Yesterday (hot summer day) I went to start my car on 1/8 tank of gas (or so the gauge read), and the car's rpm's went up to 800 and then back down to 0 as the car died instantly. At the same time, my gas gauge fell down below the E.

Okay, that's not good, so I put in two or so gallons of gas. Let the car cool for about an hour (in case it was vapor lock), turn the key to "on", note that the gas gauge reads 1/4 tank now, and try to fire her up--goes quickly up to 800 and stalls immediately, while the gas gauge drops back down below the E. I sit and crank for ~15 seconds to no avail.

I wait another couple of minutes, get in, and turn the ket and it starts right up as normal. I drive the 20 miles back home (it ran perfectly), and this morning, when I tried to start it, it wouldn't go, and my gas guage went below the E while cranking (and after cranking) again.

Could this be the fuel pump going bad? Even if it were, why would my gas gauge read empty? Could it be a wiring problem? That's what I'm leaning toward at this point.

It's not flooding because I tried the normal unflooding procedures this morning (pedal to the floor) to no avail, and the car ran fine yesterday without using unflooding methods.

Any help would be appreciated. I plan on going through the normal check procedures as per my shop manual sometime this week. Any ideas?

Thanks,
Eric

 

My guess would be your fuel filter is at the brink of ULTIMATE DIRTINESS and is not allowing enough fuel through to keep the car running.

 

I'd check all your battery connections, in particular the grounds to the chassis and engine first. Maybe substitute the battery for an known good one. You are losing voltage somewhere for that to happen.
I'd take a look under the rear floor hatch at the wiring for the fuel pump and sender. I've had the ground there corrode off. Clean it all up and paint the fuel pump cover if you can...its usually corroded like crazy.
Its a bitch to get those Philips head screws out if it turns out to be the fuel pump. Good luck,
Dave

 

AFM cuts power to the fuel pump after a few seconds if it detects a fault. Run a code scan.

Good luck

 

I would agree with fingers. Youve got an electrical problem of some sort.

 

Yep. It was. I tested my Fuel Pump Circuit Opening Relay--it was bad. Swapped it out, and now she seems to be running fine.

Thanks,
Eric

 

Cool, thanks for posting what fixed it!


Jarrett

 

How did you test your Fuel Pump Circuit Opening Relay?

 

Fuel and Emission Control Sys- Sect 4A
Check page 4A-72 for *Warning* then Pg4A-74
>http://www.teamfc3s.org/main/factory...ual/1986_1988/