Howdy all!

First Vette for me, first day and it died....

1985

Here are the symptoms...it ran rough at idle - ran good at speed.

Next morning a hard start - lots of cranking before firing up. Drove a mile and it started sputtering and had no acceleration. Limped it a few blocks and it died. It restarted an hour later and I made it home.

Sunday morning it started and made it out of the parking lot - sputtering - but I immediately returned to the parking space.

Now it cranks nice, but wont fire - I read something about "storage" vettes having fouled fuel, so I bought seafoam to add to the gas. When I opened the cap a volcano of air whooshed out! Temps here are 40 at night 50 in the day.

I thought hey man it must have "gas"? And tried to start it -no luck...

I bought some starting fluid and sprayed into intake hose and it fired.

Fuel pump makes noise with ignition key power up - Im thinking plugged fuel filter? Thus the whooshing pressure in the fuel tank?

I found the fuel filter under the pass door sill, but worry a 3/4 tank of gas will dump if I remove it?

Im hoping replacing the filter will solve the problerm - but need advice to make sure I dont Exxon Valdez the tank of gas onto the street or me.

Any help for a new guy would be great.

 

Definately sounds like a fuel problem to me, especially since you said it fired after you sprayed the starting fluid.

First, go check the fuel pressure on the shrader valve. turn the ignition on and let the pump prime, then go check it. if you dont have a pressure gauge, you can press the pin with a small screw driver and you should get a nice spray of fuel coming out (imigine what 40 lbs of air coming out of your tires would be like).

I would change the fuel filter regardless. They are cheap, and it will take 10 minutes. You will not drain the tank when changing it because the feed line runs out of the top of the fuel tank. Just be sure the fuel system is not pressurized or there will be a fair amount of leakage when you take the filter off.

Fuel does foul, and when using it it will make the car run bad, but not that bad. Let me know how it works out

 

My 85 used to run terible when first started, but would run Ok at speed. It also would die once and a while when I slowed down and stopped. After sitting for about 10 or 15 minutes it would start again and run for a while. I too changed the fuel filter because its cheap and not to difficult, but it didn't really help (I would still change it though). When you replace the fuel filter, make sure that you relieve the pressure in the fuel rail as well as the tank (oh, and the pressure in the tank is normal) or you will get a lot of fuel spray (you still might get a little, but it stops quicker with all the pressure relived). What I found was that I had a bad catalytic converter that was causing a restriction to the exhaust. I would remove the cat and see if the car starts and runs. If it does, your cat may be plugged. I also found a vacuum leak on a hose going around the back of the distributer (don't know if this was part of the bad running problem or not). Now it runs great.

Good luck

Mike

 

All good suggestions, also pull the vacuum line off the fuel pressure regulator to see if there is gas in the vacuum line. If there is, you have a bad regulator, causing the car to run rich and foul the plugs. Have you pulled the plugs and looked at them to see if they are gas fouled (charcoal black)? Try a new set of plugs (A/C Delco). Symptoms sound like fouled spark plugs to me. Good Luck. [8D]

 

Thanks for the ideas guys, I will try them today and let you know what happens!

 

THERE IS ONE MORE THING IN SIDE THE GAS TANK. AT THE END OF THE FUEL PICK UP TUBE THERE IS A STRAINER FILTER, THEY TEND TO ROT AWAY AND PLUG YOUR FUEL LINE TO THE PUMP. AND DONT FOGET YOUR CAR IS 21 YEARS OLD IT MIGHT BE TIME TO CHANGE THAT FILTER IN THE TANK,,AND THE FUEL PUMP IS INSIDE YOUR GAS TANK,....

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Hi Gents!

Well after chasing down low voltages at the fuel pump and discovering the wiring diagram wasnt quite right - the mobile mechanic who came over - came up with the winning answer.

The gas guage is wrong! It reads 3/4 tank - when in fact it is empty!

Oh man did I feel dumb. I drove the car from the lot I purchased it on Friday and the gas got me 12 miles, never thought the guage would be the thing.

I did get a good lesson from the mechanic on many things and from all the suggestions from everyone here.

I thank you all.

I took my first long ride in tonight around the Bay here in Oregon, my first drive on windy roads in a vette - I love it!

 

WELL IM GLAD YOU GOT IT STRIGHTEND OUT.AND YOU WENT FOR A CRUZE IN YOUR RIDE .ARNT VETTES GREAT?

 

Well, although expensive, at least it was fairly simple. Also, if the sending unit is bad, it is fairly easy to change out, unlike other cars. Just take the fuel door off and pull out the rubber spill catcher and, voila, there it is. Might ought to think about replaceing fuel pump while you are there.

 

Yes - 4 small torx screws gets you in there...

I found that this car was parked under a pine tree - I found lots of crud fermenting in there - definately a good spot to detail while your there.