Ive been having this problem off and on, where the car will start up, rev up like its supposed to and then it just shuts off and dies. Crank over again and again and sometimes itll fire on and run like its supposed to, other times, it starts up and dies almost immediately. 

 

I pulled the connectors apart on the fuel pump, stuck my multimeter up there and cranked the engine over and had once had readings in between 8-12V but today, Im not getting anything.

 

I finally found the fuse box cover that was missing since my sister had possession of the car and saw that the one fuse I dont have in there is one labeled "FUEL ®/ (HEIGHT)"

 

Thinking this was my problem I grabbed my fuses and stuck one in there, only to have it fall out, must be a fuse not used since I dont have height control. 

 

So far, Ive replaced fuel filter next to the fuel pump, checked the fuel pumps power (NONE at the moment).

 

Im kinda at a loss of where to go next... Anyone know where I might be able to tackle the problem? Anyone HAVE this problem on their car?

if it dies suddenly it is likely an electrical problem, possibly a wire grounding out somewhere intermittently.

 

if it does a hurt dance then dies it is likely a failing fuel pump that should be replaced.

Thats where it gets a little bit difficult.

 

The dying after it the first start up will rev down (say it revved up to 2500 on the initial start-up) itll rev down to about 1000 before it dies out.

 

The crank over, start up and die is immediate; rpms go straight to 1000, 1500 or 2000 and then just drop down again to 0 and the engines off.

 

I see some areas talking about my relay box under the hood and saying its labeled which one is the fuel pump relay? I dont see that, I see a little black box that has RED GREEN AND BLACK labeled on it... Wires underneath, green one appears to be lose, so plan to replace it... but jiggling it doesnt affect the issue.

are you talking about the green ,black , blue ,white relays under the left side under the dash ?  or the fusiable links under the hood ?

 

Edited February 19, 201313 yr by ivantruckman

Refresh my memory... Year, and carb or SPFI.

The ones under the hood. The green one was pretty loose, plan to replace it, but maybe should replace all 3 for good faith...

 

Ned is a 1986 GL Sedan (EA82) with a Weber 32/36 DGEV carburetor.

Try tapping/rapping on the fuel pump with something like the handle of a screwdriver, and see if there is any improvement.  If yes, then the pump should be replaced.  If no, then the problem is yet to be discovered.

The colored wires you are talking about are the fusible links. The green one supplies power to the fuel pump and you say it is making a loose connection, which is a fairly common problem, so that is causing your trouble. You don't need to replace it but try to clean the contacts the link fits in and bend them in to make better contact with the link. If that can't happen then you may have to wedge a thicker metal tab in with the link. One side of the link connection is hot to the battery so it may be best to remove the negative battery cable first before you work on the contacts so nothing shorts to ground.