march17green

Since I have bought my car I've done several things. I put synthetic oil in it, I put sea foam in the gas tank, oil crank case, I made my CAI. I was on my way to work and got in my car and try to start it. It turns over but won't start. The fuel pump comes on and when it turns over it sounds healthy. I drove it at about 2 in the morning and it ran just fine. Where do I start to find out the problem. Its been raining so you wouldn't think water was sucked up? The previous owner just installed new spark plugs, new wires, cap and fuel pump. It has cold starting problems but its in the 40's here and I've started it in the 20's. Any ideas???

NismoPick

An engine needs 3 things to start (if mechanically sound).
-Proper air
-Proper fuel
-Proper spark

Checked for spark?
You said it's been raining... pull the TPS plug and dizzy cap & blow dry.

march17green

I worked the night shift and I just got home, and I turned the key and now I can barley hear the fuel pump. Before it was very noticeable but now you can't really hear it. Its a very very low sound. It was just replaced. Can these pumps go out pretty fast?

march17green

Also how can you check to see if the pump itself is the problem or has gone out?

NismoPick

How much gas is in the tank?

march17green

LOL half full......Oh yeah I'm that type of guy!!!

NismoPick

Just gotta make sure.

I'd start w/ checking the voltage at the pump, and the fuel pressure.

Have you verified spark at the plugs?

march17green

Not yet, I have no tools so now I have to go out and buy some since mine are back in Wyoming. The first thing I notice this morning was I couldn't hear the pump anymore. But I'll go buy some and let you know if I'm getting spark or not

NismoPick

If you have a friend handy, have them try to start the car while you are at the back right wheel, so you can hear the pump better. Also try giving the fuel pump a "love tap" with a hammer to see if it kicks on.

march17green

K, thanks for the advice. I will let you know how everything goes.

march17green

So update, I can't even hear the fuel pump even on the outside of the car. Its raining really hard and starting to sleet so I can't do anything with it right now.

WanganDevilZ

There needs to be a Nismobot that automatically responds to threads if they have "Crank" "Wont Start" in the thread, would save you alot of time Nismo, I'm pretty sure half of your post count is comprised of the above quotations.


Liek Nismo said, check the voltage

It'll be on the outside of the tank.

Also, if it were some Autoparts store cheapy fuel pump, it may, possibly, have gone out already.

Check voltage on the two leads on the pump, and if you don't hear it, lightly tap it, that caused my pump in my Rx7 to start working, and the PO said he had just replaced it.

FricFrac

The plug inside the car behind the passenger seat is an easy place to check the fuel pump. The newer 280ZX's have a fuel pump control module that supplies ground to complete the circuit (lol ask me how I know this....). If you don't get any voltage at the fuel pump when the ignition is on see if you get +12V and used the body as ground.

march17green

Thank you so much for your help. After I get home I'm going to go buy a meter and check it all. I read that it might be a relay under the dash. I removed part of it and crap my pants. I know what it looks like but just getting to it made me give up. Ill give you another update tomorrow.

march17green

How do you know that

march17green

Update....I bought a meter and pulled the foam and unplug the connector and nothing. Nothing at all. So I'm thinking now its a relay. I bought the haynes manual and I see there are 3. I found the 2 and I've done my home work and the first one is gonna be a PAIN!!!!! What's the easy way of getting to #1 Under the dash or from the top of the dash. Now for 2 and 3 should I test them out to see if they are good and if so how do you test them to see if they are good. When I turn the key to ON I can hear a very fast clicking/vibrating sound from the area of #1 relay. Does that mean the #1 is bad. Please help!

march17green

So I remember reading through other threads and it said #1 relay was green. I was looking in my engine department and I notice a green relay that kind of looks out of place would this be it? Its mounted right between the battery and the fender.

FricFrac

It looks out of place because it's suppose to be mounted behind that plastic piece inside the fender....

march17green

What's that relay to?

march17green

I am working on my car again and I replaced my fuel filter. The old one I couldn't blow through so it was most likely clogged. 2 I got some starter fluid and spray it and try starting the car it WOULDN'T start. So I'm think now I have an ignition problem. Took my cap offhand everything looks normal there. I haven't check my spark plugs yet so that is next to come. What else could it be?

NismoPick

^^^ ... This ...

Diagnosing why an engine suddenly won't start should take about 5 minutes...

Either the injectors aren't spraying fuel, which means there's no fuel pressure, or no power to the injectors.

Or there's no spark, meaning the ecu or coil isn't getting power / signal.

Don't over complicate things.

FricFrac

Agreed! Why bother spraying anything into the intake when you know you aren't getting fuel (eg your pump isn't coming on). Fix that first then figure out what the next issue is - that is if there IS anything else wrong

march17green

Sorry I don't mean to complicate things. This is really my first time to work on a vehical that is this the biggest problem Ive had to work with. I went to oreilys and that's what one of the guys told me to do was to spray starting fluid. I do appreciate halls help.

FricFrac

No worries bro - it's all good! Spraying into the intake is an old school way to get things going but if it's not squirting fuel it doesn't matter.....

Really I know precious little myself other than what I've been reading and researching. If you've got the desire to try you're 95% on your way to sucess! Like Nismopick said it's pretty basic. Its the same in the electronics world with guys just starting out - they make it more complicated than the problem usually is - just makes it harder to trouble shoot. Stick with the basics and most problems can be resolved....

march17green

Thanks for understanding. I did fix my radio and my dome lights on accident so that's the good news.