87 Chevy Custom 20 Deluxe won't start

GENE8084

MEMBER
1987 CHEVROLET TRUCK

I have a 1987 4x4, Chevrolet Custom Deluxe 20, 160,000 miles, a rust bucket, but a good farm / plowing truck.

It just quit the other day while I was backing up the driveway. No sputter, no kick. Just cut out. I assumed the rotor so I replaced the cap, rotor, and coil (had one on the shelf).I assumed I had an electrical problem the way it just quit and would not fire when cranked. I didn't even check the spark before replacing the parts, but either way I have good spark now.

The truck has two gas tanks. I trace the harnesses best I could to make sure that with all the rust that a ground wire had not fallen off. Everything appears ok (wired).

I suspect I'm not getting any gas but I don't know where to start. The fuel gages have never been accurate so I dumped a couple extra gallons in the right hand tank to be on the safe side. But I'm sure neither tank was empty.

There are sending units on each tank so of course I tried toggling between tanks. No luck there.

I looked at all the fuses but don't see any fried and don't see any labeled fuel pump/sending unit or otherwise.

Is there some way to determine if the fuel pump is working?

Any other ideas to isolate the problem?

1 Reply

BACKYARDMECHANIC

MECHANIC
337 POSTS

Without any test equipment you can still tell if the pump is running. Have an assistant turn the key to the on or run postion (without starting the truck) and listing carefully by the tank you should hear the fuel pump hum for a few seconds and then shut down. This is normal. This will let you know if the pump is getting power but this doesn't mean that the pump is providing any pressure to the fuel line. You will need to test with a pressure tester if it is delivering the right amount of pressure. Take another look for the fuel pump fuse and relay. They have to be there somewhere. Good luck Backyardmechanic.