My 1992 VE won't start. It was fine yesterday except for a whine/growl noise after the engine turned over. I have a new battery and alternator, could it be the starter. Some one told me that it might be my fuel line. My mechanic said that the starter is working, he can hear it trying to to get the engine started, but it doesn't sound to right. Has this happened to anyone? what could be the problem?

 

Does the starter make a whirring/spinning noise, or does the engine actually turn over? If the starter is making noise, try hitting it with a wrench or something. Or you can take the starter to autozone or someplace and have them test it.

 

it turns out it is my fuel pump that went bad. my mechanic said that the starter was trying to turn over the engine. Does a malfunctioning fuel pump have an affect on gas mileage?

 

is it possible for the car to start but then stop immediately because of a bad fuel pump? or would it not start at all? i'm having a similar problem, but mine will turn over and completely start. i'm wondering if i should check my fuel pump, too. is this a good idea?

 

yeah, a bad fuel pump would affect mileage. If pressure is too much or too little, it throws efficiency out the door - just a like a bad or going bad injector or a fouled plug would.

Depending on what stage of "bad" your fuel pump is at, it is realistic. The easiest way to test the fuel pump is to get a fuel pressure tester. Unhook the rubber hose that runs from the pump to the fuel filter. Follow the directions for the tester and turn the car on and you'll be able to see if it's at the right pressure (in a chilton's manual). You may just have a dirty fuel filter, too. If you haven't replaced it in a few 10k miles, I'd swap it out anyway.