rough idle, p0300 after FPR replacement 96 5.0 vortec

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

Joined
Jun 30, 2017
Messages
30
Reaction score
3
Location
Dallas, Texas
Hey guys, new here, been searching around for a couple hours and haven't found much that helps at this point. running out of ideas, its my dads truck and hes at his wits end.

He recently replaced the fuel pressure regulator on his truck because it would take a few tries to start and it died on him a few times going down the road. discovered it was dripping out of the vac port. he put everything back together with new gaskets and upon starting it up, here are the symptoms:

it idles okay, noticeable random misfires but fairly smooth
loading up, not wanting to rev sometimes, stumbles like its choking outon multiple cylinders
random misfires everywhere.
gas smell from the exhaust,
backfires on pass. side.
started throwing p0300 and p0154 after he drove it once or twice.
fuel pressure at the test valve noticeably weak by sight (don't have a fuel pressure gauge, don't think he'll buy one either)
sounds like the motor is sucking air for all it can, like gasping for air nonstop
hellacious vacuum.
screams like a banshee and runs great at WOT
one plug wire on drivers side was arching out. could hear it but could not see at night.

what we've done:
replaced fuel pressure regulator
new intake and TB gasket
replaced spider gasket 3 times with new gasket each time (first one was pinched, verified with borescope cam)
replaced plenum twice from two other running engines
replaced egr from a running engine
swapped plug wires from my Tahoe (solved arching plug wire but no other change)
new NGK plugs gapped properly.
new fuel pump & filter.
gone through 2 cans of carb spray looking for vacuum leaks both at idle and while revving or holding idle high
tested for vacuum at the dipstick, none.

so far the only change has been that the arching plug wire stopped.

He's swapping the spider tonight with a used one off one of those running engines.

one thing we noticed is that it idles pretty much okay, but when he revs on it it looks like the spider is getting sucked down. we also noticed that the bracket holding it is very loose, where on the other two intakes it is very tight and the spider doesn't move at all. could this be a part of the problem? the last time he swapped the spider gasket, he used red RTV up top suspecting its leaking vacuum when under a load, and it seemed to run fine revving it in the driveway for a couple mins, but then as we noticed the spider getting sucked down, it started running the same again. we're open to any ideas at this point. I have a diablosport OBDII tuner/scanner, but its made for a duramax, so it will read the codes but wont pull live data, nor can it reset the codes. though oddly, it did on my 99 suburban. got it free from a cousin, don't know much about I. any help is welcome, need to get him back on the road so I can start playing with the new (to me) Tahoe!
 
Last edited:

SAATR

/\___/\___/\___/\___/\
Supporting Member
Joined
Dec 16, 2010
Messages
2,650
Reaction score
948
Location
Loo E Z an uh
You really need to know fuel pressure for these trucks, as even new components don't always guarantee that everything is as it should be. If you can't get that, then swap the cap and rotor from one of the good running engines and see what happens. These distributor caps cause problems all the time, some of which don't seem like ignition issues.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk
 
Joined
Jun 30, 2017
Messages
30
Reaction score
3
Location
Dallas, Texas
I'll definitely see if I can get him to do that after he attempts to start it today. He's unwilling to buy a fuel pressure gauge because he's replaced every part of the fuel system at this point aside from the lines and the rail is quitting strong again, plus it's running rich. I read on another thread that the ignition module could cause problems like this and it can't really be tested if it's failing so I'm going to bring that up too, I think he picked up a coil and ignition module already but hasn't installed it yet.
 

Supercharged111

Truly Awesome
Joined
Aug 20, 2015
Messages
12,913
Reaction score
15,912
Fuel pressure is a known unknown that is easily measured. Borrow a gauge. Ignoring it is ****** stupid.
 
Joined
Jun 30, 2017
Messages
30
Reaction score
3
Location
Dallas, Texas
Well I fried the 351 in my f150, so from here on out he's gonna have to worry about his truck, I have to turn my attention to the new (to me) Tahoe. F150 getting parked til I can tear into it and rebuild. I'm bummed but still excited to be back in a Chevy. Can't wait to start turning wrenches on it. Mounted two tires by hand for it today, spoiler alert, it sucks! Just waiting for a starter and it should be ready to run.
 

east302

I'm Awesome
Joined
Oct 4, 2013
Messages
3,444
Reaction score
3,172
Location
Jackson, MS
I've seen parts stores rent fuel pressure gauges. You pay the full price, usually, but get all of your money back when you return it. You might suggest that to him.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

streetperf

Newbie
Joined
Oct 6, 2013
Messages
25
Reaction score
10
I agree, but it's not my call.
Chevy in My Blood,
if you are going to work on vehicles especially computer vehicles, get at least the basic tools to diagnose. Guessing without testing is just a parts changer, and I'm sure you don't want that. Besides a fuel pressure gauge even at HF is only $19.00. If that breaks you or your customer won't spend the $$$ you don't need to working on diagnostics. Remember diagnostics is testing components to evaluate if they meet specs or nut.
As to your misfires, are you sure you don't have a pintle leaking? In that vehicle, they are not injectors at the end of the tube in the intake manifold they are pintles, and they give problems mostly carbon in them.
 
Top