Buying/Inspecting car with bad fuel pump?

[gijoe985]

I have found a few cars that the owners claim that they work fine but have bad fuel pumps, what would you do for an inspection? Bring a fuel pressure tester, some gas, and the tools needed to check? For a higher pressure pump, there no real way to start the car if the pump isn't working. Compression test? Just want to make sure it isn't a lemon.

What tools would I need to bring if I had a fuel pressure tester?

 

[Stainbox12]

If you want to know if the car starts, then just pour some gas on each cylinder. Take out all 4 spark plugs, pour gas on all of of the cylinders, and quickly put in the plugs and the wires. Try to start it. If it starts, then you have, air, compression, and spark. You can figure out why it doesn't have any fuel, after you buy it. If it doesn't start after you pour the gas on the cylinders, then the problem is elsewhere. I must tell you that by adding some gas on the cylinders, the car will start for a few seconds, and then it will obviously die. You can check compression with a tester obviously, and also attach, a screwdriver on each end of the plugs, to see if they got spark. Good luck.

 

[gijoe985]

Heh, I was just thinking, I guess you can't just spray starer fluid in the intake since it is an enclosed system. I'm not accustomed to working with turbos, so I totally forgot about that.

 

[UKNOWHO]

Heh, I was just thinking, I guess you can't just spray starer fluid in the intake since it is an enclosed system. I'm not accustomed to working with turbos, so I totally forgot about that.

yes you can spray starter fluid in the intake manifold u can use one of the couple vacuum ports bov,fpr,etc ...

 

[drewvr4]

every redneck's diagnosis for why a car doesn't run is the fuel pump, and honestly i don't see enough of them going bad to say its real problem, might look somewhere else

 

[gijoe985]

every redneck's diagnosis for why a car doesn't run is the fuel pump, and honestly i don't see enough of them going bad to say its real problem, might look somewhere else

I feel ya on that one, but this guy sounds foreign (i.e. not as redneck) and it sounds like he had a mechanic look at at it. By his description I think the mechanic just read him an OBD I code. So it could be a number of things.

Fishy smell from ECU if that's the problem right? is that easy to get out?

 

[Stainbox12]

If the car doesn't start because of a fishy smell ecu, then it needs replacement. They are pretty cheap, and easly found on ebay, or junkyards. Try pouring gas into the cylinders and try to start it. Start from that, if it doesn't start you know, its not fuel related, so you eliminate pump and pump relay as well. Check spark too, its easy to do. The ecu is behind the radio, its easly accesible, it has 3 plugs connected to it, and its screwed by two screws if i remember correctly. Good Luck.

 

[spawn7037]

Yep, 3 plugs, 2 screws, was just looking behind my radio the other day.

 

[UofACATS]

If the guy will let you partially dissasemble his vehicle and pour gas into the cylinders by way of the spark plug to test start it...


Bring a good fuel pump and install it.