last week while driving at about 40mph the car sputtered/bogged and then the motor died on me. it started back up and drove ok for a few mins then did it again. today while warming it up in the driveway it conked out after about 2 mins idling and refused to start back up.

if i were to buy a fuel pressure gauge can i still test it with the car not starting?

thanks guys.

89 Formula WS-6, 305 TPI 5spd (project car)
G92: 3.45 Borg Warner 9-bolt axle
Dual Cats
Hurst shifter
more mods to come...

 

Yes all you do is crank the engine over. I woul;d check the fuel filter and take a fuel sample to make sure there is not water in the tank. They do have weak fuel pumps tho. I changed mine 2 times over the years. Once when it was still over warranty. The other time I replaced it because it was leaning out on top end. I replaced it with a Holley 225 hour and have not had another problem. Hope that helps.

 

thanks chris. so i guess i'll need someone to crank the engine while i check the pressure?

 

Not really. You could hook the pressure gauge to your schraeder valve and then run the hose between the hood and firewall and tape the gauge to your windshield and read it while driving.

 

aklim, no-can-do bro... car is not even starting anymore

 

No problem. Just do it. It doesn't matter as the fuel pump cycles when you put the key in run. If you try crank it and the pressure is not at 45 psi, you have a fuel delivery problem. If it goes to that pressure, look at the plugs after cranking. If the plugs are dry, you probably have a injector issue. If they are wet, you have a spark issue which you will have ruled out by hooking up a spark plug to each wire and grounding the plug. If the plug does not light up, you have a spark issue.

 

thanks aklim.

one more thing: if it's not the pump but the ignition module instead, how difficult is it to replace? the car has an accel distributor/ignition setup so i'm not sure if i'll need an accell product or will any ignition module work?

 

Take off the distributor cap and rotor and you should see it there. It is the thing where 2 sets of wires plug into it. It is held down by 2 screws. You could go back with the GM one. Never had a problem with that.

 

thanks. i'll look into it.