This is not history related but thought you could steer me in the right direction and then I will post on another forum in needed.

I went out to start my 92Z last night and the battery was dead. I keep a Schumaker battery maintainer on it but it was still the original battery so no surprise that it was dead. I went to the local Chev Dealership and bought a new battery, installed it and the car cranks fine but will not start. OK, maybe it blew a fuse....I crawled under the dash and checked every fuse and they are fine. What do you guys think? The "check engine light" comes on when the key is on which the repair manual says it should. You can hear the fuel pump pressurize the system. Any other suggestions or have you run into this?

Thank you for any ideas you might have!!

Leonard

 

Does the security light come on?

You may want to turn the key on, then off a couple of times letting the fuel pump prime the system a couple of times, I've had to do this before when a car has sat for a while without being started.

 

I tried this and tried restarting 10+ times. Cranks over fine and even has 40 lbs oil pressure while cranking.

 

I had the very same problem in my 89 IROC, I had a spare fuel pump relay that I cut apart and I primed the fuel system, you might try some fresh fuel in the tank, that is what it took to finally get my IROC to run. If you need any help let me know, I can help out on here or even stop by.

 

Thanks Aaron! The gas in the tank is probably 3 years old. I have siphoned it out and refilled it a few different times and may have to do that again. I stopped and bought a fuel pressure gauge and a injector tester this morning. Tonight I will check to see if I have fuel pressure, if the injectors are working and if I have spark to the plugs. One of these should be the problem.

Even if the gas is old, I thought it should try to start. It may run poorly but I thought it should start?

Leonard

 

Thats what I thought, but my tank is about 1/2 full and I put in about 2 gallons of fresh stuff and primed the system and it fired up after that, the fuel may have siphoned its way back to the tank and left the lines dry and it was just a fluke thing that the fuel finally reached the injectors after I put the fresh stuff in to, and that might have been my whole problem.

 

Does the engine have a steady, flat, cranking rhythm? It may be bad gas, but I'm not so sure. Having a few vehicles, I tend to have a few that end up having gas that collects for a few years in the tank. They still end up starting and atleast running.

I'm on the north side of Des Moines, so I would help out if I can. I don't claim to be any expert, but I do the work on my own vehicles and I have basic tools, along with fuel pressure tester, scanner, etc., tools. So if I can help, let me know.

 

I checked my fuel pressure last night and it is 43 lbs with the key on and 40 lbs while cranking. I checked the injectors and they are firing. I checked the plugs and they are firing. I also tried both ignition keys so that should eliminate VATS. Tonight I am going to syphon the gas out of the tank and try new gas.

Any other ideas??

Leonard

 

I just went through a very similar problem.

I would crank it would not start, I had what seemed to be spark, but it was not firing. The timing was close enough that it should have run. Had fuel Pressure (43# is good),

Get a spark plug any plug, AC's are reliable, put it in #1, and see if it tries to fire on one cylendar. Because of OLD gas, and because someone tried shooting starter fluid in it caused the plugs to fowel. I replaced all 8 plugs and it runs GREAT. I had some other problems that I fixed before the plugs, but it came down to the plugs.

John

 

I had a mechanic tell me this morning that it is common for the injectors to stick on the TPI units. He thinks I probably have 8 stuck injectors. He said to install the fuel pressure gauge, turn the key to the run position to get my 43 lbs of fuel pressure, then turn the key off, remove the connector on top of one injector and using a injector firing tool, fire the injector. He said the fuel pressure on the gauge should drop about 10 lbs. if the injector fires. Now I need to find an injector firing tool??

Leonard

 

I have a simple fuel injector tester that plugs onto the fuel injector connector and fires the injector, made by Actron. I've used it before when I had a bad fuel injector myself last year on one of the notchbacks. Simple tool, but it works.

Let me know if I can help.

 

JT, where did you buy the Actron tool. I stopped at K-Tool this morning and they wanted $159. for an OTC tool to fire injectors. I thought that was a little steep since I will probably use it once.

 

I got mine directly from Actron in one of their closeout sales. I paid under 50.00 for it. It works well. I would not pay that much for one, especially for one time use.

You can borrow my tester and do it yourself if you wish, since I'm sure you likely don't want unknown people touching your car since it is rare and valued high. I can just provide some "guidance" if you wish, instead.

Let me know. Depending on the time, I should be able to come to your location with the tester, and maybe just lend some support, if you would like.

 

JT, I have no problem with you helping me if you would like to. Send me an email at lstevenson@thomasamerican.com and we can work out the details. Thanks for the assistance!

 

Leonard, I sent you an email. Let me know what works best for you.

 

JT, I sent you an e-mail back.

Leonard