Having some fuel problems, plese help.

[valerka]

Hey everyone here is a small problem of mine, Its all started with hard stars, every time the car would sit for 3+ hours it would have some probles starting up and to be exact it took around 3-5 seconds of turning to starter to get her going. So after talking to Jim i have decieded that that might be the FPR so the next day i went to a dealer and bough the part, it was a no brainer 5 min fix. But the problems didnt go away, it continued having troubles starting up, and today she died on me twise while standing on a red light. Now i am thinking it might be the fuel pump or something in the fuel delivery department. Any ideas? Help will be higly apriciated.

[R4D30N]

go somewhere and have the fuel pressure checked.

[JimW]

A fuel pressure valve is a handy device, but yes thats a good start, check the PSI in the fuel rail.

If you listen very closely, when you first put the key in and set to the start position, just before ignition, you shuould hear the ELC compressor and the fuel pump.

Mind you with the volume of the ELC compressor it might be hard to hear the pump

[TwinCam]

If the Fuel Line PSI and pump check out, could it be the Mass Airflow Meter causing the car to die. These things are sensitive and usually are quite expensive

[Aurora95]

If you have access to a gage for testing it should read between 41-47 psi with the pump running. If the fuel pressure drops off and doesn't hold it could be a leaking fuel injector or faulty check valve inside the fuel pump.

[Moe2244]

I have this same problem. Have you noticed that at times when you try to start the car, the engine turns over, and then a little pop sound occurs. Try to start it again, and Vroooom, she fires right up.

I had a major tune up on this car not long ago (new plugs, wires, coils, pcv valves, also a new fuel pump). There is a recall out for the fuel rail, that I didn't get fixed yet. The recall mentioned something about possible loss in fuel pressure.

Could this be my problem?

[erw38]

Have you tried a new fuel filter? You may have a clogged filter on your hands. After replacing that you might want to run a good fuel system cleaner (like chevron techron) though the gas tank.

[Rocketv8]

if you have not had the recall done yet, that can cause a loss in fuel,pressure which can cause stalling and/or hard starting (according to the recall bulletin from GM), but, if your fuel rails were leaking, you'd smell fuel

[kobalt]

Sounds like the fuel line check valve kicked the bucket. To test, turn the ignition from the "off" position to the "accessory" position and back to "off" 3 or 4 times. Spend at least 1 second in each position. This procedure will pressurize the fuel rail. Once complete, crank the engine - if it starts right up its definately the check valve.

[Moe2244]

Good info. I'll try it next time.

[gfulton]

Is this fuel line check valve a year specific part? My '99 most certainly doesn't have one. I've never seen a check valve located in the fuel supply or return lines in any GM electronic fuel injection system on any year. The FPR is supposed to maintain fuel rail residual pressure against the closed injectors during engine shutdown. Since he's already replaced that, I would suspect a leaking injector feeding raw fuel into the intake during shutdown. I also believe he should check for leakdown after shutdown or overnight.

[kobalt]

To be honest I am unsura about the Aurora but most fuel injected cars have a check valve of some sort as well as a fuel pressure regulator. Some cars have a check valve in the fuel line right past the pump, some have a check valve integrated into the pump itself. As for the leaking injector it is possible but a leaking injecor would more than likely take more time that 3-4 hrs, perhaps overnight. An injector leak serious enough to cause hard starts in that short of time would more than likely be completly dead. A leakdown check would not hurt though.

[gfulton]

I misunderstoof your post, Kobalt. I thought you were referring to a check valve somewhere in the engine compartment up around the fuel rail. I;m pretty sure I don't have one there on my '99. But I remember reading in the service manual to bleed off residual fuel pressure before changing the fuel filter, so there must be a check valve, as you said, at the tank outlet somewhere or on the pump outlet. I remember on the '92 Cutlass with the 3.4 DOHC engine, that I didn't bleed off pressure once at the fuel pressure tap before changing the filter. Didn't pull the pump fuse and let it run off the pressure either. I figured I'd just get a few drops when I opened the line. Wrong. Laying under the car and got a chestful of a couple cups of gas. So there was a check valve somewhere at the tank holding line pressure there. I'm quite sure that a leaking fuel injector or maybe two, which was my experience, will cause hard starting and not after an overnight wait. Pulled the fuel rail on the '92 and pressurized it and had two injectors leaking about a drop of fuel every five seconds. This caused hard starting after a hot shutdown of about an hour. It will never turn on an SES light, however.

[kobalt]

It's wierd how hosed injectors won't turn on the SES light but a leaky gas cap will, huh? A drop of fuel every five seconds is a serious leak. My friend's Cougar was not even close to that and the injectors needed replacement.