Chevy & GMC Vans

my wifes 95 Safari (aka, the money pit) has started acting up. It will turn over, but not fire. I can hear the fuel pump coming on when the key is turned, but the the engine will just turn over and never fire.

It did this the other day when I tried to move it in the driveway. Then my wife went out, hopped in and it started right up. She said it had done it before. (gee, thanks for telling me dear...)

I tried the hold the pedal down and ease up on it when trying to start but that did work.

once it starts its fine. I think its time to get rid of it, but i'll have an easier time selling it if it will start.

any ideas? I have not checked the cap/rotor/distributor yet since I have been ultra busy the past couple of weeks.

Dow, a no start has been the bain of my existance with my 95, if what you have tried does not work, the next things is the cap and rotor, then the plug wires ( may as well do the plugs if they are do ) then the ignition coil, if you remope the coil you may need to drill out the rivots on the old mount and use a couple small bolts and nuts to attatch the new coil to the brackets.

out of all 4 of the Astro/Safari vans I have owned. The 95 is the one I hate. If I had half the knowledge about these vans that i have now when i bought the 95, i would never have bought it.

THe a/c is out, the heater does not work. It has multiple oil leaks. I have had the fuel injection system redone once, the A/C twice. Replaced the crank shaft. Replaced the fuel pump. 2 starters. Alternator bracket that was destroyed when the bearing in the pully seized. I have spent more $$ keeping this van on the road than I have working on all my other vans combined.

Keep the wife........sell the van !

There's to many good deals on newer vans and the 95 is tainted in your mind at this point.

Sell,SELL,SSEEELLL!!!!

well, heres an update.

pulled the dog house to check for spark. Had strong spark from the coil to the cap. spark on the cap to the plugs was evident, but seemed to flucuate. Cap and rotor had some carbon build up inside, not too bad but not perfect.

we could hear the fuel pump come on when the key was turned. We uncapped a pressure valve on the fuel line going into the back of the thing that holds the injectors and when pressed, some gas would come out. If we turned the key while pressing this valve, gas would shoot out.

We pulled the ignition module and took it to the parts house and had it tested. it tested bad. So we bought a new one (got a cap and rotor as well) went home and installed them.

Tried to start and it sounded like it wanted to start but then it would die and when trying again to start it would just turn over. We couldn't find my starter fluid at first so we tried shooting a little WD40 into the intake to see if it would fire. Still not working.

It was definitly trying to start now, but it would try to fire but not catch. Very dissapointing. At this point we had pretty much given up and I was trying to decide what to do next (firebomb!) but then i spotted my starter fluid so we decided to try one more time with it.

I turned it over while my dad shot the starter fluid in and it fired up. It was running a little rough and it would start to die so my dad would feed it a little more fluid to keep it running and after about 20 seconds it was running on its own. We let it sit and run for about 10 minutes before moving my other van so i could pull the 95 into the driveway.

I pulled it in and left it running (afraid that it would not start if I shut it off) and revved the engine both in park and in drive while holding the brake. No problems there. I shut it off, let it sit for a few minutes and tried to start it again and it fired right up.

At this point we shut it off, put the battery on the charger and went inside to relax and have some coffee. (Dunkin Donuts Medium Roast - for those of you keeping score) We let the van sit on the charger for a couple of hours and then went out to see if it would still start. It fired right up like there was never a problem.

So at this point all I can think of is this. Ignition module was failing and becoming intermittant before failing completely. ANd in all of the time we kept trying top start it we just flooded it really bad. And we had to use the starter fluid to get the motor to fire and clear out the flooded gas.

I still don't like the van.

While you have the doghouse off,you might as well hook up a fuel pressure gage to the valve to check that off a list of reasons it is doing what it is.

its amazing what problems a bad battrey can cause..

scarecrow wrote:its amazing what problems a bad battrey can cause..

battery is fine. The reason we put it on the charger is because my wife ran it down trying to get the van to start

tried to start it again this morning and were back to where we were before using the starter fluid yesterday. It turns over and tries to fire but does not catch. I'm guessing I don't have enough fuel pressure to get it started but enough to keep it running once it does start.

I guess i'll have to go get a fuel pressure guage and measure it. What should I be looking for pressure wise?

95 Safari with the W motor (CMFI) i think

also, fuel pump test connector under the hood. anybody got a pic or an easy way to locate it?

The test connector should be on the passenger side right near/on the wire harness on the firewall. There may be a couple of relays there...one will be the fuel pump relay. As for pressure, I think it should be above 50 psi at all times. I know the 96+ vans need 50 PSI minimum.

justice wrote:We uncapped a pressure valve on the fuel line going into the back of the thing that holds the injectors and when pressed, some gas would come out. If we turned the key while pressing this valve, gas would shoot out.

that's the thing your looking for to connect tester too

Ooops I was thinking he was looking for the wire connector to test the pump. LOL

what good is that testing wire anyways?

i was looking for the wire under the hood because the trouble shooting guide I was reading said to use that to run the fuel pump for pressure testing as well as the ignition.

damn Autozone does not have a fuel pressure tester in their loaner tools. Now I have to buy one...grrr