This will probably be just a pointless rant, so feel free to stop reading. I just needed a place to vent, and nobody will understand unless they are into cars, hence this is may place to vent...

Anyways. My car's been having fuel probs. Smelled gas in the vaccum line to the FPR, so I changed it. Was fine for two days, then symptoms came back, though not as bad. Car takes a while to start sometimes, but usually eventually fires. Today, [EDIT] would not start. I cranked till the battery was dead. Had a friend come jump, cranked till dead battery three more times, still wouldn't start. Keep stuttering and coughing the whole time, like it was this close to starting, but never did. The last cranking session ended with about the loudest backfire I've ever heard in my life. So, I'm pretty sure my fuel pump crapped out too. [EDIT]

Here's where I got pissed. First, my car has 70k well-maintained miles. WTF is the pump already bad for? Second, I am tired of having troubles with a car (actually, this fuel issue is the first issue with this Z, but my V6 had a few probs too, so it feels like it's been going on forever...) when I take very good care of it. This month is the first time the car has EVER seen snow. I'm never late with oil changes. I check all fluids regularly, keep tires inflated properly, burn premium like it wants 95% of the time, and rarely do burnouts/donuts. Yet **** craps out on me. Then, when I walk outside into the parking lot here at college, I see hundreds of worn-out, beat-up Rangers, Civics, Grand Ams, etc. that are driven by people who probably routinely miss oil changes, don't know what a tranny is let alone check the fluid in it, and just generally beat the **** out of their cars. Yet their cars just keep marching right along for them without missing a beat! Doesn't seem [EDIT] fair at all. I baby the hell out of my car, and it does [EDIT] like this, but that (hypothetical) girl with the Neon doesn't know **** except put it in D, hit the gas, and occasionally Daddy does something to her car that needs to be done, and it runs perfectly for 100k miles plus. AAAAAAAAAARRRRRGGHHH!!!!

OK, that's all for my bitter rant. Feels better now that I said all that [EDIT]
BTW, if anyone reading this description thinks they have a good idea of what might be wrong (i can't really afford to replace the pump right now) please chime in.

Note from Moderator - I understand your frustration, but that's no excuse to test or override the language filter.

 

You should be able to hear the pump. It will either come on or it won't. If it doesn't turn on, check behind the plastic next to your left foot to see of the safety switch is bad before replacing the pump.

Oh yea.... If it turns on try changing the fuel filter. They sometimes get clogged and are many times overlooked by service departments.

 

I already changed the fuel filter bout 2 months ago, and I could hear the pump priming when I was trying to start it earlier. I've never heard of this safety switch. If it was off for some reason, then the pump probly wouldn't prime, right?

 

if you hear the pump, its probably fine. Dont just "throw" stuff at it!

check fuel pressure, etc. follow a procedure so you dont just fix random stuff.

 

I'm not just fixing random stuff. I replaced the fuel filter because it was cheap, and probably needed to be done. I replace the FPR, because as I said, the vaccuum line smelled like gas, a sign that the diaphragm ruptured. I don't think it's Opti related, because when the car does run, it runs fine, no rough running, misfires, or anything like that. The starter cranks fine. So I'm pretty sure it's fuel related. As I've already replaced the FPR, it pretty much leaves me with pump or injectors.

 

I agree, if you hear it prime with the KOEO then the pump is fine. From cranking it so much did the SES light ever come on? Sometimes when your Opti goes out and the car won't crank after extended cranking a high resolution code will trigger the SES light. It is something probably simple, you just have to systematically trace it back, ya know, like checking fuel and spark and that both are where they need to be pressure and voltage wise. Being frustrated doesn't help either cause you tend to over look things when your PO'd. Pressurize the rail and see if your injectors are leaking. Good luck, I hope you figure it out.

 

Sorry for the vagueness. Yes, I replaced the FPR, I just mentioned the fuel in the vaccuum line because that's how I knew the FPR was bad. No, it never threw an SES light. Thanks for the helpful replies so far, I wish I had all the proper tools down here at school with me, to check spark, fuel pressure, etc., but I'll probably have to pay somebody to figure this out... Gawd, what a waste of money.

 

You can get a fuel pressure guage from O'Reilly's for like $50. To check the rail just undo the 4 screws and pull the rail up with the injectors. Turn the ignition on and see if you get any drips or leaks from your injectors, it really is pretty easy. For spark just pull the wire from the coil to the opti at the opti and have someone turn the ignition. You should see a nice spark inside the wire coming from the coil. If all that checks out, just keep going down to the plug wires and see if you get spark there. Can you push start it?

 

Any reccomendations on how to minimize the chance of ruining an O-ring? Yes, I can push start it, I was thinking about doing that, but I don't want to end up somehwere flat where I might not be able to do it again as easily. Thanks for the help

 

Wipe down the area really well before you pull them out so crap doesn't get in. Before you put it back in the manifold, lube the orings with some oil or something and make sure that there isn't any debris on the tips that might get lodged in there with the ring. Does the car do it all the time or just when cold?

 

I know exactly how you feel man. I'm the SAME way with my car. I change my oil every 2.5K miles, change the air filter every other oil change, rotate my tires every 3K, change all fluids and filters on time, always wait for the car to stop before shifting into another gear, never do dry turns, etc. and something still manages to go wrong like every other month. I was all set to buy a nice set of headers for my car, but a multitude of problems surfaced in the last 2-3 weeks. I need a new trans. mount, my rear suspension squeaks, my A/C doesn't blow cold, my idler pulley is bad, my rotors are warped, my engine has oil seeping from it, and there's a [EDIT] spider somewhere in my car that makes webs overnight.

Sometimes I feel like trading my car in for something more reliable, but when I get down to it, at this point in time, I wouldn't want to roll down the street in anything other than an F-Body.

As far as your comment about the other students' cars at college: How do you know they're not running like crap? Just because something is running doesn't nessecarily mean it's running well.

That's why all these foreign car companies like BMW and Toyota offer free maintenance and tires for life. Their cars break just like ours. I guarantee you that 95% of BMW owners have never turned a wrench on their car and would routinely neglect their cars if BMW didn't alert them to come in for scheduled maintenance. A guy I work with has a new 4Runner and gets tires for life as long as he brings it to Toyota for ALL maintenance. My same logic applies with them too.

My point is, don't lose faith in your car. V8 F-Bodies are very admired cars for what they're supposed to be, and that's why you bought one in the first place.

Note from Moderator: Do not test or override the language filter.

 

Just a lot of frustration coming out on that one.

Yeah, I know. Despite my occasional fits of rage, that Z28 on the side still makes me wanna go

Thanks everyone for your replies, I'm sure she'll be back up and running in no time. I just had to blow off some steam, and I figured people here would be able to relate to that hopeless feeling that I sometimes get. But as always, I calmed down and remembered why I love F-Bodies so much.

 

Couple of you guys need to go back to the agreement you signed when you joined this board. There is no excuse for the language being used, it is not acceptable.

 

Sorry. I love this board, and the way it remains a fun and respectful atmosphere for F-Bod lovers. It was a mistake to let my frustration get the best of me. I didn't mean to offend anybody, and I'll keep it tamer in the future.