jeffroid Posted June 10, 2018 Share Posted June 10, 2018 (edited) 1996 2.2L Engine, 5 speed. 280K on original engine. Daily driver, been driving it 40 miles each way to work on interstate for 10 years without a hiccup. A few days ago, I noticed it started to become significantly harder to start. Would take like 2-3 seconds before starting, it normally starts right away. No other noticeable symptoms. Out of nowhere it just died today. As pure luck would have it, it died on my way to the GF's house, less than100 feet from the driveway. Starter would turn it over strong, just wouldn't start. After the neighbor helped push it into the driveway, it would actually start, but barely run. Would only run a couple of hundred rpm. As soon as you tried to give it gas it would die. Seemed to run really rough, but at that rpm, hard to tell. I borrowed her car to go home and get tools and run a few errands. When I got back to her house it wouldn't start up again at all. I would 't have expected timing belt, because I replaced it around 30-40K miles ago. But it just felt like it was out of time, so I pulled the timing belt covers off. All the pulley marks appear to still be lined up. That's' pretty much all I had time to do. Tomorrow morning I am going to put it all back together and go back to troubleshooting. Figure I'll check for spark, fuel, compression, the usual. I don't think the CEL came on, but I can't get it to start now so not sure. If my buddy is around I'll borrow his code reader and see if any faults got thrown. Anyone have any other hints on troubleshooting? This board has been extremely helpful in the past and is greatly appreciated. This sucks. I really don't have time for this, and again, this is my daily driver. Edited June 10, 2018 by jeffroid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subaru Scott Posted June 10, 2018 Share Posted June 10, 2018 I'm gonna say most likely it's the fuel pump. If you can squirt a little gas down the intake, and it'll run for a few seconds, that's most likely the culprit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
el_freddo Posted June 10, 2018 Share Posted June 10, 2018 I agree fuel pump. Had a similar situation but only occurred once the fuel pump was hot - typically while moving slow in sand 4wd'n. Also check all your fuses Cheers Bennie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
montana tom Posted June 10, 2018 Share Posted June 10, 2018 Fuel pump is an easy change on that car . Really only takes less than an hour to swap out. If it is a sedan its under the rear seat if its a wagon its thru the back hatch directly behind the rear seats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bushwick Posted June 10, 2018 Share Posted June 10, 2018 If it ends up being the fuel pump, might as well do a fresh fuel filter while you are at it. If it still doesn't start with a shot of starting fluid, verify the coil is still good. @280k anything can fail. If it threw a code, it might be a garbage code from the stalling/dying, so verify the fuel/spark first before trying to dive into areas that might actually be OK. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
montana tom Posted June 10, 2018 Share Posted June 10, 2018 Yes , change the pump pickup filter with the pump.and change the engine side fuel filter ,just because its a good idea. Beware of buying the high dollar Bosh OE replacement pump... its poorly designed and will not fit your stock bracket. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffroid Posted June 10, 2018 Author Share Posted June 10, 2018 Thanks everyone for the replies. I am not getting fuel out of the filter and to the injectors. Trying to make sure I am getting power to the pump before I yank it out. Watched some youtube videos and the guy said to jump a test light between the blue/yellow wire and black wire then turn the key on. Should light up for a second or so. I have a black wire. I have a blue wire, but no blue/yellow wire. When I connect the light between the black and blue wire and turn the key on nothing happens. When I connect the light between the black wire and the red/blue wire, the light shines bright when I turn the key on. When I connect the light between the black wire and the black/red wire, the light shines dimly when I turn the key on. Does anyone know how to make sure I don't have a fuse or relay problem before I yank the fuel pump out in vain? Thanks again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
montana tom Posted June 10, 2018 Share Posted June 10, 2018 Jeff; Your test light should go to ground, not the other wires . Connect the alligator clip to bare metal , it MUST make a good connection. Then touch the probe to your wires one at a time . Test light will light up for a few seconds at the correct wire only when the key is turned on. It should not stay on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
el_freddo Posted June 10, 2018 Share Posted June 10, 2018 Some of those wires will be for your fuel gauge in the dash. Add the light to that circuit and you should see the fuel gauge move I'd imagine. Good to start with the power side of things. I reckon from what you've described you've got power to the pump. Cheers Bennie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffroid Posted June 11, 2018 Author Share Posted June 11, 2018 I replaced the fuel pump, inlet screen, and filter and that appears to have been what the problem was. Thanks very much, everybody. Happy Trails! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster2 Posted June 12, 2018 Share Posted June 12, 2018 Glad to hear that you are back on the road, and fuel pump replacement did the trick. If f/p was not the problem, I would have voted for a broken timing belt. That is what happened to wife's 95, 2.2 motor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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