roman944

my car shut off at the light last night

towed it home

not sure what to think, I changed the DME relay, and it doesn't start

my dad and my bro checked for spark - and there is spark; starter turns like the car is about to start, but it doesn't

they also undid the big bolt on the end of the fuel rail and said that fuel came out

what else could be wrong?

Van

How did they check for spark?

You need fuel + air + spark. Start at the basics.

roman944

my dad said they took the spark plug out, put it on a bolt and looked if there was a spark

or thats the best I can do, translating from Russian

I looked at Clark's Garage - he mentiones DME, reference sensors, fuel pump and fuel regulator

troubleshooting them?

I thought that if we were to take off the fuel rail with injectors attached, turn the key and see if fuel comes out?

another question, how loud is the noise of the 944 fuel pump? because I am not sure if I am hearing it when I turn the key ... my dad had his fuel pump fail on his van, and it was doing pretty much the same thing - kept turning over, but no start

and year, air + fuel + spark

has air, and it appears there is spark ... are there any other ways to check?

Van

I've done that - it's a pretty good way to check. You can also see if the injectors are misting "similarly".

If it's getting spark, then you know the speed and ref sensors are good (and the cam/distributor is turning).

If you do some searching, you'll find lots of info on failing fuel injector harnesses. Maybe that's it.

roman944

hm maybe, I'll do a search in the morning

plan right now is to find a fuel filter, and try that, and ... go from there

Clark's mentions a few things ... fuel filter is the cheapest, and probably should be changed already anyways

rgs944

My fuel pump is so loud I can hear it sitting in the drivers seat. Hopefully it turns out to be a plugged filter. When you took the fuel rail plug off, how far did the fuel shoot? It should shoot out very strong. Also did they sure catch the check ball on that plug and reinstall it.

roman944

sorry, check ball?

they said that fuel squirted out of the rail, and sure that there was spark

I can't hear my fuel pump turn on ... is there any way to check it?

I'd like to get this sorted out by next Saturday so I can go to the tech-session on how to change the clutch

rgs944

There needs to be a steady hard stream of fuel. It should shoot out at least a few feet. When you say fuel squirted out that may not be good enough, it should **** like a race horse. I would have someone go under the car while you are cranking the engine and make sure it is running at all first. If the fuel pump is running there might not be enough fuel either due to a weak fuel pump, plugged filter, or a line sucking air somewhere. As far as the ball there is a chrome ball that needs to go back in that plug at the end of the fuel rail.

roman944

I figured that much about the fuel, will check today and see

I bought new injector wires with plans to change mine to new ones, just never got around to doing it

my dad said the same thing, need to somehow check the fuel pump and make sure its pumping enough fuel ... could be that its pumping but not nearly enough to start the car

and honestly, I was never able to hear my fuel pump turn on or anything

I guess if it is in fact my pump, I'll change the fuel sender and bleed valve, and get a new line to the engine bay - this was my plan to do in spring while doing the rear suspension

shiners780

Make a 3-way jumper wire with male spade connectors on the ends. Pull your DME relay, stick one wire in 87, one in 87b, and one in 30. When you stick the one in 30 you should hear the fuel pump running (buzzing/humming sound from rear of car).

You can actually use this to drive the car if you're stranded out somewhere. I keep this type of jumper wire in my glove box just in case. Just be sure to pull the jump wires once you get where you're going or the fuel pump will just keep on running.

Van

Pull the fuel rail, with the injectors, out of the manifold and kind of flop it over so it point up. Turn the key and see what happens. Don't smoke while you're doing this...

roman944

ok so here's an update:

I undid the nut on the fuel rail (the one with the ball in it) - and turned the car like I was to start it - and fuel came out of the fuel rail - I won't say that it squirted or flew out of there like crazy - but it wasn't "drooling" - and came out at a pretty steady stream

next, we pulled the fuel rail out with injectors - covered the head/intake manifold with rags - and turned the car again like we were to start it - and injectors are spraying fuel - all at the same rate

my dad says that car has spark

now - its nice and quiet today, no noises of any kind or cars driving by - and we live in the quiet neighborhood - so me and my brother were both listening for the fuel pump noise - and we did NOT hear ANYTHING

so ... we are at a loss of what to do now

still try the Y-connector method? can this be the fuel pressure pieces that are attached to the fuel rail?

my car has had this weird hesitation issue, for about 10-15 seconds, after it sits for a while - from reading Clark's - it says that its possibly fuel related

roman944

http://www.clarks-garage.com/shop-manual/eng-15.htm

sounds a lot like this hesitation problem I was having, once the car was warmed up or driven for a couple of minutes - no problems - until the car sat for a few hours again

also, my fuel gauge IS lying about my fuel level ... but can a bad fuel pump check valve cause a NO start?

and ... there is fuel coming out of the fuel rail ...

help?

rgs944

Kind of weird that you would not hear the fuel pump, but if you are getting fuel at a good rate it must be working. One of the next things I would think about is timing related. It may be possible that the TB skipped, I hope not but you have to consider everything.

roman944

see, I would be with you on that, except that it appears that a bad fuel pressure dampener/regulator can cause these issues

as well as, apparently, fuel check valve - which, it appears, is on the fuel pump?

so while I am getting fuel, I may not be getting "enough"?

don't know, this whole thing is weird

but my fuel gauge lying about my fuel level and some of these other things I just read on Clark's, have me wondering

I guess I'll order a new fuel check valve and new fuel pressure dampener/regulator tomorrow?

what is damper and regulator? I must have 2 of the same thing? or 1 of each? difference between them? or it doesn't matter? will probably order from Pelican because they have this QUICK shipping for cheap

thanks guys