Heres the deal.......My winter car is going for paint so I had to put my summer car back on the road (I only drove it once this year to bring it home from storage). Anyways, started it up and took it down to the mechanic for a vehicle inspection and an oil change, it started no problem - however it was quite low on gas. Went to pick it up last night and now it won't start. There is gas in it now (put $15 bucks in it), the battery is fine, the engine rolls over and seems like it wants to start and it is getting spark at the wires. And you can hear the fuel pump come on.

Any ideas? I need to get this thing going cause my other car was supposed to be dropped off last night. Thanks.

 

If the gas was low when you started it. It may just be as siimple as a clogged fuel filter. Its a cheap place to start.

 

I would guess it has something to do with fuel, did you pump the gas pedal, cause that worked for me one time. And maybe if your wiring are damp, so make sure you are definetly getting spark. My VW would never want to start when it was damp out.

 

1st check would be clogged fuel filter or pickup in the tank.
2nd would be fuel pumpS. Plural. There is likely one IN the tank, or attached to it, and another close to the engine. One of these will likely be high pressure, the other low - so check with your mechanic.

However - I do not know how well you are in with your mechanic, but it is not incommon here in the states for someone to take a car in for one repair, and suddenly it needs another. You can fill in the blanks as to why. Many years ago - Sears Automotive got in a truckload of trouble for doing this when they were exposed.

 

Thanks guys/girls! I think I'm going to try the easiest cheapest thing - replacing spark plugs tonight (they haven't been changed since who knows when!) If the new plugs don't work, I think we'll check the fuel pressure at the fuel rail and the fuel filter (that could very well be a problem - the gas that was in the car was from last year! - Hard to believe that I love this car - I should probably start taking better care of it!)

And yeah, lil D, we held her wide open at one point. And it is definately getting spark at the wires.

This is really bugging the crap out of me. We replaced the EGR valve on it and the car started up fine, let it sit for a couple of days and it started right up again. The mechanic (who is a good friend) had no problems starting it. Just really don't want to pay him much more money since I only need the car on the road for a week. Cross your fingers for me!

 

Remember when $15.00 would actually give you some gas? I would see if you can get a little more in the tank, and also pull the distributor and check for moisture. Another thought is to put a good charge on the batt all night on 2 amps if you can, a fully charged battery is the hart of the electrical system.

deej

 

Well, gas prices have gone down here - that $15 put close to 17 litres in the tank (I would hope that would be enough, but then again I could try some more). The battery was put on a charger last night before we went back home. I'll definately get them to check the distributor if the new plugs don't fix it. Thanks for the suggestions deej!! Much appreciated

 

hey bluebird, it looks like everyone has it pretty much covered.... i hope you get her working soon... i'll do my traditional good luck dance for you..... "oh worky worky, oh worky worky...." there that should do it.... let me know how it turns out.... i have another one if that don't work.... good luck bluebird....[sm=hail.gif][sm=hail.gif][sm=groupwave.gif]

 

Man, I hope that does work, I'm not sure we want to see what Mad has for another dance!!! What kind of car is this you're working on?

 

Thanks for the dance MK!! I'll let you know if I need you to do the other one for me! If I didn't love my car so much I would have done the "kick the rear quarter, work damn it, work damn it" dance!

Pete - the car is a 1991 Pontiac Firebird, and yes its only a V6 (there is a pic of it in my gallery)