Car is down again

[Cornbreadxd]

Well after cleaning the fuel pipes/lines out, replacing the spark plugs, and replacing the fuel filter my car died on me on my way home from school. I was in 3rd gear then all of a sudden it started bucking like crazy and then It wouldn't let me shift the gears. When I coasted for a little I was able to shift but the idle was horrible so I went to 1st gear and it chugged at 1K rpm which I kept it at until it died on the side of the road. (the car is F/I 83zx l28e)

I waited a few minutes and tried to start it but i was only able to keep it rolling in first gear as it sputtered dead. I didn't see any crazy smoke while this was happening either it was just all of a sudden. Anyone have any ideas? I used the search tool but couldn't find anything really relevant.

So as it sits right now it hesitates to start and only stays running if I feather the gas, is there anyway to know if something in the engine has blown w/o using a tester or some sort because I don't have one but like I said there isn't any blue,black, etc. smoke coming out.

[Nissanman]

Could be a million things but I suggest checking the very basics.

Check for adequate fuel flow by letting the fuel supply pump into a container of some sort.

The EFI pump should deliver a heap of fuel at high pressure when you switch the key to ON.

If that is OK check for adequate spark.

You can use a timing light on the distributor cap to coil lead connector to check for all 6 events or intercept any spark plug to see just 1.

You could also check all the electrical connections to see if anything has been dislodged or broken.

Check that there is no unwanted holes in the air intake that the throttle body doesn't know about, e.g. torn duct, dislodhed duct, split hose etc.

You had a good reason for doing that work on the fuel supply, perhaps you have dud fuel in the tank or at least a heap of sediment:ermm:

Check for splits and holes in the air ducts, the air flow sensor needs it all sealed.

[Cornbreadxd]

i'll check all of that, but when i looked at my plugs they kind of looked carbon fouled but they have only been in for 1 month, i'll try to get a picture of it up here. i also did notice the plug on the dist. cap looked kinda bent i'll get a pic of that too. But would that cause the car to just start bucking all of a sudden out of nowhere?

[Cornbreadxd]

ok I didn't notice the filter being dirty at all and tried to start it after cleaning all the spark plugs to make sure they weren't dirty or damaged and it still won't start.

I was thinking maybe something got wet and shorted because the hood was partially open and the car had a bit of snow on the hood which melted within a few hours but I wasn't sure if water got on the fusible links somehow, but i took the covers off and made sure they were dry and not coroded, and still nothing. any idea on why it would just start bucking and not hold anything but 1st gear before stalling and not cutting back on?

[Neumeier]

I suggest checking the fuel pressure with an appropriate gauge near the motor. They sell these at auto parts stores, or maybe you can borrow one. You should have over 30 psi of pressure (look in the shop manual for the correct value).

The symptoms sound similar to my '78 280, which needed a fuel pump. Only had between 10 and 20 psi with the old one. Would run for a bit, but no power at all.

Good luck!

[Cornbreadxd]

i'll try to get a fuel pressure guage but I can hear my fuel pump and see fuel moving through the "add on" g3 filter in the back of the car, like i said the filter isn't even a month old and everything was fine after the new stuff was put in.

[m4xwellmurd3r]

At least you see fuel going through yours. Once I had a similar problem, and when i looked at that filter it was sucking air. I ran it out of gas >_<

whenever my car won't start the first thing I do is spray some sort of starter fluid into the intake to find out if it's a fuel problem or a spark problem. If the car starts then dies on the starter fluid, it's a fuel problem, if not, it's probably a spark issue.

Might not be the best way to figure things out, but for me it gets me on track.

[Rockr69]

also, you have a fuel injection car, moving the throttle when trying to start is not helping or doing anything for that matter. If you do have a fuel delivery problem pushing on the gas pedal will only make it worse, as in huge vacuum leak. Try doing what m4xwell suggested. Take off the top of your air cleaner and dribble some gas on it and see if will fire.

Do you have the stock fuel feed line with a G3 filter in it? If so you may have a clogged inlet screen inside the tank and there's only one way to find out. You need to check your fuel pressure. If your pump is weak or your inlet screen is dirty you will have the bucking and surging until the car quits. One more thing does it start after it sits for awhile?

[Cornbreadxd]

it hasn't started since it recently broke down, im thinking that it could be the screen as well from reading old posts on that being an issue with other members but i still haven't been able to get a pressure guage, im gonna blow some air into the lines though to see if there is a blockage within the line but the filter isn't really dirty but i know there is crap in the tank

[Cornbreadxd]

well the car started for 5 seconds then died, I picked up a fuel pressure gauge,vacuum gauge, and an engine compression gauge so I should be able to get to the problem. I'll keep everyone posted.

[sblake01]

One thing I notice, and maybe it's just the quality of the video or just my imagination, but I don't see a vacuum line connected to your fuel pressure regulator.

[Cornbreadxd]

yeah, it is on there now the tow truck driver <(they sure like to bash z cars) was trying to explain some BS to me and pulled it out when he asked me to try and start the car. I didn't notice until I made the video but the car wouldn't start anyway