Engine not starting

Tiny
TRACYMANNING
  • MEMBER
  • 1998 OLDSMOBILE SILHOUETTE
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 120,000 MILES
While driving home my van started chugging like it was running out of gas. Made it about two miles and it quit running. Restarted and immediately shut off. Got it towed home. Put a new fuel pump and filter in. Started right up. About twenty minutes later went to drive it to return the jack that I borrowed and it would not start. It just tries to turn over and will not start. Left it over night. Replaced the relay. Did the same thing. It started right up but could not even drive it around block because it shut off again. Had a friend bring a pressure tester and the psi is where it should be but it just will not run or even start now. What next? I do not believe it is the pressure regulator as the pressure is right.
Monday, September 4th, 2017 AT 2:12 PM

5 Replies

Tiny
CARADIODOC
  • MECHANIC
  • 33,901 POSTS
You have to check for spark too. You can have a crank/no-start from no fuel injector pulses or fuel pump, or from no spark, but about 95 percent of these are caused by no injector pulses and no spark. Too many people get hung up on the first thing they find missing and fail to look at the additional symptoms.

Be aware too the fuel pump runs for one second when you turn on the ignition switch. That is where you will get the correct fuel system pressure readings from. What's important is whether the pump resumes running during cranking. If it does not, you will not have spark either because both systems are turned on by the engine computer when the engine is rotating, and it knows that from the signal pulses from the crankshaft position sensor and/or camshaft position sensor, depending on which engine you have. It is real common for those sensors to fail by becoming heat-sensitive, then they work again after they cool down for an hour. Most commonly these fail after a hot engine has been stopped for a short time, as in when stopping for gas. That gives the engine heat time to migrate up to the sensors and causes them to fail. With that type of failure, diagnostic fault codes for these circuits usually do not set just from cranking the engine.

You have the less-common condition where the engine stalls while it is running. If a fault code is going to set, that is the condition it is most likely to do it under. Start by having those codes read and recorded. List those numbers in your next reply and I will interpret them for you. The people at many auto parts stores will read those codes for you for free.
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Monday, September 4th, 2017 AT 10:21 PM
Tiny
TRACYMANNING
  • MEMBER
  • 3 POSTS
Well the check engine light has never came on. I don't have the equipment to check for codes and the van can't go to a place to check it. We have now replaced the pressure regulator as well. Going to Google how to check for spark but after cycling the key and going up front we now have no fuel release at the shrader valve again and am not hearing the fuel pump kick on any more
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Sunday, September 10th, 2017 AT 1:58 PM
Tiny
CARADIODOC
  • MECHANIC
  • 33,901 POSTS
Look for the fuel pump relay in the under-hood fuse box. You can remove that, then jump the two terminals in the socket to feed 12 volts to the fuel pump. Unfortunately I can't tell from the diagram which are the correct two terminals. Instead, another way to do this is to pop the cover off the relay, install it that way, then squeeze the contact. That should cause the pump to run. If it does, you know that part of the circuit is okay. If it doesn't run, you can put a rubber band around the relay to keep it energized while you take test measurements in the circuit. Also check the 15-amp fuel pump fuse.
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Sunday, September 10th, 2017 AT 7:53 PM
Tiny
TRACYMANNING
  • MEMBER
  • 3 POSTS
Both the relay and fuse have both already been replaced
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Sunday, September 10th, 2017 AT 8:54 PM
Tiny
KEN L
  • MASTER CERTIFIED MECHANIC
  • 48,222 POSTS
Will the engine run if you spray starting fluid into the intake? Also did you say the spark was present?

found this link

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-test-an-ignition-system

Please let us know what you find.

Cheers, Ken

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Monday, September 11th, 2017 AT 1:25 PM

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