A little history... I was born in a small town in... (gotta keep a sense of humor)
seriously...
Van has 138K miles
I replaced fuel pump aboput 18 months ago (less than 20K miles ago), and had a tune up, replacing wires, dist. cap and rotor about 14 months ago.
About 2 weeks ago, noticed that car started hard- would crank 10 - 15 seconds before starting. (A month ago, the van would start fast, usually in the first 1 - 3 seconds of cranking the engine). When it did finally start, it would (apparently) run fine. This went on for 3-4 days, until it didn't start one rainy morning. I replaced the distributor cap with a Delphi brand cap (the contacts were fairly corroded), and it started again, but still would crank 7-8 seconds before starting. Would fire right up if the cr had run in the last hour or so. When ignition key turned-on, could hear the fuel pump, and it sounded normal.
Well, over the last couple of days, it was taking 10 - 15 seconds of cranking for the car to start (especially if it was the first start of the day), and would run fine when started. Earlier today, didn't start in the first 10 sec crank. Let off the starter for a second, and tried again... It did start after another 10 second cranking, ran rough for a second or 2, and then ran fine. Have noticed a fuel smell both at the front driver side of the car, and toward the rear driver side, while the car was running, and just after it is shut off. No visible fuel dripping when inspecting under the car (though seems to have a lot of moisture in the exhaust system- the pipes just behind the catalytic converter were dripping water to a puddle about 6-7 inches in diameter- didn't smell like gas, just water). When ignition key turned-on, could hear the fuel pump, and it sounded normal.
Took passenger side spark plug out, placed into plug wire and held again engine block. Got spark (yellowish, not bright blue). Thinking may be dealing with an ignition coil problem (thought I read somewhere that a sign of a weak coil was a yellowish (not blue) spark). Was thinking perhaps that the weak coil couldn't penetrate the corroded dist. cap terminals, and worked better with the new dist. cap. Bought an ignition coil, but didn't change it out. I did a resistance check of the coil in the van, and the resistances were as stated in the Haynes manual, and the same as the new coil. So I'm ruling out ignition coil (please let me know if I'm wrong here). So I started thinking fuel system.
Well, I went out and purchased a fuel pressure gauge. Hooked it up, and put the key in the "on" position. Pressure reads 58 psi for 1 second, then plumets to about 20psi. turn the key off, back on, and the same thing happens. When trying to crank, will initially rise to 58 psi for a sec, then drop immediately to 45 psi while cranking, and when I stop cranking the engine (put key top on position), hear the fuel pump and the pressure returns to 58 for a second and drops (fuel pump could and very well may be on while cranking, just couldn't hear it from in the vehicle while cranking). So it seems I have a leak somewhere in my fuel system (and probably the reason been smelling fuel). Wasn't able to start the car with the fuel pressure gague on it to get a reading while idling. Just trying to narrow down where the leak is (and if possible, without removing the upper-intake manifold).
Any thoughts are appreciated. Thanks in advance.
seriously...
Van has 138K miles
I replaced fuel pump aboput 18 months ago (less than 20K miles ago), and had a tune up, replacing wires, dist. cap and rotor about 14 months ago.
About 2 weeks ago, noticed that car started hard- would crank 10 - 15 seconds before starting. (A month ago, the van would start fast, usually in the first 1 - 3 seconds of cranking the engine). When it did finally start, it would (apparently) run fine. This went on for 3-4 days, until it didn't start one rainy morning. I replaced the distributor cap with a Delphi brand cap (the contacts were fairly corroded), and it started again, but still would crank 7-8 seconds before starting. Would fire right up if the cr had run in the last hour or so. When ignition key turned-on, could hear the fuel pump, and it sounded normal.
Well, over the last couple of days, it was taking 10 - 15 seconds of cranking for the car to start (especially if it was the first start of the day), and would run fine when started. Earlier today, didn't start in the first 10 sec crank. Let off the starter for a second, and tried again... It did start after another 10 second cranking, ran rough for a second or 2, and then ran fine. Have noticed a fuel smell both at the front driver side of the car, and toward the rear driver side, while the car was running, and just after it is shut off. No visible fuel dripping when inspecting under the car (though seems to have a lot of moisture in the exhaust system- the pipes just behind the catalytic converter were dripping water to a puddle about 6-7 inches in diameter- didn't smell like gas, just water). When ignition key turned-on, could hear the fuel pump, and it sounded normal.
Took passenger side spark plug out, placed into plug wire and held again engine block. Got spark (yellowish, not bright blue). Thinking may be dealing with an ignition coil problem (thought I read somewhere that a sign of a weak coil was a yellowish (not blue) spark). Was thinking perhaps that the weak coil couldn't penetrate the corroded dist. cap terminals, and worked better with the new dist. cap. Bought an ignition coil, but didn't change it out. I did a resistance check of the coil in the van, and the resistances were as stated in the Haynes manual, and the same as the new coil. So I'm ruling out ignition coil (please let me know if I'm wrong here). So I started thinking fuel system.
Well, I went out and purchased a fuel pressure gauge. Hooked it up, and put the key in the "on" position. Pressure reads 58 psi for 1 second, then plumets to about 20psi. turn the key off, back on, and the same thing happens. When trying to crank, will initially rise to 58 psi for a sec, then drop immediately to 45 psi while cranking, and when I stop cranking the engine (put key top on position), hear the fuel pump and the pressure returns to 58 for a second and drops (fuel pump could and very well may be on while cranking, just couldn't hear it from in the vehicle while cranking). So it seems I have a leak somewhere in my fuel system (and probably the reason been smelling fuel). Wasn't able to start the car with the fuel pressure gague on it to get a reading while idling. Just trying to narrow down where the leak is (and if possible, without removing the upper-intake manifold).
Any thoughts are appreciated. Thanks in advance.