This is on a 1989 Trans Am 350 tpi

I started the car up and it was idling fine, and while I was messing with the radio it just died suddenly. I started it again and it sounded like it was running for a couple of seconds then it died again. I kept trying to start it and the engine would turn over a little bit until finally it wouldn't start at all and I was just cranking the starter. I was running slightly low on gas, but still had around a quarter tank or so. I figure the fuel pump went out, but I just replaced it a year ago, when I ran out of gas (I know it was dumb), so it seems weird that it would be failing now. I have heard that you can apply 12 volts to the G terminal on the ALDL and it will directly power the fuel pump, so I will try that tomorrow. Is there anything else that could cause the car to die suddenly like this? Any ideas or help would be appreciated. Thanks!

Chris

 

Running low may have allowed the pump to slug the filter with whatever debris may have been floating or settled in the tank. A good pump and bad filter will also result in no fuel.

 

What brand of pump? I quit installing aftermarket (non GM or bosch pumps) for this exact reason. The cheap aftermarket pupms take a dump in a year or less. Way to hard to change to chance a cheap pump failure IMO.

 

I am having the same problem with my car...I made a thread about it and no one responded to me.

I wanna believe it my fuel pump on me too, because when I took my car up for a trip up a mountain yesterday I stopped by a side parking lot to take alook at the view and my car started but died immediately after.

 

Well I applied 12 volts to the G terminal on the ALDL, and I could hear the fuel pump going, although it did sound kind of weak. Then I took out a spark plug and attached it to its wire and held it against the engine block while my brother cranked it, and I couldn't see any spark - so I guess this is my problem, no spark. Is this most likely something in the distributor? Thanks

Chris

 

Yeah, it most likely a ignition problem. When you heard your pump switch on, did it sound like a high pitched sound?

 

No, it wasn't a high pitched sound, it was very low and kind of slow sounding.

 

A Bad Oil Pressure Sending Unit will keep a pump from running - the pump gets electricity directly from battery through the OPSU - it's a $28 easy replaced part to try BEFORE taking the hours to replace FP.