8v-of-fury

Hello all I am new to this forum, and new to chevy vans

My van has not been a DD for about 4 years now.. and sees little to no love. One day i was driving it and it was running perfectly fine. Then it sat for maybe two weeks before it was going to run again.. however it did not start so i started looking for common astro non-starting problems, and i found that they go through fuel pumps a lot ( why do they go through more than any other vehicle?). I listened for pumping sounds and nothing! so i dropped the tank and took the old one out and low and behold i hooked it up and it pumped with out hesitation... that was a bit of a **** off. didn't really have the cash to go for a new one so i put that one back in and it started fine. next day no start again... OMG! tried some stuff.. dont know what i did but it ran, shut off and started over and over again. next day nothing... crappp.

killed the battery cranking.. jumped it to another car.. starts right up! WHAT THE HELL RIGHT!!?!?!

ran fine.. so i tested some stuff. and found the green wire at the relay was not getting power when the key was turned on.. gave the pump my own 12v power.. heard the pump.. fired right up. same configuration.. no fire today... no pump... Can smell gas whilst cranking though! whats going on here??

Any ideas guys!? TIA

8v-of-fury

Noone huh?

Great forum guys keep up the good work

Mike Sigmond

Welcome to the forum!

Did you smell the gas after cranking it for a while? probably flooded it.

Give it a little time , more people will chime in on this thread.

ihatemybike

Sorry, I usually only check this forum in the morning and evening, but yesterday evening I was under my wife's Jeep pulling the front drive shaft.

I wouldn't say these vans go through fuel pumps a lot. I've always gone over 100K miles on the stock pump. Non ACDelco/Delphi replacement pumps just aren't designed/built as well and die prematurely. Thanks to the internet it is possible to buy the proper ACDelco/Delphi pumps for less than the local auto parts stores want for the crappy ones, thus the only excuse to put a cheap pump in is not knowing about the following link.

http://store.getgmparts.com/

Not sure which pump you have need? Have that covered too.

http://sites.google.com/site/astrosa...el-pumps-tanks

Anyway, first thing I'd do is swap the fuel filter as they are often ignored, then get a fuel pressure reading.

Please add your van's information to your signature, as knowing that will help us with our diagnosis.

8v-of-fury

Thanks. I hope to get this thing back on the road soon, or it is ill fated for sure

Now one question, If its pumping enough fuel for me to be able to smell it, and to flood the engine why is it not starting or running?

1Gary you say not having a fully charged battery will affect the whole van.. how so?

Mike Sigmond

I may have been wrong, do you smell fuel from the exaust pipe? I am sure Gary knows these vans very well & his input is from past experiences. Like Gary said, I would start with a fuel pressure check.

ihatemybike

Just cause you smell fuel doesn't mean it's enough to run the van. Fuel has to be at a certain PSI to run and slightly higher to start. Fact is many of these pumps don't completely die, they just get too weak. My last two pump replacements, I actually disconnected the fuel lines, then used the pump to remove the fuel from the tank. Grumpy I was able to run for a while with a weak pump by starting it with starter fluid. Luckily, it finally got too weak to run when it was parked in front of my house.

What year is your van?

8v-of-fury

the Van in question is a 1995 LT

Ahh I see what your talking about now.. If the van say needs 9 psi to start and 5 to run and the pump can give 7.. then sure it will run if you can start it with an auxiliary fuel... but cant start it self.. I tried starting fluid on the ol' girl and I think it just caught for a minute then died promptly..

but this was when the pump wasn't doing anything.. so I will try some more tomorrow after work. There was starter fluid on sale at Canadian tire for $0.50 a can! So i bought 20 cans lol

Shoulda just replaced the damn pump when i had it out! CRAP!!

OH WELL its not really a major concern that the van runs its just to move it around mainly.. might have to wait till april or may When the snow goes away