Hey everyone. Im very mecahnically inclined and haved worked on many many cars ,from rebuilds etc,but there is still some things i dont know know lol.. My daughter has a 97 monte carlo ls 3.1 .When i first got this for her there was a fuel pump issue(just a worn out pump), so i replaced the fuel pump(bought the whole big kit that came with fuel pump assembly,fuel lines,Filter and wiring near the tank.I cleaned out the lines and did repairs and Ran like a dream.
After a few weeks the car would not start and there was no pressure in the system( i did a pressure gauge test) and nothing. After sitting for about an hour the car started and ran fine for another couple weeks.
Yesterday !!! Once again drove the car , parked it for just a few minutes to put air in a tire and it wouldnt start.

Left the car till i came back about an hour later to get it towed and it started right up no problem,Drove it home and decided to Change out the fuel pump regulator just because we are not the original owner of this car and we have no idea what has been done to it before hand, so i like to do maint. on parts that do go out

.I did clean out the fuel rail of in case of any dirty fuel while i had the regulator out....Put the new one in and it wouldnt start.I did spray some carb cleaner in throttle body and it does want to start but no fuel is getting in so it dies. After you let the car sit for a few minutes it tries to start but no go.I checked the fuel rail to see if any pressure is building up,Barely any pressure is building up.........When it does run, there isnt no hesitation at all,runs like a champ.

Any Ideas ? Thank you Everyone

 

Dwayne:

Since you recently changed the fuel pump,filters lines etc...
I would imagine not only mileage/age had something to do with it..
But that leads me to one conclusion...
Not knowing the maintenance on this vehicle and or how many times it was run on empty..(Which kills the pump)

Possibly the fuel filter... is clogged...

Yes I know you changed it..But there may have been some residual residue in the tank, lines etc.... Quite possibly... it may need to be changed again...

Hint:
after the pressure begins to drop while it sits... it gets enough fuel to start... Thus the issue disappears but once you shut it off... The filter plugs up again! I had this very same thing happen to me on my 1999...
To this day..after a cpl changes of the filter... Its a non issue now.

I'm sure other members will chime in with more help,Ideas...
Keep us posted of your progress and the fix..
Thanks!

 

I vote fuel filter

 

when the fuel pump etc was changed,the tank was cleaned and so were the lines all the way up to the fuel rail just to make sure nothing was in the tank...This was a used car bought for my daughter,It has about 133,xxx miles on it, no clue of prior work since i didnt get it from original owner...