started to rewire my fuel pump, and then....

[ChrisFlo]

Last night I was going to rewire my wally 190, so I took out my backseat, disconnected my fuel pump and the battery, and routed the wire through the firewall. Something came up where I had to stop working on the car, so I decided to just reconnect everything. Hooked the battery back up, the pump, and pulled the wire I'd routed out since I hadnt hooked it into the pump or battery yet. Later that night, I went to start the car and it was completely unstable at idle, and when I hit the gas, the RPM's actually fall for a second before they rise. Finally it wouldn't even idle long, it'd just die after a few seconds. I'd guess its something electrical since that's all I really dealt with, but what did I do? Checked the fuses, they looked good. Battery's about two months old.

 

[SethA]

I am not sure if this is your problem or not, but one time my car would not idle after the battery was disconnected. My car would idle very slow and sometimes die when I came to a stop. My battery was disconnected for longer than it sounds like yours was but this fix might be worth a try.

The factory service manual trouble shooter said to start the car and just let it idle for a certain amount of time (I don't remember exactly, but I want to say about 5 min). Don't ever give it any gas just turn the key and let it sort itself out. I thought it would die but I did as it suggested and that fixed it.

Seth

 

[ChrisFlo]

Cool, I'll give that a try. Any other possibilities if that fails?

 

[weith1111]

Make sure the ground isn't loose on the battery, mine wiggles itself free sometimes. Check the connections at the other end too.

 

[Snobordin8]

Just a crazy thought but you didn't somehow unplug the MAS did you? I had mine unplugged and then forgot to plug it back in and it had those same symptoms.

 

[ChrisFlo]

Just a crazy thought but you didn't somehow unplug the MAS did you? I had mine unplugged and then forgot to plug it back in and it had those same symptoms.

Nope, didn't unplug the MAS. I'll check the ground as well. If there are any other suggestions, feel free to throw them out, as I am at work right now and can't verify what is and isn't the problem until I'm there. Thanks.

 

[arash15]

i actually had the same situation happen to me. make sure that the connection from the assembly to the actual fuel pump is connected tight. Without that connection there will be no signal or power to the fuel pump. Hope that solves the problem.

 

[ChrisFlo]

Well I'm officially stumped. I looked at everything that was suggested, but to no avail. Battery is tight/clean/secure, fuel pump connections and assembly connections were checked and looked okay. Headlights/dome lights/radio work fine, no electrical issues that would seem to relate to the battery.

Yet- the car still sputters at idle, and every time I hit the gas the rpms hesistate before climbing. If I try to drive it, it dies. Also, if I turn on the air conditioner, the rpm's fall more. My CEL is also on, I ran my logger on it, but I couldn't remember how to pull up the CEL codes on the logger (palm n stein).

I really can't narrow down whether it's electrical or fuel related. A friend of mine suggested checking the EGR valve, which I'm not familiar with, but to anyone who is, would this be a possibility? I appreciate any help you guys can offer, and the sooner the better, as this is my daily driver.....

 

[mirkoelek]

did you take off fuel pump cover ?

 

[ChrisFlo]

Yes, took off the pump cover and assembly cover, looked at both.

 

[mirkoelek]

make sure you put cover back without any bends... its important. What could happened actually, maybe your pump is losing feul pressure ( if you do have a fuel press gauge it would be easy to check). Try to take cover off , and put it back but carefully.

good luck

 

[ChrisFlo]

make sure you put cover back without any bends... its important. What could happened actually, maybe your pump is losing feul pressure ( if you do have a fuel press gauge it would be easy to check). Try to take cover off , and put it back but carefully.

good luck

As long as the wiring and harnesses are connected, why would it make a diff how the cover is put on? I even let the car idle with just the wiring connected without the cover even screwed down, and it does the same thing.

 

[mirkoelek]

just try it.... off course it does the same thing. you have to close the cover properly. how do you think your car is gonna work if your fuel pump is out of the tank . the fuel pump is not able to make pressure.

 

[mirkoelek]

check if cover is broken

 

[Defiant]

Just in case, make sure your battery isn't grounding out against the hood or sway bar.

 

[weith1111]

Not to interrupt the current search, but I just wanted to mention this could just be coincidence and not related to the pump. Check and make sure spark is ok. Do a boost leak test. I guess what I'm saying is what would everyone suggest to check if ChrisFlo hadn't said "last night I was going to rewire my wally 190."

 

[ChrisFlo]

just try it.... off course it does the same thing. you have to close the cover properly. how do you think your car is gonna work if your fuel pump is out of the tank . the fuel pump is not able to make pressure.

Bro, I never took the fuel pump out of the tank, all I did was take the cover off and unhook the harness.

 

[ChrisFlo]

Not to interrupt the current search, but I just wanted to mention this could just be coincidence and not related to the pump. Check and make sure spark is ok. Do a boost leak test. I guess what I'm saying is what would everyone suggest to check if ChrisFlo hadn't said "last night I was going to rewire my wally 190."

I'll be checking the plugs today, I thought that might be an option as well. Just a weird coincidence something unrelated would be the problem, but I suppose it could be.

Defiant- ground is free and clear of hood/sway

 

[weith1111]

I take it the car is just sitting there right? Not to point out something idiotic, but I've been there with a friend who started pulling the heads off his LT1...are you out of gas?

If the car will start, run and then die, you have to be not getting enough air, fuel or spark. So I'd be sure there was gas making it out the injectors, spark from all the plugs, and no vaccum line leaks.

 

[MOCO-95TSI]

I have a couple of dsms and and one of them, (which happens to be my 98 gst) had a similar issue almost every time I disconnected the battery. It seems to have a very hard time staying at idle for a day or so, and I am not sure why..... WTF . I just drive the car lightly for a while giving gas, as so the car does not die out. Eventually, the car seems to relearn the idle and balances itself out, but it does however, take some driving and idling for the car to seem to come around back to normal.(hard driving only seemed to exacerbate the problem and delay recovery time.) I have never had a CEL because of this, though. Although this post doesn't give any reason as to why you are experiencing this . I hope you can at least know you are not the only one who has experienced this, and hope the problem is not be as serious as it sounds. keep us posted.

 

[ChrisFlo]

I take it the car is just sitting there right? Not to point out something idiotic, but I've been there with a friend who started pulling the heads off his LT1...are you out of gas?

If the car will start, run and then die, you have to be not getting enough air, fuel or spark. So I'd be sure there was gas making it out the injectors, spark from all the plugs, and no vaccum line leaks.

Yep, over a half tank of gas. I'm pulling plugs today.

 

[ChrisFlo]

I have a couple of dsms and and one of them, (which happens to be my 98 gst) had a similar issue almost every time I disconnected the battery. It seems to have a very hard time staying at idle for a day or so, and I am not sure why..... WTF . I just drive the car lightly for a while giving gas, as so the car does not die out. Eventually, the car seems to relearn the idle and balances itself out, but it does however, take some driving and idling for the car to seem to come around back to normal.(hard driving only seemed to exacerbate the problem and delay recovery time.) I have never had a CEL because of this, though. Although this post doesn't give any reason as to why you are experiencing this . I hope you can at least know you are not the only one who has experienced this, and hope the problem is not be as serious as it sounds. keep us posted.

Thanks for the post, man. Were you able to drive the car immediately when this happened to you? I've tried driving it a couple times and it dies each time.

 

[shwinp]

just try it.... off course it does the same thing. you have to close the cover properly. how do you think your car is gonna work if your fuel pump is out of the tank . the fuel pump is not able to make pressure.

Just an FYI: It's the pressure in the lines and not the tank that's required for proper fuel delivery.

 

[XxSiRhCy6PxX]

i had the same sorta idle problem when my recirculation hose slipped off the bov. its worth a try to check it..

 

[ChrisFlo]

Well guys, I was able to drive the car home today, it sputtered and bogged the whole way, but it didn't die. I put some new plugs in but the car's still running the same. I think that with the recent improvement, that it may just need to run for a few days (as was said) before it'll be back to normal. I'll post back in a few days on the car's status. Thanks guys.