a buddy of mine had his z sitting a few months in SC heat for a couple of months with low fuel in the tank (on E). When college starts he dumps 2 gallons in the tank and tries to start it with no luck. Did not try to start without first putting fuel in. Fuel pump comes on and can be clearly heard. Electronics appear to be good battery holds charge.

We tried running starter fluid in it and it smoked white smoke. The pedal was floored -elbow and maf disconnected (sprayed directly into tb).

Should we try spraying it into the maf? That just sounds like a bad idea but the car won't stay running unless we are spraying the fluid in. Any thoughts as to what the problem can be? We will be checking fuel pressure tomorrow.

 

plug the maf back in. i unplugged mine today with the engine running and it shut right off.

 

he actually had the maf plugged in (electrical connector) when he sprayed into the tb. Perhaps I need to clarify that the only reason that he removed the maf was to spray the starting fluid because the car wouldn't start. He didn't unplug the maf and wonder why the car wouldn't start. lol

 

well since it'll run on starting fluid then its probably not getting gas so check to see if gas is getting to the fuel rails.

 

Probably a lot of condensation/stale fuel.Repeated heating and cooling of the mostly empty tank would cause a lot of condensation inside the tank.I would drain what's in there and start with 100% fresh fuel.I would go easy on the start fluid though.

 

Wasn't much if any fuel in the tank..not sure if it evaporated or not. 4 gallons of fresh fuel was added 93 octane total (will probably add more). would you still recommend draining it? Why do you say go easy on the starting fluid?

Also, I don't think the fuel would gel after only ~2 months (lil less) but could I be wrong?

 

anyone? cranks but won't turn over. turns over with starter fluid.

 

are you sure spark is getting to the plugs? take the coil wire off the opti and use a spark tester or something to verify that you at least have spark to the opti.

 

step 1) check to make sure fuel getting there (schrader valve)
step 2) check injectors are firing (unplug injector, use auto bulb and watch for it to blink)
step 3) check for spark


if those are all good... then you've eliminated a lot of the problems. and only takes about 5 min to do.

 

The car won't run like that because the MAF isn't detecting any airflow into the engine. If you want to try to start it with starting fluid, leave the elbow & MAF connected to the TB. Spray into the MAF, though I would try to avoid hitting the wires directly with the starting fluid.

 

As stated above, check that you have fuel pressure at the Schrader port and see that the fuel pressure holds after priming. Very common for the check valve in the fuel pump to get dirty and not hold fuel pressure required for starting.

 

update: hasn't been able to do much on the car lately with school and his job. He told me he did spray some starter fluid in the maf and it did start and run but died soon after.

important note that he left out is that the fuel gauge is pegged past full but is not even half full.

 

As stated several times now the fuel pressure needs to be checked. I'd drain that sh(t out of that tank, flush the fuel lines and start over.

 

Has he replaced the fuel pump? Sounds like my car when I had my "modified" bucket come apart after my Walbro install.

 

Nope. We can hear it come on. I told him to check the fuel pressure will update later. Anyone have any thoughts on the gas guage pegged past fuel and not moving at all?