Chevy & GMC Vans

OK, so I just bought a second Astro. Its a long story that I will cover in another thread, but the short version is that after 1400+ miles, 2 countries, and 3 states, it died in the parking lot of my local grocery store two blocks from home.

Van is a high-mileage 1995, and a little rough, but it ran fine for the entire time I was bringing it home. Now, it cranks but does not run. When I key to "on", I can hear a click, but I'm not sure I can hear the fuel pump run, which worries me. I'm going to compare to my 2003 to be sure, but I suspect fuel pump or fp relay. Is the FP relay on the passenger side under the hood on a 1995? Done a little searching through the archives, but nothing for this weird transition-year van yet.

Is there anything else "easy" I should check that might get it running from the grocery store parking lot before I just have it towed?

Thanks.

There's also the ignition module in the distributor, the coil, plug & coil wires ...

Herbie wrote:OK, so I just bought a second Astro. Its a long story that I will cover in another thread, but the short version is that after 1400+ miles, 2 countries, and 3 states, it died in the parking lot of my local grocery store two blocks from home.

Van is a high-mileage 1995, and a little rough, but it ran fine for the entire time I was bringing it home. Now, it cranks but does not run. When I key to "on", I can hear a click, but I'm not sure I can hear the fuel pump run, which worries me. I'm going to compare to my 2003 to be sure, but I suspect fuel pump or fp relay. Is the FP relay on the passenger side under the hood on a 1995? Done a little searching through the archives, but nothing for this weird transition-year van yet.

Is there anything else "easy" I should check that might get it running from the grocery store parking lot before I just have it towed?

Thanks.

You should def be able to hear that fp running for a few seconds when turning the key, if only a click then get someone to whack the starter with a hammer.

The fuel relay is located on the passenger side of the firewall, i believe you can switch it with the one beside it to check if its the relay.

Most of my crank but no start conditions on my old 95 were moisture related so new plug wires, cap and rotor are essential to avoiding hard starts.

A fp check is def in order as these babies are very particular and they need their ( 52-58 somewhere in that area psi ) to fire up. You might also have a problem with you're fuel pressure regulator or the spider could be toasted and or leaking.

Get used to taking off the doghouse...lol also have a look for any arcing from your sp wires I used to get this all the time ( even with relatively new wires ) but it only caused problems in the damp weather.

1, carefully listen for the pump
2, pull the doghouse and look for any errant sparks.
3, try changing over the relays
4, there is ( i believe grey wire connector under the hood ) where you can apply 12v to see if it engages the fuel pump.

I can't stress enough how dampness can be a major factor, some days i'd go out turn the key get a strong crank but no catch, sometimes just the simple act of opening the hood and letting some additional air or sun in there was enough to dry things up to where it would start up, sometimes in as little as 5 min, in rainy weather i'd take the doghouse off and i'd throw a 12v fan on a spare batt and let it blow on the backside of the block/distributer cap/ coil blah blah and get it to start up after 15-20 min or so, anyhoo i've rambled on enough, try those suggestions and let us know what happened.

Easy check........pour a little gas into the throttle body. If the engine runs for a few seconds then it's for sure the fuel pump.

Of course you checked the battery terminals for looseness...(you asked for easy!)

status?

Checked as much as I could before the manager of the grocery store got impatient and insisted the van be removed. No luck on anything I tried, but I had it towed to my buddies shop.

I'll cover everything else in a new thread, but the short of it is that this van is a major organ donor, and wasn't expected to survive the procedure anyway, so getting it running wasn't critical, it just would have been convenient.

OK, I've finally gotten my butt in gear to get a build thread going. The donor teardown will be included there also:
viewtopic.php?f=47&t=6068&p=61600#p61600

First thought is always the fuel pump. As mentioined, put a bit of gas to it and see if it fires. That will at least let you know it is a fuel issue.

There was a recall on the 96s for a bad coil wire. I'm not sure if the 95s were affected. And the problem would likely have occurred a long time ago. But my van left me stranded one day and that was it. With the hot temps and old wires, it could still be a problem.