Car's been sitting since last summer. Ran fine while it was sitting I would start it every few weeks and it would run no problems. Ran all the gas out of it. Today I put a gallon of premium and a gallon of regular in it and tried to start it and it would just crank.

Bought starter fluid and it fired up but when I gave it gas or waited 5 seconds it would eventually die (died quicker when I gave it gas), like a vacuum leak or something

All vacuum lines are fine, replaced fuel filter, replaced fouled plugs with new NGKs, sprayed all connections with electrical cleaner, STILL wont stay running now it tries to start a little more but once again when I press the gas it dies out again. Like I said I had no problem starting it and running it since its been sitting but now when I put new gas in it it doesnt want to start what can it be???? Maybe TPS?

This is what I get for neglecting the VE

 

Come on 3rd gen forum dont die on me yet!!

 

ran the gas out of it...ran it dry?

Dollars to donuts it's either your fuel pump or fuel filter.

And expecting a reply within 20 minutes? come on

 

Yeah I ran it to the point it didnt want to start, there wasnt enough gas. But I can hear the fuel pump when I turn the key to the on position, and I just put the fuel filter in bout an hour ago. Can the fuel pump go bad from just sitting? I dont see how if its not exposed to the weather

Lol yea im kinda used to the 4th gen community now, getting replies in like 10 minutes. There hasnt been a new reply since yesterday here tho, the community is scarce

 

Sounds like a possible fuel pressure or volume issue.

 

Soooo ive narrowed it down to the fuel pump fuse, everytime i put a new one in it keeps blowing... trying to trace down the relay for a possible short to ground or something now

 

Removed the rear seat to check the fuel pump and found this



Does anyone know what exactly these wires are? I cant find it anywhere. Are these the fuel sending unit or fuel pump? Or am I talking about the same thing? Idk how these went bad when the car has just been sitting this whole time

 

Well for future refrence, try not to start a car with very little or no gas. Also you mentioned the fuel was from last summer, that is quite sometime for that fuel to sit and probably lose its ability to fully combust. The fuel pump is the most fragile piece of any vehicle. The fuel pump has 1 job and that 1 job is what keeps it the pump working. A fuel pump has seals in it that get lubricated by the gas running through it, if there is no gas lubricating it and keeping it cool then once they come into contact with air they burn out.

 

Woah man you must not have read wat I said right. I said the car has been sitting since last summer with NO gas I put NEW gas in it just yesterday. And replaced the fuel filter.

 

So does anyone know what these 4 wires are exactly? I'm confused and frustrated at this point the car ran with no problems before all of this

 

You said its been sitting since last summer, and that since then you would start it every week or so and then you ran the gas out of it just starting it from the summer. Or maybe your wording isn't exactly expressing what you mean.

 

yes; the wires are for the fuel gauge sender and fuel pump.
I haven't seen many die like that, so a trip to the junkyard will be the fastest fix.

 

Yea that's what I meant, but like I said I put new gas in it the day before. I know it runs fine because when I put a new fuse in it starts right up and runs perfect, but then the fuse blows after like 10 seconds. So now I'm trying to figure out what these wires are at this point.

Wondering if I can just run new wires maybe? Because a few of them are exposed like shown in the picture

 

Ok thanks man. Does it matter which maxima I get it out of? I highly doubt ill find a ve in any of the junkyards near me. Mostly just GXEs

 

afaik, all 3rd gens are the same right there.
I'm gonna be lazy and not whip out my fsm, so I can't recall if the sending unit is hard-wired into those terminals. If it is, get a non-digital-cluster sending unit.
fuel pump unplugs/unscrews, so you wouldn't necessarily need that (but another pump can't hurt right now)

 

Ok good deal man ill hit the junkyard tmrw and report back

 

I've replaced mine just a couple of months ago. 1 wire for the ground, 1 for the power, 1 for the gauge, and I'm not sure about the other one. I replaced mine with airtex (I know, it's a cheapo but it works fine so far. I just don't let the fuel be lower than a quarter tank). The wires are soldered so just desolder the 2 wires that goes to the pump (a pos and a neg). Put the rubber spacer and the sleeve, done.

 

Well I went to the junkyard today and pulled a fuel pump out of i believe a 90 gxe. Anyways I installed the pump and it solved my issue. Idk how bc the connections actually looked just as bad as the original pump, but im not complaining as long as it runs lol

Thanks for the help and suggestions tho guys i was this close to giving up i was so geeked to see it start and run again

 

nice!

 

Don't let the tank run dry next time. These fuel pumps are cooled two ways- 1 from being submerged in the tank, and 2 from having fuel flowing through them. running the car to empty like that causes the fuel pump to not get cooled, then it overheats and dies. the second issue is condensation inside the fuel tank. If you don't keep a decent amount of fuel in there, it lets moist air inside the tank, which then the water condenses out in cool weather and the water settles in the bottom.

If you're going to be storing the car long term, put at least 5 gallons in it, and put some Stabil fuel treatment in there as well to help the fuel last longer.