no fuel issue please help

T

TicTacTone

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i just got done putting a pump in an 01 towncar, new strainer, and filter, i can hear the pump kicking on and off between the relay clicks but the car wont start and when i press the schrader valve down on the rail nothing comes out. i'm thinking a clogged line somewhere or the pump isnt putting out enough pressure, this thing has over 400k on it but i'm looking for opinions on what could possibly be causing it not to start. it chugs like it wants to turn over and even blew some gas out the exhaust..well after priming the pump and cranking it so many times little puffs came out that smelled like fuel anyway. scanned it out of curiousity and nothing showed up. tomorrow i'm going to start looking for a clog but if anyone else has had this problem and knows what caused it that could point me in the right direction would really help out.
 
oh yeah, i also tried spraying starting fluid into the throttle body and it still didnt start
 
yeah i got spark. it just seems like the fuel system wont pressurize cuz when i press down the shrader valve after priming the pump there is nothing, not even a little residual fuel on the tip of the screwdriver. i also pulled out the regulator or damper whatever it is on this thing, and tried cranking it and it looked like fuel was getting into the rail but it wasnt enough to squirt out the open hole where the regulator was. and when i say it looked like fuel was getting into the rail, when i looked through the hole that the regulator presses into, i could see a little bit of gas moving around.
 
Well... you fiddled with the pump, right?

Did you have these problems before you took the pump out? Is this a new pump? If so, you sure you have the correct pump? If not, (or, either way), are you sure you didn't pinch a line coming out of the tank?

Did you replace the fuel filter as well? Are you sure you installed it the right way? Aka, didn't flip it around, where the inlet is now the outlet?
 
he brought me the car because he said a shop said it needed a fuel pump, when it got dropped off i tried starting it and nothing, no fuel pressure, couldnt hear the pump, typical stuff all pointing to the pump. he already bought a new one and a filter and left it on the seat, so i put it all in. between the relay clicks i can hear the pump, the filter is not clogged and fuel will come out of the filter, but there is no pressure at the rail. i'm sure i didnt pinch a line, and i know i have the filter on right because it says flow and has a big arrow pointing forward lol this is why i'm confused. i'm thinking a clogged line but its not often that happens.

a little more of what was going on...

he was having issues starting it, he brought it to a shop, they said the pump is on its way out. for a few weeks he got by with turning the key 5 or so times to build the pressure up, then it just wouldnt start anymore. by that time he had a new pump and towed the car to my house. he wasnt even having any problems until it got cold out (below freezing), there are no trouble codes, the pump is from autozone so really who knows if its the right one or not cuz theyre a bunch of idiots over there lol, all the lines are connected, new strainer and filter, and it has between a quarter and a half tank of gas. i made sure i put it all back together the same way i took it out so that the pump is in the right direction. i'm about to go out there in a little bit and see if i can find a clog further up the line, it just took me a while to get motivated cuz i'm fighting a cold right now.
 
Well... If you're getting fuel to the filter, then you only have a couple of feet of fuel line that you gotta look at. Where the filter on the TC? On the passenger frame? Dunno, since I never took a TC apart.

See if you're getting fuel where the fuel line goes into the rail. I'm thinking it's just a typical FORD quick disconnect setup. If you're getting fuel TO the injector rails, then chances are you've got a clog in the injector rail, somewhere. It's all a matter of following your fuel flow, and testing it at each junction.
 
i double checked the pump (pulled it out and tested it) and it works fine, the old one actually is still good. filter is on the passenger side frame rail towards the rear tire and fuel is getting past that. its also getting into the cylinders because when it cranks it'll puff white smoke and smell like gas so its getting fuel into the cylinders BUT there is no pressure at the rails which makes me think the injectors might be leaking. i'm going to do a compression test and while i'm in there i'm going to double check for spark just because i'll have it apart anyway. scanned it again and forgot the numbers but it came back cyl 1 misfire and evap system leak...id rescan and get the numbers but i dont own a scan tool cuz pretty much everything i own is obd1 or older and autozone needed theirs back cuz it was the store one they werent supposed to rent to me so i already returned it.
 
Check the wiring on the driver's side fender going into the interior of the car, sometimes they get worn, pull the harness up towards you. Also check the fuses. It might also be a crank sensor. That's just some of the things that might be causing this.
 
i was starting to lead towards the crank sensor cuz the wiring looks fine, that was one of the first things i checked after searching around on crownvic.net...the fuel is getting to the passenger side rail but not to the driver side, driver side has the schrader valve on it which now makes sense why i couldnt get any pressure out of it. the passenger side plugs smell like gas, but the driver side plugs have no smell at all, and the plugs show normal wear. i didnt get around to checking spark again, or checking the compression yet because my garage is cold and the propane heater isnt doing much because one of my doors doesnt close all the way (spring broke and it came off the track then the line got tangled) anyway it almost seems like the line going from the pass side rail to the driver side rail is clogged because no fuel is traveling over there. i'm gonna check the spark again and test the compression tomorrow just because its already apart and might as well take advantage of it while i have the rails off and the coils out lol. if the lines arent plugged then i'm probably going to have him get a crank sensor because if thats bad then the fuel pump will cut when it cranks which could also cause the fuel not to travel to the drivers side if theres not enough pressure to push it over. hopefully i can get this figured out tomorrow.
 
definetely has spark lol, and compression, so i'm starting to lean towards a crank sensor
 
turns out the inertia switch was bad, hence why resetting it did nothing, whats weird though is that the pump would still kick on. anyway, bypassed the inertia switch and its running just fine. thanks for the help everyone.
 
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