Here's my problem. Drove to work the other day. Not raining. Parked at work. While at work it rained like hell. (South Florida) Came out from work after rain was over and my car wouldn't stay running. It starts for 2 seconds and then the rpm's drop and engine stops dead. (No sputtering down) The only reason I mentioned the rain is because I'm a techy guy, and sometimes a coincidence like that might mean something. By the way, never drove through any puddles all day.
So the tow truck driver calls his buddy. The buddy immediately says, "Air flow meter"
The next day... car sitting at home. I had this instinct that the fuel pump wasn't sending gas. As if the process of starting the car sucked some gas into the engine... just enough to start, and then the car would die like it was doing. So I yanked out the back seat and put my ear on the fuel pump cover while my girl turned over the engine. I didn't hear the whirring sound of the pump. I knew to do this because I changed the fuel pump recently. For some reason, as you'll see in the story, I doubted that maybe I just wasn't hearing it and that it WAS working.
So that day, I changed the fuel filter. (My neighbor's theory) Same problem. Started for 2 seconds and wound down quick. Then I figured that maybe this "Air flow meter" wasn't working, and that the AFM was assuming there was too much air coming in and wasn't allowing the fuel pump to turn on. So I called Advanced and ordered a $200 AFM.
Today the part came. Went and got it. Threw it in. Same problem. (Can't return AFM!)
Then I went back to the fuel pump theory. I took a little 12v battery pack and hooked it directly to the contacts above the fuel pump area and I could hear it turning/whirring just fine. Then I hooked a multitester up to the contacts that are supposed to SEND electricity to the fuel pump, and I got NO ELECTRICITY while starting the car and for the 2 seconds that it runs.
Next up. My electronics brain told me to just leave that 12 source ON the fuel pump so it's running, start the car, and see if it stays running. Well it does. Just fine. However, there's black water dripping out my tail pipe. (Car sitting for two days... don't know if this matters) The water is not coolant and doesn't have a gasoline smell. Just slightly black from running through dirty tail pipe. Also, no smoking out the tail pipe.
Already checked fuses and the Fuel Injection relay. I even hooked power to the relay (to hear the click of the coil/switch) and hooked a multitester to the switch side to confirm it is closing.
Questions:
1:Why the water?
2:Can I hook a direct 12v source from the car to my fuel pump with a switch, and drive around town like that with the fuel pumping running all the time?... or does the car's computer and/or Fuel Injection system constantly turn the fuel pump on & off during normal driving/running?
3: And most obvious... why the hell isn't my fuel pump getting electricity?
4: Anyone wanna buy an AFM?
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Edward Rose