Oh what the hell, truck wont start

[White97SVT]

ughh, so the truck wont start....I had it parked for the winter like always and now nothing. I had it started a few times and drove it up and down the street a few times when there wasn't any sand on the roads and I had it just at idle in the driveway for a little bit while I worked on the STi and now I go to start it and nothing.

Before I put it away for the winter on the last drive I noticed it was running a little funny kinda like having a stutter and then it would smooth out and then stutter again. It was fine at idle, only when I would get on the gas. But didn't think much of it till now. (I planned on a tune up this spring before driving)

Checked the battery and the charge is good there. I used a spark tester and it shows me getting spark, but I got nothing. When I click the key to on and watch my FP gauge (DEFI) it does the test and then just sits at 0, it used to sit at 40psi when I would start it.

So I changed the fuel filter thinking that would might be clogged. When the filter was disconnected I turned the Key to On figuring if the pump primed I would get fuel out the line. I got nothing...so I tried to crank it for a couple seconds and still didn't get any fuel out the open line.

So guys need a little help on this one. Where should I start? Fuel pump relay? Ign module? fuel pump? Some fuse I don't know about?

I appreciate the help as always, Thanks.

 

[Jimmy]

Re: Oh what the hell, truck wont start

Check the ECMB fuse.

 

[sly dvl]

Re: Oh what the hell, truck wont start

Bash on the bottom of the tank with a rubber mallet while someone cranks it over. If it fires, you need a fuel pump.

 

[White97SVT]

Re: Oh what the hell, truck wont start

I'll check fuses tomorrow. If I have time I'll pull the plastic cover off and bash on it. If not, I'll give that a shot this weekend.

Anyone else have suggestions.

 

[general's servant]

Re: Oh what the hell, truck wont start

0 fuel pressure means pump not turning on. Jump the relay to power the pump if still nothing bang on tank and check for a weak or bad ground. you can check the pump with that loose unconnected wire by your two relays on the firewall. Run a jumper wire to battery voltage (red +) from the loose wire.it wont tell you if the relay is bad though. HTH

 

[Brassmonkey]

Re: Oh what the hell, truck wont start

Checking all fuses would be my first step. Step 2: Do you have a good multi meter or circuit tester? Start at the fuel pump and work you way up the wiring to make sure you are getting any voltage to the pump. I hope the guy that suggested bashing the tank was joking, even a rubber mallet can cause a spark.

 

[cloneman315]

Re: Oh what the hell, truck wont start

ignition module,oil pressure sender,

 

[sly dvl]

Re: Oh what the hell, truck wont start

I hope the guy that suggested bashing the tank was joking, even a rubber mallet can cause a spark.

How is a rubber mallet gonna cause a spark? And if it did, the fuel is inside the tank, not on the ground.
The idea is to hit the tank & dislodge a possible bad brush in the fuel pump.

 

[cloneman315]

Re: Oh what the hell, truck wont start

i have used that test many times,shit i have used shovel,rake,hammer,2 x4 foot and many others lol

 

[Brassmonkey]

Re: Oh what the hell, truck wont start

Well, I apologize. I know that a rubber mallet in itself will not cause a spark, but I did think the tank was metal and the components inside the tank were metal. So, what happens when metal meets metal at an accelerated speed? To me safety is not a some times thing. I have seen many people use a cigarette lighter to ignite a welding torch without it blowing up, but I have also seen one person ignite a welding torch with a cigarette lighter and it blew up. His wife has to feed him now. Nothing bad ever happens until it happens, especially after hearing "Hey, y'all watch this, hold my beer a second.":rotf:

 

[sly dvl]

Re: Oh what the hell, truck wont start

Nothing wrong with playing it safe. However, "metal on metal" or not there's one important thing missing from the inside of that fuel tank to cause a fire; oxygen.
Fuel pumps & sending units are electric and could potentially spark. So then why don't vehicles blow up when we run out of gas? Cause there's not nearly enough oxygen in the tank to support combustion.

 

[White97SVT]

Re: Oh what the hell, truck wont start

I didn't have time to check anything out last night. So I am getting up early on Sat. morning and I will start with all the tests mentioned.

How would I test the oil pressure sender. I don't see why it would stop working.

 

[Brassmonkey]

Re: Oh what the hell, truck wont start

Nothing wrong with playing it safe. However, "metal on metal" or not there's one important thing missing from the inside of that fuel tank to cause a fire; oxygen.
Fuel pumps & sending units are electric and could potentially spark. So then why don't vehicles blow up when we run out of gas? Cause there's not nearly enough oxygen in the tank to support combustion.

It ALWAYS amazes me how people will argue FOR an unsafe act. If you want to hit your gas tank with a hammer or cut it with a blow torch, go ahead and do it, I DO NOT care. I know I won't be near you when you do it. Have fun.

 

[cloneman315]

Re: Oh what the hell, truck wont start

the oil sender is on the fuel pump circuit,i would just replace it if its old they tend to go bad.

 

[White97SVT]

Re: Oh what the hell, truck wont start

Well yesterday was a long day or testing a looking for answers. I swapped the relay for the fuel pump and tried to start it and got nothing. Then I tried starting it with banging the bottom of the tank with a hammer and still nothing. I tried to pull codes off the ecm before reseting it and didn't get any code there.

I decided to drop the tank lol, what a battle that was. 15yrs worth of rusted bolts everywhere. This thing broke my balls all night, After looking at how rusted the tank was I am going to order a new tank and sending unit on monday. The fittings for the hose on the tank were so bad that I ended up almost breaking one line so I had to cut them near the rubber hose to get the tank out. The sending unit is rusted in there solid. I tried to get the retaining clip off and almost took off a tab without even budging it.

 

[jpalmer]

Re: Oh what the hell, truck wont start

my tank had no rust on it and it was a BITCH to get out so dont feel bad

 

[sly dvl]

Re: Oh what the hell, truck wont start

It ALWAYS amazes me how people will argue FOR an unsafe act. If you want to hit your gas tank with a hammer or cut it with a blow torch, go ahead and do it, I DO NOT care. I know I won't be near you when you do it. Have fun.

I'm not arguing with you, I'm simply stating it's not as "unsafe" as you're making it out to be.

 

[White97SVT]

Re: Oh what the hell, truck wont start

Woohoo, trucks back on the road...Thanks for the help guys. I ended up putting a new tank, sending unit and pump in there. This was the first weekend I had a chance to get everything back in there. Fired right up and runs like a champ again.

 

[J_SULLIVAN]

Re: Oh what the hell, truck wont start

Did you take pics of any of this? Does anyone have pics of this process?