No start ’92 Chevy Lumina 3.1L V6 TBI

[Meridivs]

We have a ’92 Chevy Lumina APV with a 3.1L V6 TBI engine. Last Sunday evening it refused to start like someone left the transmission in Drive and the Park/Neutral switch was preventing it to start. There’s the buzz sound from the fuel pump when you put the key on then nothing when you turn it to start the engine.

I checked the Park/Neutral swith by connecting an ALDL cable to the OBD port and it indicates correctly when I move the lever to Drive or Parking/Neutral. The only error code stored is “Fuel Pump Relay” but the Fuel Pump appear to be working?!

Battery is good, fuel pump fuse intact and the Park/Neutral switch appear to be working. Any idea on how we can tackle this problem?

Topic

[hondaguy453]

Is there a noticeable click from the starter when you try to start it?

[college man]

here is a video to check relays. bypass the contacts
to see if the car starts.

[Meridivs]

Excellent videos (I already saw the first one but the other three look even more interesting).

This evening I’ll try to put them to good use and see what we’ve got.

Keep you posted,

[Meridivs]

Just managed to jump-start the car with a wire from the + battery terminal to the starter terminal.

Is there any way to tell if the key is making contact when turned to start the engine?

The Brake light comes on and all dash indicators move when i turn the key all the way to start the engine but that’s all it happens (headlights remain bright and the starter dead).

[hondaguy453]

[quote=”Meridivs” post=41705]Just managed to jump-start the car with a wire from the + battery terminal to the starter terminal.

Is there any way to tell if the key is making contact when turned to start the engine?

The Brake light comes on and all dash indicators move when i turn the key all the way to start the engine but that’s all it happens (headlights remain bright and the starter dead).[/quote]

If you think it’s the lock cylinder that is disabling the car you can pull it out and try to start the car by turning the ignition switch alone. I suggest you test the relay, though. Follow the vid that college man posted.

Come to think of it, you can also test the lock cylinder by turning the key to the start position, hold it there, and tap on the head of the key. If the car starts, then you can diagnose the lock cylinder or the ignition switch.

[Meridivs]

Thank you for all your help and ideas. Checked the voltage on the wires and relay.

The relay clicked but the voltage coming out of it was too low to get the starter solenoid moving.

Changed the relay and now everything works as it should (even better than before: started motor had some hesitation that was also related to the defective relay).:)

[college man]

Great job.Glad that it all worked out.
Thanks for the update and the fix. 😉

[hondaguy453]

Nice!

[EricTheCarGuy]

That’s great news. Thanks for keeping us up to date and for using the ETCG forum.

[Author]

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