95 Safari - fuel pump failed, plus more?
Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2012 6:23 pm
Welp, the '95 died back at the start of July at a stoplight - sputtered and stumbled, as if it was out of gas. Restart attempts got one fire and then it stayed dead. I noted at the time that the fuel pump had stopped whining (as it had ever since I bought it in Feb 2011), so that seemed the place to start. Test lead, no go. Out to the junkyard, pulled two pumps, one seemed weak, one was much better, so...
Hmm, still won't fire. Pressure test showed (ignition on, no start) a momentary jump to 70 or so, then it dropped to 60-ish while the pump was on. When it stopped, pressure immediately went to 58... and dropped slowly. (Down to 50 in under a minute. :( ) Cranking bounces the needle from 60 up to 70 and back, as I recall. (Had to return the test kit.) Obviously, something upstream is leaking.
There's no smell of gas, except where I manage to spill some. Starting fluid down the air intake doesn't work, but I'm doing this solo and have to spray, then get to the key, so... I've got a big blue spark off the center wire on the distributor when I checked, so it's not that.
Here's the real killer(s) - I am *not* really comfortable disassembling all the stuff on top of the engine to pull the plenum/upper manifold. (Referring to the "Chevy Astro CPI Fuel Injector Install" videos by local701 on Youtube - Part 1 here.) I also have no garage, and am fairly broke.
Any suggestions on how to troubleshoot this further, before/instead of ripping bits off? The guy posting the video says it should take "one to two hours", but I suspect this will be longer for Greasy McFumbles here. If I can get this sucker running again, I'll be overjoyed at not having to ride the bus... I'll also have the chance to fix the brakes (worn down pads up front), which I'll be a lot more comfortable doing - simple wrenching, with space to work, and much better lit.
Hmm, still won't fire. Pressure test showed (ignition on, no start) a momentary jump to 70 or so, then it dropped to 60-ish while the pump was on. When it stopped, pressure immediately went to 58... and dropped slowly. (Down to 50 in under a minute. :( ) Cranking bounces the needle from 60 up to 70 and back, as I recall. (Had to return the test kit.) Obviously, something upstream is leaking.
There's no smell of gas, except where I manage to spill some. Starting fluid down the air intake doesn't work, but I'm doing this solo and have to spray, then get to the key, so... I've got a big blue spark off the center wire on the distributor when I checked, so it's not that.
Here's the real killer(s) - I am *not* really comfortable disassembling all the stuff on top of the engine to pull the plenum/upper manifold. (Referring to the "Chevy Astro CPI Fuel Injector Install" videos by local701 on Youtube - Part 1 here.) I also have no garage, and am fairly broke.
Any suggestions on how to troubleshoot this further, before/instead of ripping bits off? The guy posting the video says it should take "one to two hours", but I suspect this will be longer for Greasy McFumbles here. If I can get this sucker running again, I'll be overjoyed at not having to ride the bus... I'll also have the chance to fix the brakes (worn down pads up front), which I'll be a lot more comfortable doing - simple wrenching, with space to work, and much better lit.