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trouble at hollister hills... truck wont start

FlatBlackBurb

FlatBlackBurb

1/2 ton status
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okay so i took my 87 TBI suburban wheeling at hollister hills with some buds yesterday. it powered up everything and suprised me when it made it up things i never dreamed of.


long story short. my truck wont start.

we took it down to the obstacle course and ran it through the water pit pretty hard. flooded the engine so we pulled the spark plugs and cranked it a couple times so it would get all of the crap out. then we put the plugs back in. it started but ran really really really bad like barely even idling. so i put it in reverse and gave it some gas and it died. and now it wont start. it cranks, and you can hear the fuel pump working and its getting a spark. but we disconnected the fuel lines before the fuel filter and no gas is coming out so its not the filter. but i can hear the fuel pump working. we also tried bypassing the fuel pump relay but that didnt work either. anyone else have this problem or know what to do? any help is appreciated


btw i just replaced the fuel pump about 300 miles ago. but its spilling gas out of somewhere in the gas tank because when we finished wheelin gas was dripping down from everywhere so if gas is getting out, then obviously other crap can get in but the truck was running fine before this it started and ran and did everything great until the stupid water pit


thanks
 
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If you have gas going everywhere from under the truck than maybe you punched a hole in the line and the pump is pumping out your gas through the hole and not making to the engne.
 
no i checked for that. theres no gas going anywhere when the pump is going. i think its coming out the top of the tank. the pump isnt as loud as i remember it being but maybe i could be wrong.
 
Check all of your fuses. 84zz4ss had an issue similar to what you are describing and it happened when we (I) got it stuck in a big mud hole in the swamp and for some reason if the gas tank was underwater and you were in R it would pop a fuse (Can't remember which one:o ) and the engine would turn over but would not fire.

Dik
 
well the burb is at home we had to tow it with my sierra. im gonna check the dizzy and the fuses tomorrow. i checked the ECM ones today and they looked fine but those were the only two i checked.

dammit i just replaced the ignition module about a month ago! hope its not the problem
 
not that i have alot of experience but i would think the gas leak would indicate a possible compromise to the tank, and being you went through water.. maybe you got water in the tank...?
 
maybe you got water in the tank...?
Click to expand...

x2. exactly what i was thinking. it takes very little water to stall an engine once it actually gets in there.

depending on how much is in there, the fix could be very simple or a real pain. when you had it running right after the water, it the fuel and water may have been stirred up still, even thought they won't truly mix. once things settled down, you probably had water only at the bottom with gas floating too high for the pickup to reach. for a fairly small amount of water, ethanol can be used. it will bond with the water and carry it through the engine. but this would only be a good option if you can run the tank to near empty to clear out most of the water. since liquid H2O is in its densest state (even though most matter is densest when solid), it will not compress in the cylinder and can cause major damage if too much gets in there.

the other option is obvious....drain the tank.
 
Water + engine = bad news. youll probably throw something if she ends up starting. I hydrolocked my old car doing this.. Water does not compress. Best option i would say is to drain the tank, refill, remove the plugs and turn it over a bit, then try again, and take a closer look at the tank.
 
If no gas is coming out before the filter, either you have a fuel delivery problem ie the pump has nothing to suck or isn't sucking. So if you have an external pump you could drop a hose into a can of gas and see if it is working, and have the fuel line between the engine and fuel pump put back into the can just to see if the fuel pump is pumping fuel.

If you have an internal pump inside the tank then discoonect the fuel line along the frame and run a hose to an empty gas can and see if the pump is pumping out of the tank and if it is, what it is pumping.

I know I'm the TBI noob so I will shut up now
 
I checked my fuel pump by cracking the fuel fitting on the back of the Throttle body and turn the key to the "ON" position. Only crack the fitting and it is better with 2 people as if you are not fast it will spray alot of fuel.

It can be messy but it lets you know fuel is getting all the way up to the throttle body.

Dik
 
Pickup could be clogged. It happened to me.
 
the rubber hose thats held on by those 2 plastic clamps could have split, etc and not be getting fuel or enough pressure out of the tank...
 
redneckdude said:
the rubber hose thats held on by those 2 plastic clamps could have split, etc and not be getting fuel or enough pressure out of the tank...
Click to expand...

X2 i had a friend of mine replace the pump in my s10 while I was at work. He figured the hose was tight enuff without the clamps, first rough road the hose came off. It sounded differnt as well like the pump wasnt working as hard. Because it wasnt pushing gas through the lines, just spraying it to the top of the tank.
Thats my theory........

Balzer
 
howdiy said:
Pickup could be clogged. It happened to me.
Click to expand...

whats the pickup? i hate to drain my gas tank but if i have to then i will. i just shelled out $100 bucks that didnt even fill up the tank. is there any way that i can tell if theres water in the fuel for sure? i mean the puddle was about 6 inches deep and i didnt go through it all hard either.

and we took the in line fuel filter off and there was no gas coming out. i think im going to cut a hole in my floor so i can get to my tank without dropping it.
 
At the bottom of the fuel sending unit, fuel pump, all that crap that is in the tank, there is a sock that attaches to the bottom of the fuel pump. That can get clogged if there is enough dirt and debris in the tank. If you are going to cut a hole in the floor to access the top of the tank anyway, first test the power going to the pump. Make sure you have power and ground going to the pump. If that tests good, then it may have broken the line leading out of the tank, or broken one of the lines at the top of the tank. Just some things to check.
 
original balzer said:
X2 i had a friend of mine replace the pump in my s10 while I was at work. He figured the hose was tight enuff without the clamps, first rough road the hose came off. It sounded differnt as well like the pump wasnt working as hard. Because it wasnt pushing gas through the lines, just spraying it to the top of the tank.
Thats my theory........

Balzer
Click to expand...
I guess x3 then, but on mine the rubber hose was just split and not disconnected. It gave me like 1-2psi in the fuel rails. I tweaked my required fuel settings in the ECU like I had the world's smallest injectors. Then I was able to ease it home at 15mph so I could drop the tank there.

I wouldn't worry about hydrolocking the engine due to water in the tank. The injectors shouldn't be able to deliver enough water per engine rotation to do this. Otherwise you could hydrolock your engine with gas by cranking without spark, for example. The water should be passing through the exhaust.

A little water in the combustion chamber is fine if the engine is running. As soon as the compression hits, it's nothing but steam. Cleans the inside of the engine and can even aid performance (think H2O injection).

If there is water in the tank, you should be able to pump it out with the fuel pump after letting it sit for a while. Once it seems to come out all gas, dump in a few bottles of drygas and drive through the rest of the tank. If nothing is coming out of the fuel lines then opening the tank seems like a must.
 
redneckdude said:
the rubber hose thats held on by those 2 plastic clamps could have split, etc and not be getting fuel or enough pressure out of the tank...
Click to expand...

this was my first thought, just cut the hole 'i did' :)

My sugestion would be sawzall, no grinder near the gass tank, cut from one suport to the other, 12" wide this will get you to every thing you need, easy working on it.
 
ok so i just got a jigsaw from my neighbor. im gonna cut a 20'' x 20'' hole in the back of my truck and get to work tomorrow. only problem is i dont wanna ignite the gas fumes from the tank. and i think gas might of splashed up on the underside of the truck where ill be sawing so that might be a problem. im gonna wash it down and put a piece of linoleum between the tank and the truck to guard against sparks... if there are any which i doubt there will be. any ideas? tips? i dont want to blow myself out of the water here
 
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