HELP!! My car just died... here's the deal. I have had a check engine light on since January. I know, I should check the engine! Well, I ran the codes. It told me that it was the O2 sensor. Changed that, still had the light. Car ran fine until.... This morning, the husband took the car, it drove fine to work, back home and work again. Then he went somewhere else, and the engine just cut off. He was able to get it restarted, but it never got enough juice to stay running. We changed the TPS, it didn't help. We checked to see if it had spark, shocked my husband pretty good (that made me feel better, as he KILLED my car). Since doing the spark check, the car will turn over, but won't start. Any suggestions guys??

 

Let me ask the obvious question first. The car has gas. Assuming it does have you checked to see fuel system is pressurized. If you have a TPI motor you can check the pressure of the fuel system by looking what appears to be a value stem looking piece on the back of the fuel rail/fuel line. If you have a fuel pressure gauge you can place it here. If you just use your finger you can push down the stem and fuel should spray out.

May or may not help

 

Try cranking it over and spraying just a little carb cleaner into the intake. If it starts and then stalls, it's not getting fuel. You can check the fuel pressure with a gauge at the Schrader valve to verify, and/or try to listen to the fuel pump to hear if it's priming.

 

HAHAHA Yes, there is gas in the car. Just filled it up. I do have fuel pressure. Now what?

 

The aforementioned thumbing the Schrader valve test isnt really worth anything, these are high pressure fuel systems needing over 40 psi to operate properly. 5 psi out of that tiny valve could make a little spurt, but 5 psi isn't enough to run the car.

If a car doesnt start, the logical causes are fuel and ignition, and once you rule those both out, then you start looking into ignition timing, etc.

 

Okay, so I need to get ahold of a fuel pressure gauge then. I will keep you posted. BTW not really wanting to shoot my chicken. I love her. Hate that she is fried at the moment....

 

I had a problem with my car not starting once.

I had fuel, checked the pressure, had about 40 once the pump primed it.

Also had spark, BUT....it turned out the pickup coil went bad. It was producing enough spark to make it look like it had it, but not enough to let it start. It wouldn't even try to start. I replaced the pickup coil, and the module. Once it started I put my other module back in and it still started, so it was the pickup coil.

 

when i bought my fuel pressure guage i picked it up at autozone for less then $30. it has helped me more then a few times with diagnosing issues. it is always nice to be able to rule out those damn fuel pumps right away when having this type of issue.

 

well, we changed the fuel relay, the computer and now we are dropping the tank. The fuel pump isn't getting any electricity to it. So, full tank of gas is being dropped! What fun that is for the man! LOL Good thing I have opted out of this particular learning experience!

 

Yeah a full tank is an SOB....if you cant get, say, a floor jack under it with a real sensitive release that you can let down slow to help you, you pretty much gotta siphon as much out of the tank into drums/buckets until you can handle it...

And Tony's right, a fuel pressure gauge is GREAT to have and Autozone has them cheap, however watch out for Autozone's "Actron" gauges. They have a plastic purge valve in a metal bore that gets stuck often, I went through two of them within 2 months before I opted up for the Matco set.

 

Ok, pump, computer, fuel relay switch, TPS have all been changed. We are getting fuel pressure now. Still won't start. Carb cleaner will get it to start, but then stalls. Husband thinks it is the fuel injectors. How do I test this theory??

 

Put a noid light on the injector harness, crank the car, see if the light blinks. If not, the injectors are not firing.

Noid lights can be bought fairly cheap, I recommend a "universal" light which has an adjustable spread between the two pins because you can hook it up to anything.

 

ohm the injectors. i don't recall what the resistance is (i think it's around 12.6) but see if you have any that have no resistance. that will make it not start. if you find one (and you still have the plenum and all that stuff on) try starting it w/ that injector unplugged... that will give you a little peace of mind before dropping cash on a new injector. i went through the same stuff you did about 6 years ago on my brother's car... 3 months later, he swaps to a carbed 350

 

^^^Actually you should get around 16 ohms. If you're getting 12 then they're on their way out. Below 12 and you should look at a new set. My TPI injectors get 15.8 across the board..

 

i think it differs between pintle and multec injectors... otherwise there are a crapload of bad multec injectors in running, driving cars and in new injector boxes...

 

The book says they should be between 11-14 ohms. And there all about 12 or so. This is the husband by the way. So the next thing has to be that the injectors are not getting the "open now" signal. Question is, why?? Fuses have been checked and good and the ECM is brand new. Any one know if there is a fusable link in the circuit? I hope not...thanks though.

 

you can look a wiring diagram up at the library, and copy it for 10 cents a copy or whatever, and have the entire wiring diagram for the car....

 

ok, you guys want to laugh. It turns out to not have had anything to do with the fuel system!!! It was my VATS system. The good thing is, it took the mechanic 10 hours to figure it out. At least I was not the only one that was at a loss!!

 

lol, Lol I just changed my steering column because all the bearings came out. That broke the ignition as it kept the rod that starts the car from fully extending fully. Once I was done I unnecessarily replaced the starter too. Was going to exchange it when I noticed the security light was staying on. Then I looked and my vats bypass resistor wwas on the floor.