Ok, so here's the deal. I have a 92 Camaro RS with a 305 TBI. ALL STOCK. i mean ALL stock. the only thing not stock in my car is the strut tower brace and the open element air filter.

Anyway, my car cranks over, but she won't start. I think its a fuel problem. I can get the car started if i take off the air filter, unplug the 4 pin plug on the side of the carb and plug it back in, unplug the injectors and plug them back in, then crawl under the back unplug the fuel pump and plug it back in.

She cranks over but will not catch and start. Like i said, i think it is a fuel problem. The car will start if i crank it over for about 30 to 45 seconds.

now im not sure if this next part has anything to do with it but it involves oil pressure. i watch the guage and when im cranking it over it starts at zero, after a few seconds it will jump up to 15psi, and then will sit for a second. then if i keep cranking on it, it will slowly start working its way up and then the car will start when it hits 30psi. as soon as the car starts it jumps up to 60psi.

I think its a fuel supply problem, but im not sure. Oh, and the FUEL PUMP IS NOT THAT OLD so that can't be the problem. I'm thinking its a bad ground somewhere......

She won't start when the engine is hot, and she as left me stranded in parking lots TWICE luckly my girlfriend just happened to drive by and could give me a ride home.

This problem quickly ended my summer fun with the car, and i would like to get it running before i have to put it away for the winter.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

Sounds like the fuel pump relay is not energizing the fuel pump so you are having to crank it until the oil pressure switch turns it on. Check your fuel pump relay for power, signal and ground. You can swap it with another under hood relay for diagnosis purposes.

 

Hey, thanks, ill have to try that, it might be a ground. because i had this problem once before, and then it went away. so it might be a ground that is wiggling loose or somthing. ill have to check that sometime, between school and my 3 jobs. (3 jobs just so i can pay for the two cars i have. owning a camaro is so worth it!)

 

Ok, so i took my car in to the shop and asked them about it (don't worry, they didn't touch it aside from leaning on it, i don't let anyone touch my car). I just went to him to see if he had any ideas. He tried to convince me that it was a temperature switch and since it thought the car was warm it wasn't using enough gas. To me that sounded like a little and he was just trying to sell me something. He also tried to convince me that it wasn't the fuel pump relay because he has never seen it before, so i asked him how many third gens he worked on and he shut up pretty quick. Here is the best part, I told him my fuel pump is pretty new, and he was blown away. As soon as he heard this he started saying that it could be a bad fuel pump from the manufacturer. He was trying to sell me a fuel pump too . I told him that the car runs great when started and he went back to his same ol' temperature switch . So i told him not to touch my car and that he was stupid . Oh, and my temp switch is fine. The fuel pump doesn't come on when i turn the key on sometimes. So I'm thinking its a bad ground in the fuel pump relay between the ignition and oil puressure guage switch. This guy was as bad as little kids with fund raisers trying to sell me S***!!!!
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Oh, and when i was about to leave, he said "Now you can always leave the car with me for a day and have me look at it if you want." I told him i didn't even like him leaning on my car, and i laughed as i drove off.

 

You could run a jumper wire in the relay to see if it is the problem. Your wires colors may not be the same but on mine I jump the terminal for the orange wire to the red on on the other side. If the car acts fine this way then you could have a bad relay.


Out of curiosity........if you were not going to give the mechanic the time of day why did you waste both of your time? But I would lean towards the relay myself since it is easy to check and replace.

 

To answer your question about the mechanic, my mom had to pick up her truck, and i gave her a ride there. she told him my car was having problems, and i tried to get out of it, but she insisted he look at it.

And i have yet to work on the car, the problem is intermitant, it comes and goes. and as of right now it is running fine, so i will have to work on it when i have time, and as long as its running, im good. this winter will be when i do alot of work to it, i have a list of stuff i want to do to the car.

 

Ok, so i pulled the fuel pump relay off, and much to my surprise, the plug is fried. Somewhere it must have shorted. The plug and the relay is now black (used to be grey), the plastic is melted and the metal for the connecters is contorted. Just thought i'd give an update. I also have a replacement plug coming on Monday. So i should have the car fixed by Tuesday or Wednesday.

 

Just because your pump is fairly new dosen't mean that it's good.
If you search around you will find that alot of people have had to change out bad pumps, that weren't to old. So he was right about that thought.

What he may not know is that the oil pressure will initially turn the pump on, or kill it if you lose oil pressure.

Replace your relay and the plug and see what it does.

 

New plan, I just got a call from the guy, and I can go get parts tonight! He is junking the car, so i might throw an offer at him to buy the whole thing as a parts car for mine. But i'll see what he wants for it. other than that i can pretty much have whatever i want out of it.

 

Alright, so i have an update. i went to a salvage yard and pulled a plug out of a suburban. I put the plug in my car, and put the new relay on, and all is good. the car runs great again, and i haven't had a problem yet