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NEED HELP, QUICK! Bad Fuel Pump?

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Old Mar 2, 2008 | 05:36 PM
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Default NEED HELP, QUICK! Bad Fuel Pump?

Ok, I need some help here. I was driving my 95 LT1 Z28 today, and at first, taking off in first felt like taking off in 3rd, no power. I was noticing that I had very little power, and she didn't sound quite right. Then it started sputtering, and I was begining to feel like a geo metro would make a better time in the 1/4 mile than me. There a chance this is the fuel pump? Or that the filter or something else is clogged? Distributor? It just felt like I was losing power last night, and today, it is really bad. what about a distributor cap? I have heard horror stories about the opti, but since I have not even broken 60,000 miles on the car, it seems kind of early for that. Is the fuel pump internal or external? Oh yeah, I do not think it is the sparks or wires, I just replaced all those a couple of thousand miles ago, so that takes care of one of the three things it usually is (air, fuel, and spark, though almost never air...).
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I need to get this fixed before the cruise...
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Old Mar 2, 2008 | 05:39 PM
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it could be either fuel pump or opti. check your fuel pressure. if thats okay its most likely your opti. fuel pump is intank. to change the you have to drop the rear. or make a access panel. do you have any codes? chances are its your opti.
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Old Mar 2, 2008 | 05:46 PM
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Originally Posted by allblacksrt4
it could be either fuel pump or opti. check your fuel pressure. if thats okay its most likely your opti. fuel pump is intank. to change the you have to drop the rear. or make a access panel. do you have any codes? chances are its your opti.
no codes yet.... going to hook my hyper tech up and see what is going on... what code am I looking for on the LT1 OBD1 for it to be an opti? Isn't it too soon for an opti? I only have like 57 or 58K on it..
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Old Mar 2, 2008 | 05:51 PM
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sounds like a fuel pump...or the opti like srt said..my buddies fuel pump in his 96 ss went out before the opti tho...about 10k miles prior
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Old Mar 2, 2008 | 05:53 PM
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Originally Posted by SSMOKIN_Y2KSS
sounds like a fuel pump...or the opti like srt said..my buddies fuel pump in his 96 ss went out before the opti tho...about 10k miles prior
how much are we talking about for a fuel pump? I am getting really pissed here... I love this car more than just about anything else... so the thought of her not being healthy pisses me off...
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Old Mar 2, 2008 | 06:01 PM
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Originally Posted by lt1 hawk
how much are we talking about for a fuel pump? I am getting really pissed here... I love this car more than just about anything else... so the thought of her not being healthy pisses me off...
pump would be in between 100-200$ ...make sure u change the strainer if your going to do it right...biggest problem in the matter is you have to drop half the back of the car to do it...def. worth doing it urself and not having it done you will get raped on labor with that thing...one of the reasons im thinking its not the opti is because the 95 and 96s lt1s were equipt with vented optis as the others didnt..they tended to last alot longer than the rest...my buddies fuel pump went out on him at about 120k and the opti at about 135k miles..he purchased the car at 100k so before that who knows if it was ever changed prior.
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Old Mar 2, 2008 | 06:05 PM
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Gotta get a fuel pressure gauge on the schrader and see fuel pressure you're getting.

Check out this thread where I post a link to the racetronix fuel pump kit which is an excellent kit and a how to

https://ls1tech.com/forums/showthrea...654&highlight=
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Old Mar 2, 2008 | 06:08 PM
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Originally Posted by ssbowtie1
Gotta get a fuel pressure gauge on the schrader and see fuel pressure you're getting.

Check out this thread where I post a link to the racetronix fuel pump kit which is an excellent kit and a how to

https://ls1tech.com/forums/showthrea...654&highlight=
those are mandatory for all garages
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Old Mar 2, 2008 | 06:12 PM
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Originally Posted by SSMOKIN_Y2KSS
pump would be in between 100-200$ ...make sure u change the strainer if your going to do it right...biggest problem in the matter is you have to drop half the back of the car to do it...def. worth doing it urself and not having it done you will get raped on labor with that thing...one of the reasons im thinking its not the opti is because the 95 and 96s lt1s were equipt with vented optis as the others didnt..they tended to last alot longer than the rest...my buddies fuel pump went out on him at about 120k and the opti at about 135k miles..he purchased the car at 100k so before that who knows if it was ever changed prior.
Any idea why this would be happening now? Could it have anything to do with the fact that the car only had 11,000 miles put on it in 8 years? It just seems so early for some of this stuff to be going wrong. I daily drive it now, but I do regular maintance on it, some myself and with buddies, and some through dealer mechanics. I do not let the guys at an oil change place touch my car. Only reason I even have other people change the oil is because it is just not worth my time to take it to the hobby shop and change it myself.
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Old Mar 2, 2008 | 06:21 PM
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not sure that might have sumthing to do with it plugged up strainer from dirty fuel.plugged fuel filter......well start with checking the fuel pressure see what you got...and take it from there
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Old Mar 2, 2008 | 06:22 PM
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Originally Posted by lt1 hawk
Any idea why this would be happening now? Could it have anything to do with the fact that the car only had 11,000 miles put on it in 8 years? It just seems so early for some of this stuff to be going wrong. I daily drive it now, but I do regular maintance on it, some myself and with buddies, and some through dealer mechanics. I do not let the guys at an oil change place touch my car. Only reason I even have other people change the oil is because it is just not worth my time to take it to the hobby shop and change it myself.
We're all just speculating. No one knows if its you fuel pump for sure or not. You have to get a fuel pressure gauge on there before you can determine for sure if its the fuel pump/regulator/or something unrelated to fuel.
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Old Mar 2, 2008 | 06:23 PM
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if you have to do the pump go from the top and just cut a hole it is much easier then dropping the tank and your exhaust so i have heard.
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Old Mar 2, 2008 | 06:27 PM
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Originally Posted by 180ls1
if you have to do the pump go from the top and just cut a hole it is much easier then dropping the tank and your exhaust so i have heard.
is that safe?
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Old Mar 2, 2008 | 06:28 PM
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I doubt it's the pump.. they usually just go out and you never hear from them again..

From what it sounds like, it may be stuffed up cats if you still have them?? Unplug your O2 sensors and see what happens...

If this isn't it then I'd swap the fuel filter if you haven't done so..

Good luck and let us know how it turns out..
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Old Mar 2, 2008 | 06:54 PM
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Originally Posted by Slvr00Bird
I doubt it's the pump.. they usually just go out and you never hear from them again..

From what it sounds like, it may be stuffed up cats if you still have them?? Unplug your O2 sensors and see what happens...

If this isn't it then I'd swap the fuel filter if you haven't done so..

Good luck and let us know how it turns out..
yeah, I still have cats, for now.
I hope this doesn't end up costing me a **** ton of cash, I wanted to go true duals with nice headers, and if I have to dump a ton into this, I am going to have to wait FOREVER to get it done.
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Old Mar 2, 2008 | 06:59 PM
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Originally Posted by lt1 hawk
is that safe?
yes you just have to patch it over again and seal it with some rvt or something. It is under your carpet also so no one will see it.
Will it idle normal?
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Old Mar 2, 2008 | 07:01 PM
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Originally Posted by 180ls1
if you have to do the pump go from the top and just cut a hole it is much easier then dropping the tank and your exhaust so i have heard.
That's how I recently did mine. No probs. The how to is in the link I posted a few posts up.
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Old Mar 2, 2008 | 07:24 PM
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is the car having a hard time starting? or not starting at all?
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Old Mar 2, 2008 | 08:10 PM
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Originally Posted by 180ls1
yes you just have to patch it over again and seal it with some rvt or something. It is under your carpet also so no one will see it.
Will it idle normal?
it is idling very softly. It makes a weird whining sound when I gas it while it is idling and drive it. I just went to Autozone, and they could not do a diagnostic on it because the check engine light is on. It is also running hotter than usual, which makes me think it is running lean. I am going to try and change out the filter tomorrow and see if that makes a difference.
If it is the fuel pump, then I am really pissed. Reason being, I just filled the tank. I am going to have to drain the tank that is now totally full. With prices out here right now, I will end up paying $50 to fill her up....
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Old Mar 2, 2008 | 08:13 PM
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If its running hot it might be the water pump crapped out and is leaking coolant all over the opti. Get under the car and see if there is coolant coming out the water pump weep hole.

You don't have to drain the tank if you do the access panel mod from the top. You only have to drain it if you plan on dropping the tank.

Better not drive much if its overheating or you can kiss your headgaskets goodbye.
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