Hard/no start condition

MAITAI11

MEMBER
1999 OLDSMOBILE BRAVADA
4.3L
V6
2WD
AUTOMATIC
150,000 MILES

Hi Guys,

First-time poster here, having problems starting the car.

1. Bought it a year ago. Did plugs, wires, cap, K&N air cleaner, fuel and oil filters, water pump (weep holes leaked as soon as I got it.) MSD coil.

2. Recently, I have been getting hard/no start conditions. The engine cranks no problem. Battery is new.

3. Fuel system - I have been getting consistent 56-58 psi with key on but engine not running. This is with the old fuel pump, and the new one I installed yesterday. Today I got 58 PSI with no run and 52 psi while running. I replaced the CFSI spider last year. I got the upgraded electronic one. I also replaced the fuel filter again yesterday. I also swapped out the relay. Fuel pressure regulator, as I am sure you are aware, is integrated into the spider.

Question: If the fuel PSI is supposed to be 60-66 psi, and I replaced the pump, filter, and spider, why am I not getting the correct PSI? Oh, I have a new gas tank cap as well.

4. Could this be a MAF/TPS/CPS or other problem?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Winter is coming, this is a new problem. Oh, and the car runs fine otherwise when it is running, it is not a problem.

Many thanks,

Maitai

2 Replies

STEVE W.

MECHANIC
13,492 POSTS

Check the voltage going to the pump. The relays like to get hot and melt the connectors and create a problem. The pump connector does the same if the pump starts pulling high current.
To see if it is the fuel side, shoot a bit of starter fluid into it. If it fires and runs a bit you have a fuel problem, if not you need to start looking at the ignition side of things.