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Let me start off by saying I am no mechanic by any means. I’ve changed my own oil for years but that’s about the extent. So November 2017 I got married and my brother in law gave me a 90 RS with a 3.1 that has been sitting for 10 years in a garage. He said it ran when he parked it, and that it just needed a heater core. Flash forward to two weeks ago. I finally got a buddy with a trailer and a winch and brought it home. Went to Walmart and bought 5 quarts of oil, a filter, a can of ether, and a new battery. Drain the oil pan and I get a metallicy silverfish tooth paste looking substance out. Put 4.75 quarts of fresh oil in an a new filter. There was no fuel in the tank so I put in 2 gallons of 93. New battery connected, go to crank it and nothing. Turn the key off and back on an it cranks for 5 seconds or so. Take off the breather and spray in some ether and get it to fire and run for 3-4 seconds. Now it will crank but it won’t start. I’m assuming it’s probably a fuel pump or something of that nature. Any advice is greatly appreciated. I’m 25 years old, and mechanic work is very interesting to me. I don’t have a lot of money to dump into this car but I’d love to have it for a weekend cruiser. Thanks! Mice got ahold of the interior
You might be looking at two issues . Fuel pump and varnished injectors.
first start by checking to see if the fuel pump primes. You can have a Assist turn on the key to the accessory position. The pump will prime and run for 2 seconds. You might have to listen under the tank to hear it. Or you can check for power on the grey or tan/white wire on the pump connector under the car by the rear axle.
If the pump is getting power check for pressure at the fuel rail. Do the 2 second prime and or crank the engine over.
43.5 is the working pressure of this system.
You might be looking at two issues . Fuel pump and varnished injectors.
first start by checking to see if the fuel pump primes. You can have a Assist turn on the key to the accessory position. The pump will prime and run for 2 seconds. You might have to listen under the tank to hear it. Or you can check for power on the grey or tan/white wire on the pump connector under the car by the rear axle.
If the pump is getting power check for pressure at the fuel rail. Do the 2 second prime and or crank the engine over.
43.5 is the working pressure of this system.
Just looked underneath and turned key. No prime. Fuel sending rails are very rusted.
Does the security light in the cluster go off after a few seconds of key on? If so next I would look at the fuel pump relay under the hood. Safe to bypass to see if the pump will run with a jumper wire with spade connectors.
Does the security light in the cluster go off after a few seconds of key on? If so next I would look at the fuel pump relay under the hood. Safe to bypass to see if the pump will run with a jumper wire with spade connectors.
Security light goes off and my fuel pump relay clicks with key turn over
There should be a fuel pump prime connector under the hood, usually it is located either at the right or left rear of the engine bay, taped to the harness. It will be a red or grey wire, to a plastic single connector that will accept a .25" spade terminal. Run that to the battery positive and you should hear the pump prime, you should also get fuel pressure at the rail and can use a fuel pressure test gauge to see it come up. If you get no fuel pump action, you will have to figure out why. Yes, it's LIKELY the pump is bad, however, it could also be a wire issue. Sitting for 10 years, can mean that mice or other rodents may have had their way with the harness (they seem to like eating the insulation), and cause broken wires.
Start with figuring out the fuel pump issue first before assuming you have other issues. Always start with KNOWN issues and work your way towards unknown ones.
Don't get caught in the trap of loading the parts cannon and just fire parts at the car until it works, because sometimes that doesn't even work, and it's a waste of time and money to do it that way.
Drain the oil pan and I get a metallicy silverish tooth paste looking substance out.
Your oil is displaying the classic symptom of coolant leaking into the oil , and before you spend a single dime on anything else you need to do a "cooling system pressure test" . You can rent the tool required from your local autoparts store . The pressure test is very likely gonna reveal that your cooling system isn't able to properly hold pressure , you may in fact hear the telltale gurgling sound in the engine as you run the test if you do it in quiet enough of an area . The most common offenders of coolant in the oil are the intake manifold gaskets or head gaskets , although nasty things like a cracked head or cracked block are also less likely possibilities .
I hate to be a wet blanket on a young guy's enthusiasm, but let's be realistic. You've got a number of strikes against you here before you even get started. You've probably already spent more $$$ on this car than it's worth right now, and it's going to take A LOT more to get it back on the road. A car that has sat for 10 years is going to require complete fuel, brake, cooling system overhaul, and complete engine tune-up at the very least. If the car was an original-equipment Z28 or IROC, it might be a different story, but a 6-cylinder/automatic RS with a raggedy interior just doesn't have any value.
Please re-read OrangeBird's post, above; you must find the cause of the coolant in the oil, and then decide how to proceed---if at all---from that point.
Good luck.
Last edited by ironwill; Jul 31, 2019 at 08:49 AM.
It may not be coolant in the oil guys. It could simply be condensation. People forget that condensation is a thing, and if this was stored in a humid or environment where there are drastic temperature changes, condensation happens, and can cause the oil to look like that. Running the engine helps evaporate the water in daily or nearly daily driven vehicles so most people never notice this.
Doing a cooling system pressure test is a great idea, but I wouldn't go straight to "YoU'rE hEaDgAsKeT iS fUxOrD m8" from a single picture.
It may not be coolant in the oil guys. It could simply be condensation. People forget that condensation is a thing, and if this was stored in a humid or environment where there are drastic temperature changes, condensation happens, and can cause the oil to look like that.
Well, being in Kentucky we have all the above. That’s what I’m hoping. Im going to start with the fuel pump. Watched a video on dropping the tank. Wish me luck
Well, being in Kentucky we have all the above. That’s what I’m hoping. Im going to start with the fuel pump. Watched a video on dropping the tank. Wish me luck
before you drop the tank, make sure no one already did the trap door mod in the trunk
I hate to be a wet blanket on a young guy's enthusiasm, but let's be realistic. You've got a number of strikes against you here before you even get started. You've probably already spent more $$$ on this car than it's worth right now, and it's going to take A LOT more to get it back on the road. A car that has sat for 10 years is going to require complete fuel, brake, cooling system overhaul, and complete engine tune-up at the very least. If the car was an original-equipment Z28 or IROC, it might be a different story, but a 6-cylinder/automatic RS with a raggedy interior just doesn't have any value.
Please re-read OrangeBird's post, above; you must find the cause of the coolant in the oil, and then decide how to proceed---if at all---from that point.
There should be a fuel pump prime connector under the hood, usually it is located either at the right or left rear of the engine bay, taped to the harness. It will be a red or grey wire, to a plastic single connector that will accept a .25" spade terminal. Run that to the battery positive and you should hear the pump prime, you should also get fuel pressure at the rail and can use a fuel pressure test gauge to see it come up. If you get no fuel pump action, you will have to figure out why. Yes, it's LIKELY the pump is bad, however, it could also be a wire issue. Sitting for 10 years, can mean that mice or other rodents may have had their way with the harness (they seem to like eating the insulation), and cause broken wires.
I found the bypass wire. I’m going to try this tomorrow. Is there a certain gauge wire to use? Also, does key need to be on to try this? I unplugged the fan so I could hear better if the pump was going to prime
Bypass or fuel pump prime wire? Those two very different things, and you DEFINITELY don't want to inject 12V into the bypass wire.
To answer your other questions though, I've used 18 AWG for this, since the pump really won't be running long, and no, the key does not need to be on, this powers the pump directly.
Bypass or fuel pump prime wire? Those two very different things, and you DEFINITELY don't want to inject 12V into the bypass wire.
To answer your other questions though, I've used 18 AWG for this, since the pump really won't be running long, and no, the key does not need to be on, this powers the pump directly.
i was referring to the prime wire. I’m going to get a spade terminal in the morning and some wire. I’ve got the rear end disassembled so if it is the pump I’m going to drop the tank and change the pump and sending unit
Your oil is displaying the classic symptom of coolant leaking into the oil , and before you spend a single dime on anything else you need to do a "cooling system pressure test" . You can rent the tool required from your local autoparts store . The pressure test is very likely gonna reveal that your cooling system isn't able to properly hold pressure , you may in fact hear the telltale gurgling sound in the engine as you run the test if you do it in quiet enough of an area . The most common offenders of coolant in the oil are the intake manifold gaskets or head gaskets , although nasty things like a cracked head or cracked block are also less likely possibilities .
Way more than "condensation". 
