1995blacktattop

iTrader: (2)

every once in a while if my car sits overnight or for a few hours. i'll go to start it up and it will run for a second or so and then die. I immediatly restart it and its fine. once it did this and instead of dying it just ran kind of rough like it wasn't getting enough fuel soi shut it off and restarted it and again it ran fine. does this sound like a clogged fuel filter or maybe the FPR not holding pressure? i doubt its the fuel pump itself since i always hear it kick on and i never have issues while the car is running. i ran some fuel injector cleanr through it tonight to see if that helps. ironically was having trouble down below 1/2 tank or so and once i filled up it seemed like it went away for a while but today it started doing it again and i have ~ 2/3 - 3/4 tank of gas currently (73 mi and i usually fill up between 210-220) any ideas?

This seemed to start happening after i ran through my first tank of gas after i got the car out of storage back in march. i'm wondering if maybe even though i used stabil, that maybe the fuel filter got clogged which is why there doesn't seem to be enough fuel on startup but after it stalls the second startup the car runs perfectly.

fleetmgr

Sounds more like you have a fuel pump going bad.

alexcoreas

iTrader: (1)

Fuel pump going bad, ask me y? I had the same problem as u, fixed my pump and waaahhhllllaaaa car stays on

1995blacktattop

iTrader: (2)

I hope its not the pump since i don't know if i have the money to fix it right now. i wouldn't want to cut the floor so i'd have a shop do it hte proper way which is probably $4-500 right?

RamAir95TA

iTrader: (2)

Either cut an access panel or pay several hundred bucks. It is very labor-intensive and expensive.

Most people who resort to cutting the panel are thankful in the end.

Here's a pump install I did for a friends car:

killagt

iTrader: (3)

I would cut it, so in the future it go out again, just pop the door and install another one. hehe, btw any one know why these f body fuel pump going out so easy ? anyway to prevent it from going out ?

1995blacktattop

iTrader: (2)

by the time i would have a shop cut the floor and then have a body shop weld the factory piece back in and bondo it and paint it so it looks factory again, i'd spend more money than just having the tank dropped. my car is a southern rust free car and i refuse to cut holes in the body and have exposed/unpainted metal etc.

I'm sure it's not the fuel pump so it's a moot point anyway. a bad fuel pump = car won't start and thats definately not what my car is doing.

killagt

iTrader: (3)

does your car start the first time you turn the right ? btw if you get door cut out, why would you want to weld it back on ? just put in screw around it for future remove/install.

1995blacktattop

iTrader: (2)

yeah it always starts on the first crank. sometimes it will run for a second and die and then i just turn the key and it fires again and runs fine. there is never a point where it won't start.

what i'm saying about the trap door thing is i would want it to look factory again, as in the trap door never happened which would require welding in a new peice of metal in there, sanding and painting it. i have a feeling cutting into the floorboard could lead to rust problems down the road. even though my car isn't driven in winter and is rust free, cutting a hole in the floorboard sounds like a very bad idea.

I just checked the floor under the carpet and was expecting to get owned by seeing a trap door already cut there (like if the original owner had it done some 6.5+ years ago) but there is no trap door under there and i think i want to keep it that way.

killagt

iTrader: (3)

if you do the trap door, the next owner will be happy, i wish all my camaro preview owner did it, and the carpet will be over the top, no one will note it even cut, and its common to cut on these car anyway. have you check fuel pressure ? fuel filter only 10 buck and 10 min job, might as well give it a try.

1995blacktattop

iTrader: (2)

What next owner? My car is practically mint and i don't plan on ever selling it, which is one of the reasons i don't want to cut it up. Like someone on ls1lt1 said, if they are looking at used fbodies, they look under the carpet and if the floor has been cut for a trap door, they pass on the car. that to me says lots of people don't like cars with cut floors for a reason. from what i've been reading it's only 2-3 hrs labor tops to change the fuel pump the right way anyway. I ran some fuel cleaner through it tonight and i'll see if that helps. Most likely it is the fuel filter since it did sit for ~ 3 months last winter with a full tank of gas and stabil in it. maybe the fuel filter got clogged. is that easy to change without having to jack up the car? can you just reach up above the wheel and pull it out? i don't really do much mechanical stuff on my car. i think the last time it was changed was around 2 years ago by a shop.

RamAir95TA

iTrader: (2)

It's your car, of course, so if you aren't comfortable cutting a floor don't sweat it. You just have to understand why it's so advantageous. If you change the pump and it doesn't work, you have to rip EVERYTHING out all over again.

Also, just because your car starts doesn't mean its not the pump. A weak pump takes some time to build pressure, but once the pressure is built, everything's fine. This is why you need to get a fuel pressure test gauge to diagnose your fuel system's health (not only your fuel pump, but also your regulator and injectors too).

1995blacktattop

iTrader: (2)

well i don't really do my own work for fear of messing something up so if it gets much worse i'm sure i'll take it to a shop for diagnosis. i threw some fuel injector cleaner through it tonight so hopefully that takes care of it. just putting a full tank of gas in it seemed to stop it for a few days. I wasn't super low when it started, probably around 1/3-1/2 a tank. I think it did it a few months ago and then went away just as easily as it began.

z28camaro1996

iTrader: (1)

how dangerous is it to cut that panel out? I want to do it!

RamAir95TA

iTrader: (2)

I did mine 7 years ago. Still going strong. It's not hard to do at all if you have the right tools.

z28camaro1996

iTrader: (1)

i guess i should have asked it differently. when you cut it. im sure you used a high speed cutter. did you cut it with the tank still in or did you take it out. all so what did you use to seal it?

killagt

iTrader: (3)

I never seen any body pull the carpet and look for the trap door before. sound like you really **** about your car, take to the shop and pay em load crap of moneys and properly have to do again in few year. might as well upgrade to racetronix fuel pump and tell the shop rewire the wire ( hehe ).

alexcoreas

iTrader: (1)

DUde cute a small piece look at my thread its real easy and its easy to change the pump. I don't know how to do **** on cars and I did the pump right the first time 2days ago , and its perfect. And its a lot easier to cut rather then drop the tank, its a 500 job. Do it urself. 15dollar cutter and the cost of whatever pump u go with

RamAir95TA

iTrader: (2)

Removing the tank to cut the hole is kind of defeating the purpose, isn't it? I used a Dremel with a cut-off wheel on slow speed. Others use tin snips, etc.

+1. Go with the Racetronix pump/harness.

1995blacktattop

iTrader: (2)

little update on this but it's been ~ 2 weeks and about 3/4 of a tank of gas (just filled up again tonight) since i put the fuel injector cleaner in and i haven't had this issue a single time since then so it must have just been clogged fuel injectors.