..There is also a way to test by clamping off lines to the tank, but Friz will have to help with that.. Just thought I would reply with a few suggestions while your waiting for the "Master Mechanic".......WW

[five-oh]

Originally Posted by WW7

Bobby, while your waiting for Friz to log on, how about the fuel filter, could that be clogged?? Also have you pulled the vacuum tube off the regulator to see if there is gas in it, if so, it would be the diaphram..There is also a way to test by clamping off lines to the tank, but Friz will have to help with that.. Just thought I would reply with a few suggestions while your waiting for the "Master Mechanic".......WW

No, I haven't checked the regulator or fuel filter yet....got disgusted last night and quit working on it before I did something I'd regret. Can't imagine the fuel filter would stop up all at once though.. Just thought of the regulator this morning to be truthful and I am at work 60 miles from the headache...
And I'll accept any help at this point, Master Mechanic or Master B.S'er....

[WW7]

All it would take for the fuel fiter to clog up to the point of not flowing properly, would be a few pieces of dirt in the tank to get sucked up into a filter that was dirty to start with...Small stuff can get by the in tank pickup...If the filter hasn't been changed in a few years it's time to change it anyway..........WW

[Wathen1955]

Bob, not an expert like Friz (Dan) or PLRX (Pete), but mine has low fuel pressure (see my thread: https://www.thevettebarn.com/forums/c...-question.html

With my very limited knowledge of fuel injection, I currently have a mechanic looking at it since I don't have time to deal with it right now. My daughter is getting ready to start college this month, and the wife has surgery that removed part of her colon on Friday (she is doing fine in recovery).

Dan or Pete would be your best bet for troubleshooting - the experts.

[five-oh]

Originally Posted by Wathen1955

Bob, not an expert like Friz (Dan) or PLRX (Pete), but mine has low fuel pressure (see my thread: https://www.thevettebarn.com/forums/c...-question.html

With my very limited knowledge of fuel injection, I currently have a mechanic looking at it since I don't have time to deal with it right now. My daughter is getting ready to start college this month, and the wife has surgery that removed part of her colon on Friday (she is doing fine in recovery).

Dan or Pete would be your best bet for troubleshooting - the experts.

Glad to hear your wife is doing fine...
I may wind up doing the mechanic thing myself if I'm unable to track it down. Just kinda hard to justify spending money on the toy with private school tuition due for the youngun...
I figured if anyone could point me right, it'd be the Dog.

[DukeAllen]

We're all master BSers so you came to the right place

My first thought is the same that WW said, clogged filter if the pump is ok. What do you fuel lines look like?

This must run in threes. Mine started spitting and popping yesterday. But I'd just had some pricey work done to it a few weeks ago so I dropped it back at the mechanic. Let him deal with it, maybe it's his fault

I get the feeling mine is an injector, I hear a popping from up there.

(It was leaking like a sieve and no way am I pulling an engine apart in my driveway, they fixed it...but I don't see how that could cause my current problem).

[five-oh]

Originally Posted by DukeAllen

We're all master BSers so you came to the right place

My first thought is the same that WW said, clogged filter if the pump is ok. What do you fuel lines look like?

This must run in threes. Mine started spitting and popping yesterday. But I'd just had some pricey work done to it a few weeks ago so I dropped it back at the mechanic. Let him deal with it, maybe it's his fault

I get the feeling mine is an injector, I hear a popping from up there.

(It was leaking like a sieve and no way am I pulling an engine apart in my driveway, they fixed it...but I don't see how that could cause my current problem).

Well...they all LOOK good. But I really haven't went too in depth. Heck, all I wanna do is get the darn thing running well enough and long enough to sell it. I'll buy a better example later.
Sad thing is, I told my wife when I traded for this one- "It's not an Lt car so no worries about Optispark, and it's not an auto, so no transmisson worries. It's a sbc- how much trouble could it be? It'll be dead nuts reliable."
Evidently the darn thing overheard me. I've not driven it a week solid without a breakdown since I got it in Sept of 2011.
The '93, on the other hand, Lt1 car- no major issues. I should have my head examined for selling it..

[DukeAllen]

Is it a lemon or did it live a hard life before you got it?

[SQUIRMIN VERMIN 84]

Bobby, I agree with the next easiest step to check being the fuel filter. A fine line from ok to not ok. Hook a gauge between the filter and tank.

Wathen, glad to hear your wife is recovering from surgery and doing well!

[DukeAllen]

Originally Posted by SQUIRMIN VERMIN 84

Wathen, glad to hear your wife is recovering from surgery and doing well!

this too

[five-oh]

Originally Posted by DukeAllen

Is it a lemon or did it live a hard life before you got it?

I'd say it has been rode hard and put up wet many times before I got it. It's a shame, it only shows 110k on it, and the general wear appears to show that to be true.
It's the neglected maitnance and other things - crack in fender, chipped hood, painted gauge bezels- that tips me off that it was possibly a 16 year old's first car- or treated like one...
Never again. I will wait until I have enough cash to buy a nice well kept garage queen.

[DukeAllen]

Originally Posted by five-oh

I'd say it has been rode hard and put up wet many times before I got it. It's a shame, it only shows 110k on it, and the general wear appears to show that to be true.
It's the neglected maitnance and other things - crack in fender, chipped hood, painted gauge bezels- that tips me off that it was possibly a 16 year old's first car- or treated like one...
Never again. I will wait until I have enough cash to buy a nice well kept garage queen.

So in other words you'll never own another?

[Frizlefrak]

OK Bobsy....off to the races.

Replace the filter, it's a maintenance item. If it runs great, if not.....

If the new pump is kicking on, pinch off the return hose (near the tank is fine). With key off, run 12V + to terminal G on the ALDL to run the pump continually. Get pressure? If yes, regulator is bad. If no, we keep looking.

When you replaced the pump, did you replace the filter sock on the pump too? I also strongly advise siphoning the tank dry while the pump is out and cleaning out any debris in the tank (as best you can anyway).

If the pump runs, you've pinched off the regulator and still have no pressure, the issue is on the pressure, not the return side. There is either an obstruction between the pump and the fuel rail, the pump isn't supplying sufficient flow, or the check valve in the pump is bad. Rule out everything else first, and if you still have zero (or extremely low) fuel pressure, replace the pump. Just because it's relatively new doesn't mean it's good.

If there is debris in the tank and it gets past the sock, it will wreck the new pump. Most fuel pump manufactureres won't warranty a new pump unless you can prove you bought the filter sock at the same time too.

Happy hunting. And what's this "getting on it" thing.....you could have run into a rogue road pirate and wound up on a chain gang somewhere.

[five-oh]

Originally Posted by Frizlefrak

OK Bobsy....off to the races.

Replace the filter, it's a maintenance item. If it runs great, if not.....

If the new pump is kicking on, pinch off the return hose (near the tank is fine). With key off, run 12V + to terminal G on the ALDL to run the pump continually. Get pressure? If yes, regulator is bad. If no, we keep looking.

When you replaced the pump, did you replace the filter sock on the pump too? I also strongly advise siphoning the tank dry while the pump is out and cleaning out any debris in the tank (as best you can anyway).

If the pump runs, you've pinched off the regulator and still have no pressure, the issue is on the pressure, not the return side. There is either an obstruction between the pump and the fuel rail, the pump isn't supplying sufficient flow, or the check valve in the pump is bad. Rule out everything else first, and if you still have zero (or extremely low) fuel pressure, replace the pump. Just because it's relatively new doesn't mean it's good.

If there is debris in the tank and it gets past the sock, it will wreck the new pump. Most fuel pump manufactureres won't warranty a new pump unless you can prove you bought the filter sock at the same time too.

Happy hunting. And what's this "getting on it" thing.....you could have run into a rogue road pirate and wound up on a chain gang somewhere.

Thanks, amigo. Will tackle all of this next weekend....busy with "night/low light" firearms training for the department all this week, then my wife is dragging me to the Godforsaken land known as Texas Friday- albeit the OTHER half of Texas than where you are. Nagodoches, I think.

As far as the "getting on it"...I had no choice. I hadn't driven it in nearly a month and the Flowmasters sounded really good. Sadly ,the chain gang would be a possibility. Since I went to the state and left working in my county, they've hired a bucha snot nosed kids that don't know me. Heaven help 'em if they ever "introduce" themselves, they'll have fun catching me.

[nutz4c4]

Bobby, Friz is spot on here..Keep us posted

[Frizlefrak]

The last time I got stopped was summer of 2010 heading east out of El Paso on I-10. I was in the Fiero with the wife, following a buddy of mine in another Fiero. We were headed to San Antonio for a Fiero show. The speed limit is 80 mph on this stretch of road, and that's where the cruise was set. Passed a Texas DPS who had someone pulled over and was just finishing up. Unfortunately, he noticed my lack of a front plate.

He pulls me over...and he's all of about 23 years old. Looks like he's truant from middle school. My guess is he's never seen a Fiero in the flesh....the questions about the car start immediately and go on for a good 5 minutes. He writes me a warning (no fine or any other action needed) and tells me to go catch my buddy who is about a mile up the road

I resisted the urge to ask him if his mommy knew he was playing with a police car, or to tell him that the doughnuts would eventually give him a sugar gut.....

As DPS officers go, he was a hell of a nice guy. I've met the other kind before. Every stereotype in the book....it fits.

Back in the 90's, I stopped at a truck stop near Midland to take a leak....someone had written on the condom machine...."Texas DPS lunch baggies" I scribbled "This gum tastes like rubber" next to it.

[five-oh]

After nearly a month of life getting in the way and having no time, I got this thing sorted out. It was truely my own stupidity, as I knew it doubtless would be.
I changed the fuel filter, only drinking a small amount of the gas, which you would think would have a corn squeezin' flavor as it is partially made from corn, but no, it just tastes nasty....anyhow, the fuel filter was indeed restricted- not to the point that it would've kept the car from running totally, but you could definately tell a difference between it and the new one. That still didn't get it to start, so I headed back to the fuel pump.
I'd bought a replacement pump from RockAuto- awesomely quick service btw, and good prices- it came with the plug prewired and marked "hot" and "ground" so I hooked it up as marked. But today, I noticed that when I pulled the line off where it exits the tank,while I could HEAR the pump kicking on, I was getting no fuel at all..What the?? I reversed the wiring and immediatly got a bath in gasoline. Hooked everything up, and the old girl fired off on the first crank. I drove it about 15 miles with no issues.
Now, on to all the other gremlins the car has...

[DukeAllen]

Originally Posted by five-oh

I reversed the wiring and immediatly got a bath in gasoline.

Way to go.

By the way, the best way to get that smell out is with a match (Yeah, I couldn't let it slip)

[Wathen1955]

Originally Posted by five-oh

I changed the fuel filter, only drinking a small amount of the gas, which you would think would have a corn squeezin' flavor as it is partially made from corn, but no, it just tastes nasty....

Exon or Mobile?