does this sound like a fuel pump going out?
Thread Starter
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 3,452
Likes: 3
From: somewhere that doesn't get snow
does this sound like a fuel pump going out? my car was in storage for 4 months, and took a good 3-4 cranks to get it started the first time (june)
after i got it started the first time it seemed fine... but then once or twice its done the same thing where it would crank but not fire....i attributed it to some bad gas and ran some gas stuff through it and have been through a whole tank since then with no issues, until tonight..
i was at a car show and went to start the car, and it fired right up, but it was idling really bad, shaking almost and when i gave it gas, it hardly jumped up on the tach... i shut the car off, and immediatly restarted it, and it was fine..... what gives???? i dont know if the fuel pump kicked on or not, is it possible the pump didnt kick on and i was running on the gas in the injectors? or would that have caused the car not to start at all? i hope its not the opti either, that has about 10k miles on an MSD cap and rotor fwiw... the opti itself is the original 116k mile one
after i got it started the first time it seemed fine... but then once or twice its done the same thing where it would crank but not fire....i attributed it to some bad gas and ran some gas stuff through it and have been through a whole tank since then with no issues, until tonight..
i was at a car show and went to start the car, and it fired right up, but it was idling really bad, shaking almost and when i gave it gas, it hardly jumped up on the tach... i shut the car off, and immediatly restarted it, and it was fine..... what gives???? i dont know if the fuel pump kicked on or not, is it possible the pump didnt kick on and i was running on the gas in the injectors? or would that have caused the car not to start at all? i hope its not the opti either, that has about 10k miles on an MSD cap and rotor fwiw... the opti itself is the original 116k mile one
Teching In
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 42
Likes: 0
From: Michigan
One of the things you can check is your fuel pressure. There is a test port (Shrader valve) at the back of the intake. Your pressure should be between 41-47 psi. when just turning the key on with out starting the car. After starting the car it will probably drop about 10psi. You can then pull the vacum line on the fuel pressure regulator and that will simulate WOT.
1995blacktattop - I've had a very similar problem with my car recently: Difficult to start at times and an intermittent idle problem as well. I let my car sit for about 4 days recently, and it wouldn't start at all this time. I thought it was probably the Opti at first, but I checked the fuel rail and there is zero pressure. So, I ordered the Racetronix setup.
(Edit: I did change the fuel filter recently.)
(Edit: I did change the fuel filter recently.)
Last edited by jb442; Jul 11, 2007 at 04:07 PM. Reason: More Info.
I would check fuel pressure first, I had similar problems when my car was hot and I was only running like 22psi cause the fuel pump was going out and under any load it fell until it starting bucking and trying to die. Got great gas mileage though, over 30 on the high way, hahaha 
