No Start -- Fuel Pressure? Oil Pressure?

[mudpie]

That's how I got it to start before I replaced the fuel pump. I've been trying to cycle it like that, but it's a no go

 

[Black_cirrus]

Do you have a fuel pressure gauge to check it again? I'm wondering if you have the pump wired backwards, If you have to put a new pigtail on the pump then it can happen. I've done it myself.

 

[mudpie]

I didn't replace any wiring, so I would think that part is ok.

Got time to work on it some. Got a gauge hooked up and have zero fuel pressure. Swapped the fuel pressure regulator from a running vehicle (because I don't want to just throw money and parts at it) and it still has zero pressure.

Put a jumper wire across the relay, and can hear the pump running. Still zero fuel pressure.

So far I'm not really enjoying the GM ownership experience

 

[Black_cirrus]

Time to pull the fuel line apart as near to the tank as you can. Turn the key and see if you get fuel, if not your going to have to pull the pump back out, check for a kinked line in the module, or a plugged pump intake, etc...

 

[mudpie]

I had a defective gauge. Put another gauge on it and I'm right back where I started...53psi, drops to about 40 when I stop cranking, then slowly drops from there. The only difference now is that it won't start at all, whereas before it eventually would.

The pump doesn't seem to have been the problem. Any other thoughts appreciated, along with ideas on how to test and verify. Just replacing stuff until I find the right part isn't fun.

 

[mudpie]

Verified compression....190-200 in all cylinders

Put in a new fuel filter, just because I had one laying around.

Checked all the fuses, just to make sure.

Still won't start.

I noticed though when I was doing the compression test that all my plugs were dry. I'm assuming they should be wet with fuel, yes? A clue perhaps?

 

[Black_cirrus]

Yea if the injectors are working your plugs would smell like gas and be wet. Does the tach move in the dash, ECM won't pulse fuel without a crank speed signal. because the dash tach doesn't move doesn't mean the sensor is bad but its a quick test.

 

[mudpie]

The truck got moved to the back burner for a while.

I checked the plug on the spider and verified that I am getting a signal at each of the 8 connections. Given that I have that signal, my fuel pump and distributor (and cap / rotor / ignition module) are new, and my plugs were dry when I pulled them out, is it safe to assume at this point that my spider assembly is bad? Is there anything else I should check before I drop the cash on a new one?

thanks

 

[mistaake]

Perhaps you got a bad fuel pump? Plenty of parts are bad out of the box especially if they are auto parts store junk. Even good brand name stuff (ACDelco, Delphi, etc) can be defective. Recently I had a reman ACDelco gearbox that was completely messed up.

This doesn't explain why you have good fuel pressure at the engine (it sounds like you confirmed you did) but if the problem went from bad to worse when you put in the new fuel pump I would try to put the old one back in and see what happens. Otherwise, yes, it sounds like from your troubleshooting the spider assembly is a potential problem, but I don't have enough experience to actually be any help in this regard.

What I will say? If you want people to help you stop bashing GM on a GM-oriented forum. I don't mean that in a rude way, but yes, there are a few common problems with these trucks especially the 96s+ with intake gaskets, fuel injection spiders, and fuel pumps, but if you fix that there are plenty of people who have never had one leave you stranded on the side of the highway even with crazy high mileage like 500K+ and even one million miles.

 

[mudpie]

The bed is still jacked up on block, so I suppose I could throw the old one back in. Thanks for the advice.

As for the "bashing"...hmm... All I said is that I'm not enjoying this experience. If people are going to get worked up abut someone simply mentioning that dealing with a common problem that comes from a questionable design is not something that excites them, then I'm not going to lose a lot of sleep over it. If this is a "you better not say anything bad about Chevy or we won't help you" kind of site, I'm content to search elsewhere.