occasional no start

[guitarranger11]

I have gotten this 1987 Chevy celebrity with a 2.5 and the customers complaint is sometimes when she drives it and turns it off and and comes back andtrys to start it and it just cranks and won’t turn over and sometimes it will smell flooded and when she let’s the car sit for a little bit it will start right up. They put a new fuel filter on it and still has the same results. I was leaning towards fuel pump but being a TBI and having no fuel rail to test from I’m not sure how to test it. Alldata says to undo fuel line and in an appropriate container measure how much fuel comes out per second I think it said and for me that doesn’t seem to accurate. And my fuel pressure tester doesn’t have any adapters to test the pump out of the fuel lines. I work in a shop and all the other techs are pointing at fuel pump as well but I’m real big on confirming the problem besides we all hate comebacks 🙂 I do alot of side work outside the shop which this car is one of those side projects. I’ve also tried everything the customer has said she does for the complaint to happen and I can’t duplicate the problem at all. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Is there a way to test the fuel pump on those systems since all the fuel lines are metal. Thanks in advance.

Topic

[college man]

see if this helps. On a tbi you should be able to see the
spray of fuel.

http://www.howstuffinmycarworks.com/GM_TBI_fuel_pressure.html

[torquemonster]

autozone had one I rented with a inline adaptor for the throttle body I had to get it for the same reason on my 350 tbi

[Dan]

[quote=”guitarranger11″ post=86471]I have gotten this 1987 Chevy celebrity with a 2.5 and the customers complaint is sometimes when she drives it and turns it off and and comes back and tries to start it and it just cranks and won’t turn over and sometimes it will smell flooded and when she let’s the car sit for a little bit it will start right up. They put a new fuel filter on it and still has the same results. I was leaning towards fuel pump but being a TBI and having no fuel rail to test from I’m not sure how to test it. Alldata says to undo fuel line and in an appropriate container measure how much fuel comes out per second I think it said and for me that doesn’t seem to accurate. And my fuel pressure tester doesn’t have any adapters to test the pump out of the fuel lines. I work in a shop and all the other techs are pointing at fuel pump as well but I’m real big on confirming the problem besides we all hate comebacks 🙂 I do alot of side work outside the shop which this car is one of those side projects. I’ve also tried everything the customer has said she does for the complaint to happen and I can’t duplicate the problem at all. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Is there a way to test the fuel pump on those systems since all the fuel lines are metal. Thanks in advance.[/quote]

I had an ’82 for a while. FWIW I had a ECU fail with the TB injector shooting fully open! I could get the car to run by unplugging the injector, when it needed fuel, it’d plug it back in for a brief moment. I replaced the ECU with a used one.

When you say “won’t turn over” I take you mean it doesn’t start. The engine crankshaft is turning over, right?

Personally, I believe occasional problems are the toughest to find! I’d drive the car for a day or two. Walk in her shoes for a while. (if it’s possible). Pull the air filter cover and have someone crank it over when it’s in the fail mode. If you don’t see fuel spraying out of the injector at the top of the TB, bingo! If you see fuel, then it’s probably a spark issue. Also, I’m sure you know how to listen for the fuel pump in the fuel tank.

If it’s smelling like it’s flooded, it’s getting fuel.

[Author]

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