1990 Chevy Celebrity No start

VIC214

MEMBER
1990 CHEVROLET CELEBRITY
6 CYL
FWD
AUTOMATIC
248,000 MILES

It's a long story but here goes.90 celebrity with 248,000 miles and a 3.1L. Car running fine and then one day, it just stalls out and won't start back up. A friend told me that it's probably the injectors so I take out the fuel rail and injectors and clean them. I broke a vacuum line and the egr pipe in the process. I fixed those problems put it all back together and it runs fine cold. After it warms up it runs rough and surges on idle. It's fine while I have my foot on the gas but when I stop, it often stalls. I just drove it on short trips. After taking about a 20 mile trip the other day, after parking the car it won't start back up. It just spits and sputters with starting fluid. Any ideas?

5 Replies

JACOBANDNICKOLAS

MECHANIC
108,164 POSTS

If it only spits with starting fluid, my guess is either the fuel filter is plugged or the fuel pump has gone bad. Have you checked fuel pump pressure?

Here is the HOW TO for checking it.

https://www.2carpros.com/how_to/how_to_check_fuel_pressure.htm

Let me know what you find.

Joe

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Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009 AT 2:41 PM

VIC214

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4 POSTS

Hi Joe. Thanks for responding. I just got the car home yesterday so now I can get back to work on it. I can't find a pressure gauge to rent so I thought I'd try the filter first. The book says it should pump 1/2 pint in 15 seconds. My pump comes on with the key, pumps good for 3 seconds and then quits. Bad pump?
Thanks!

Jim

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Wednesday, July 8th, 2009 AT 5:45 PM

JACOBANDNICKOLAS

MECHANIC
108,164 POSTS

If it only pumps for a few seconds, it could be a couple things. It could be the security system shuting it down, a bad fuel pump relay, or the pump. To be sure, you need to check to see if the pump is getting power after it shuts down, which requires removing the fuel tank. Before doing that, does the security light flash when you try to start it?

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Wednesday, July 8th, 2009 AT 8:54 PM

VIC214

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4 POSTS

I don't understand what you mean about security light.

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Wednesday, July 8th, 2009 AT 9:19 PM

VIC214

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Here's where I am now. I replaced the relay, no change. I found out that the car has a fuel pump test wire. The volume test is good, about 1/2 a pint in 15 seconds. Finally got my hands on a fuel pressure gauge. According to the book I should get 25 to 45 lbs. Just turning the key on, I only get about 4 lbs. When I ran a jumper to the test wire, I got about 50 lbs. Before fuel started to pour out of the pressure gauge. There's supposed to be some kind of fitting that screws onto the bottom of the gauge but I don't have it. Even when I use the test wire to pump up the fuel it still don't even try to start. I checked to see if the ecm was sending voltage to the injectors to open them and it is. I am completely stumped. Please help if you can. This car is my livelihood.