I've got a 1991 Firebird, 305 TBI. Car has mostly been sitting idle for about two years, but I have started it up every few weeks and drove it around for a couple of miles, no issues up until this point.

Currently the car will not turn over about 90% of the time. It attempts to start but doesn't actually start. Occasionally it does start and runs for a couple of seconds before it dies.

I pulled out at least one of the spark plug wires and tested for a spark, so we're good there.

I'm thinking some kind of fuel problem? What are some common problems with these cars that might be causing the issue I have? Where is the best place to start on this?

 

Have you tested for fuel pressure? If not, that is step 1.

 

I haven't done that, what's the best way to go about doing that?

 

If you live near a autozone, you can rent it (free, after deposit refund) and they will print out the instructions for you.

 

mine was vapor locked one time . i unhooked the feed line an cranked the car over an cought the gas in a mason jar . hooked the line back up an no problems since

 

I'll do that, however from reading I've gathered that my TBI doesn't have a fuel pressure test port, is this true? If not, where do I actually test the pressure at? Thanks

 

TBI doesn't have a fuel pressure test port, so the rental guage is doing no good. You have to cut the rubber line and insert fuel pressure guage inline to test pressure.

Does the fuel pump prime for 2 secs when key turned to ON? Has fuel filter ever been replaced?

 

Wrong. The fuel pressure tester has a GM TBI adapter that goes on in place of the pressure fitting at the tbi, and has a schrader valve so the guage can read the pressure.

 

Just some updates here: in lieu of a good pressure testing system I just disconnected the fuel line at the output for the fuel filter, and KOEO'd the car to verify that the fuel pump is priming. Fuel pump is working fine, although I have no idea if it's sending the appropriate pressure. Took off the air cleaner and the injectors appeared to be spraying some type of fuel although again, no idea what this is supposed to look like or if enough was coming out. Hit the TBI with some starter fluid while cranking and it fired right up, although the car ran very rough and eventually stalled.

Hopefully that somewhat narrows down the issue, but that being said, I still have no idea what it is. Any ideas? Thanks

camaronewbie: Read above and the fuel filter has not been replaced since I bought the car at ~55K miles (now at ~135)

gwarren007: Where is the pressure fitting at the TBI and where can I get this adapter you've mentioned? Thanks

EDIT: I also tried running the OBD and it didn't return any error codes aside from the normal "12".

 

Rent it at autozone, it looks like this one:

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/acc...ntifier=721680