Mr Sir

I bought a 99 Formula dirt cheap. It ran a bit rough but it ran. When you put it in drive it idled really high. But I assumed that was due to a vac leak.

I put a 3200 stall converter in. One the new converter was in I drove it around the block and coming back it ran out of fuel so I ran up to the gas station and grabbed 5 gals and put it in the tank. And now it won't start back up.

I can hear the fuel pump priming so I don't believe it is burnt up like previous post suggest. (Yeah I used the search function.) The car turns over and sounded like it was trying to run but never did.

I'm hoping its not an electrical grimlin. What else should I check before I start going through the wiring?

ss.slp.ls1

iTrader: (36)

The only way to know if your pump is still good is to get a fuel pressure gauge and hook it up to the rail. Just because you can hear the pump doesn't mean it is working fine.

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

^ I agree with the above post. The pump could still be shot. Or, the fuel filter might simply be clogged. Either way, I would look at fuel pressure first.

Mr Sir

I checked the fuel pressure last night and it's good. So I'm starting to lean towards it being a wiring issue. Though I did notice my security light was on for a good bit yesterday. Then I disconnected the battery for a few seconds and it went away. I'm not sure how fast the red light on the dash panel is suppsed to flash but it was flashing pretty quick last night too. Should I have the VATs tuned out? Or is that even possible?

ss.slp.ls1

iTrader: (36)

I don't think anything is supposed to flash under normal operation. I forgot to ask earlier, are you throwing any codes? If VATS is your issue then you can bypass it with a resistor that matches your key pellet. If you search for VATS bypass you should find the information you need.

Mr Sir

Yeah, its throwing some codes due to some of the modifications that were done before I had the car. I don't have the codes currently but I will pull them again when I get home and make sure there aren't any new ones.

ny_z28man

iTrader: (2)

That sounds odd to me that vats would become a problem after running out of fuel? VATS I thought either wont let you crank it over or if anything cuts the ignition so you wont even hear it attempt to start. I'm with WS6 on fuel issue just due to the fact that it attempts to fire. I would check not just pressure but make sure during cranking its within spec. I think you might have pulled some sediment off the bottom of the tank and either plugged up the sock or got into the fuel filter. Just that attempts to start factor is what makes me think more combustion related problems not so much security/electrical.

Mr Sir

Yeah I talked to a few people and they said if it were VATs you wouldn't even be able to crank it. Fuel pressure checks out. I didn't get a chance to pull codes. I am going to check spark this evening, I'm starting to lean towards a bad ground at this point.

Mr Sir

I started going through the wiring and it turns out the harness is hacked all to ****. At this point, I'm thinking it'd be easier to replace it than try to repair it.