1996 Pontiac Bonneville fuel problem

Tiny
TGILSON
  • MEMBER
  • 1996 PONTIAC BONNEVILLE
  • 3.8L
  • V6
  • FWD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 118,000 MILES
I recently put a new GM fuel pump, filter, relay, and new fuses in my vehicle and it was running fine. A couple of weeks later my ground grid had to be replaced- all wires were directly grounded. Now when I turn the ignition switch to on position I can here the pump working- but my car will not start and fuel rail pressure is low. Please Help!
Thursday, June 18th, 2015 AT 5:02 PM

5 Replies

Tiny
TGILSON
  • MEMBER
  • 3 POSTS
Ther is no advise, just tutorials. The fuel pump was a gm replacement and worked until I fixed the ground grid in the vehicle. Is their a wire or something I should be looking at? The fuel pump comes on with the on switch. Pressure on fuel rail is low. May I at least have a response?
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Friday, June 19th, 2015 AT 4:29 PM
Tiny
JDL
  • MECHANIC
  • 16,098 POSTS
Hey, how you doing?

The initial prime is one thing, for the fuel system. But, you need to check proper fuel pressure engine cranking? If the pressure is low, could be fuel pump issue? Check fuel pump voltage--ground and amp draw, engine cranking. Fuel filter is good and no fuel line blockage anywhere?

Are you missing anything else, engine cranking, do you have spark everywhere? Do you have fuel injector pulse?
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Monday, June 22nd, 2015 AT 11:44 AM
Tiny
JDL
  • MECHANIC
  • 16,098 POSTS
Just wanted to add fuel pump wiring in 3.8, vin1
Gray wire is voltage, black wire is ground. If your worried about the wiring, could use jumper wires for voltage and ground from a fully charged battery and bypass the vehicle voltage and ground, see if fuel pressure reaches proper spec?
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Monday, June 22nd, 2015 AT 11:57 AM
Tiny
TGILSON
  • MEMBER
  • 3 POSTS
Thanks you've given me good ideas. Filters have been replaced. Engine cranks. The spark plugs are getting juice. I will look closer at the fuel pump, since it was new I did not suspect.
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Monday, June 22nd, 2015 AT 4:31 PM
Tiny
JDL
  • MECHANIC
  • 16,098 POSTS
Just curious, what was your fuel pressure spec? Our info says 48--55 psi, use a fuel pressure gage. If fuel issue, also check fuel pressure regulator. One way to check, is to pull vacuum line off regulator, if the line has gas in it, the regulator is faulty.
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Tuesday, June 23rd, 2015 AT 6:52 AM

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