96 GA fuel pump service door

[Melbowski]

Hi all, well my fuel pump went out on me today and I plan to change it out this evening. I was wondering if there is any kind of service door to access the fuel pump so I don't have to drop the tank. I just changed the pump on my 3000GT a couple months ago and it has a handy door in the trunk, I'm really hoping the GA has something similar. I appreciate any info guys, thanks in advance.

Melbowski

[jonnythan]

You have to drop the tank.

It's easy to do. Literally two bolts and the thing comes down. Careful, though, it can be heavy if it has fuel in it.

The hardest part is going to be disconnecting the fuel lines.

[Melbowski]

You have to drop the tank.

It's easy to do. Literally two bolts and the thing comes down. Careful, though, it can be heavy if it has fuel in it.

The hardest part is going to be disconnecting the fuel lines.

I see, I figured I'd have to drop the tank, but I'm glad to hear it's not too tough. I've got a half tank of gas, sure am glad I didn't fill up! Thanks for the info, hopefully this goes smoothly.

Melbowski

[jonnythan]

Get under the car and saturate the retaining bolts with WD-40 or penetrating oil and let that soak for a while before you attempt to remove the bolts.

This is a good time to start working on the god-awful quick disconnects that attach the fuel pump to the fuel lines. There's one at the fuel filter (it'll probably be easier to simply unscrew the fuel filter from the fuel line and toss it out with the old pump), one at the fuel line, and one more for the fuel return line.

If worse comes to worst, you can use a mini pipe cutter from Home Depot to cut off the pipe above the QD then attach a plumbing compression fitting.

[tenspeed]

It's not hard to change the tank. It can be a royal pain however. I made up a pair of 8" all thread rods with nuts. If you a fortunate enough to get the bolts free, stick a rod in there so you can lower the tank down. They're handy when re-installing too.

I found the easiest way to empty the tank was to remove the fill tube and siphon the gas out that way.

Be sure that you have a bad pump..... You don't want to take it apart and find out that it was a bad fuse or relay.

[Melbowski]

Well, more striking developments on my fuel pump crisis. After towing it home the thing decided to start and run just fine. I turned the key on and off and the fuel pump was heard and built pressure every time. I decided to change the filter because it looked old and I had one laying around that I bought a few months ago. I checked the relays, all seemed well. However, upon pulling from the driveway to test drive it, it died, no spit and sputter, just dead like I turned the key off.

Now it turns over, but won't start. I can hear the fuel pump and it seems to be just fine, but the engine doesn't even try to fire. It turns over and over so the battery is fine but it bluntly will not fire, it's like I have no spark.

Oddly enough I just charged the distributer cap twice (one was bad out of the box) and the spark plugs two weeks ago. I'm at a loss for what is going on, anyone have similar experience/suggestions? With the 3000GT headless I have no back-up; I need this car for work/school so I have to fix it ASAP. Any suggestions/information will be helpful and looked into. I appreciate your help guys, and hopefully we can get this figured out quickly.

Melbowski

[arthurgoboom]

There's your problem, you changed the distributor cap on an engine that has no distributor!

Seriously though, the 2.4L Twin Cam 4-cyl has no distributor, just the 2 coil packs, the spark plug boots, and the spark plugs themselves. Fortunately, you can take the ignition module to an Advance or Autozone and they can test it for free. As for the coil packs, you can test those with a multimeter.

One other possibility is the engine is losing oil pressure and the PCM is shutting off the fuel since it's seeing no oil pressure. Does your low oil pressure light come on when you turn the key on before starting?

[Melbowski]

There's your problem, you changed the distributor cap on an engine that has no distributor!

Seriously though, the 2.4L Twin Cam 4-cyl has no distributor, just the 2 coil packs, the spark plug boots, and the spark plugs themselves. Fortunately, you can take the ignition module to an Advance or Autozone and they can test it for free. As for the coil packs, you can test those with a multimeter.

One other possibility is the engine is losing oil pressure and the PCM is shutting off the fuel since it's seeing no oil pressure. Does your low oil pressure light come on when you turn the key on before starting?

Lol, yeah distributer cap was the only thing that came to mind when I tried to think of what it was called:lol:. Anywho, best I can tell oil pressure is fine, the light shuts off after the key is on for a few seconds.

Meanwhile, I have no spark whatsoever so I'm thinking it must be the coild packs or something of that nature. I think I'll have the ignition module tested just for good measure, and start messing with the coil packs. Who knows maybe that piece I just changed twice crapped out again, it would figure. Appreciate the ideas, I'll post up what I find out later tonight. Thanks for the help.

Melbowski

[Melbowski]

Nightly bump, took my ignition module to Autozone, checked out to be just fine. Have yet to test the coil packs, but I can't see how they'd both fail simultaneously, I mean if one fails the other should still work right?

Not sure what to do next, any ideas would be great. Not sure how I'll wrangle getting to school/work but I'll figure something out. Thanks for your help guys, the forums have yet to let me down.

Melbowski

[jonnythan]

Each coil pack provides spark to two spark plugs.

If one isn't firing, the car probably won't run.

[Melbowski]

Hi all, just figured I'd post up that my problem was solved, and was the cam angle sensor. Why it crapped out in the driveway, I'm not sure, but it ohmed out bad. Changed it out and the car runs again, w00t! Thanks for all your help guys, I appreciate it!

Melbowski