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Car died, fuel pump?

C

catfish

CEG'er
Joined
Oct 11, 2006
Messages
227
Car died today, stumbled once or twice before it went (kind of felt like it was shifting gears for no good reason), once like 15 minutes before it went and then right before it cut out.

Engine still turns over and electrical seems all fine, and I don't think bad spark plugs could make it just quit like that. So that leads me to fuel delivery, theres plenty of gas in the car atm (filled it w/ a gas can after it died, no luck) so that leads me to fuel pump?

Any other possible diagnosis I might be missing?
 
Turn the key to the 'ON' position (don't start it) and listen for the fuel pump whine. You will hear it for about 1 second. If you hear the whine, it's probably not your fuel pump. When was the last time you changed your fuel filter? Did you check all electrical connections? Vacuum leaks? :shrug:
 
I'll listen for the whine.

fuel filter was changed maybe 8k-ish miles ago so that should be good.

I do have a vacumn leak (I broke a couple of the small capilary tubes near the back of the engine swapping out my alternator, but I've been driving with them broken w/ no problem for a couple thousand miles now. It would at least stumble a bit when I try and start it if was just a vacumn leak though.

Electrical everything looks fine, everything electrical still works (lights, starter, etc.) I'll make sure theres spark later, but I'm pretty confident that there is.

EDIT: should have posted this earlier but its a 96 v6 atx.
 
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No Start

No Start

Check the fuse that controls fuel pump and ignition. I had my fuel pump fuse blow last night while driving my pickup at highway speeds. Almost called for a $150.00 tow but was saved by 30 cent fuse. Worth a Look. Dan
 
Try diconnecting the T/B position sensor and starting it, it will start but won't stay running unless you give it a little gas. If it starts doing that it's your position sensor.
 
Check the PCM power fuse. It is a 20A fuse in the power distribution module under the hood. It's one of the expensive cubical fuses with a clear plastic window on top. Turn your key to RUN without starting the car. If the computer is not getting power (or bad) you will not have a check engine light on. Your fuel pump will not pressurize either, if the computer does not have power, so it may seem to be a fuel pump at first.
 
hmm, pcm and fuel pump fuses are both good. No check engine light with the key in the "on" position though I don't think (i'll double check when it stops raining). Does that mean its necessarily the Pcm, or are there other options? because it didn't die in a way that would make me think its fuse/computer related. Namely that it stumbled about half an hour before it gave up the ghost, and both the stumble and the eventual stumble-death occured when I was making a left turn from a dead stop (and thus accelerating and giving it more gas than usual)

Also worth noting I guess is that afterwards there was no residual fuel pressure left in the lines (though I had opened the gas cap, if it affects anything)
 
Did you try turning the key to the "ON" position and listening for the fuel pump to pressurize? If it does not, it could be bad. Also, you SHOULD have a check engine light on if you turn your key to the "ON" position. If you do not, then you have a computer related issue.
 
Yea, Didn't hear the pump at all. I'll be putting in a new one today, so if that doesn't do it then its gotta be the pcm I guess.

man, I need this car for all of 3 more weeks and it decides to crap out on me now.

edit: well no dice on the fuel pump, guess its the computer after all.
 
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Make ABSOLUTELY sure the PCM fuse is not bad before do anything with your computer (or fuel pump for that matter). It is not obvious when these fuses are blown. I've seen them actually blow, conduct again for a short period, then finally go. Check for continuity across the fuse, or better yet, buy a new one and put it in.

Also, as I said, if you do not have a CEL in the "ON" position (with engine not running, of course), it is NOT the fuel pump. The computer is either not getting power (bad fuse) or the computer is fried.
 
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well I'm stumped now. New (junkyard) pcm and nada, exact same symptoms as before, no check engine light, no fuel pressure, etc.

fuse is good, I've checked all of them w/ a multimeter, and I've replaced the 20a pcm fuse which after turning on/trying to start the car a few times is still good.

I don't think its a short, as that ought to blow the fuse and it probably isn't the pcm itself (unless im really unlucky).

Anyone have any ideas?
 
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