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Odd fuel pump (I think) problem - longish story Posted by Rod [Email]  (#3128) [Profile/Gallery]
(more from Rod) on Tue, 10 Feb 2009 16:16:26
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So my wife and I were heading up to Ontario for our annual cross country skiing trip in my wife's 98 CSE (manual). At the last gas station in the US I pulled in to top up the tank so I could avoid filling up in Canada. At this gas station 87 octane was $1.89 per gallon, but 93 was $2.45. I've never seen such a price differential! Over my wife's objections I put in 6 gallons of 87, which is all there was room for in the tank ("don't put that crap in my car.." she said). I explained that the Trionic system could easily deal with a little lower octane and would just dial back the boost if appropriate and no harm would come to her beloved 9k (at least that's what I've read here...)
Anyway, not 15 minutes later we pulled in to a supermarket in Sault Ste. Marie to buy some provisions. On coming out of the supermarket the car wouldn't start. It would catch but then die straight away. It did this 5 or 6 times before I admitted it wasn't going to start. Of course by this time I was getting some heat for my cheapness at the last gas station!
First thing I did was replace the DI with my spare - no difference. Then I pulled out Ari's no-start checklist (thanks Ari - that thing's a lifesaver!) and started some more methodical troubleshooting. I got down to the fuel pump relay test and decided I couldn't hear the fuel pump coming on when I turned the key in the ignition. Then I jumped the fuel pump fuse and my wife swears there was no sound coming from the fuel pump - and she had her head right by the fuel pump inside the car. The thing is, the fuel pump died on us on the exact same trip two years ago and was replaced at great expense by the local garage, so I was hoping the replacement fuel pump hadn't died that quickly.
Anyway, with no serious expectation of success, I pulled apart the electrical connections at the fuel pump and reseated them. I got my wife to turn the key on and I heard the pump come to life. The car then started straight away, although it was idling at 2000 rpm and the check engine light came on. For the rest of the trip it started every time, although continued to rev high when cold.
I just got home tonight and pulled the check engine code - it was P0121 - throttle position sensor. Not sure how meaningful that is.
Anyway - is there anything the problem could have been other than a bad connection at the fuel pump? Does the check engine light have any meaning here or was it just a transient that could have come from me jumping fuses etc? If there was a bad connection at the fuel pump, would the engine really catch 5 or 6 times when I tried restarting it - I would have thought the residual fuel pressure would be good for one or two attempts at the most?
Sorry for the long post, but I didn't want to leave out any salient details.
Rod
, Tue, 10 Feb 2009 16:16:26 <-- Viewing This Message
, Tue, 10 Feb 2009 18:38:20
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