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Little help: Won't crank

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Old 07-16-2004, 12:41 AM
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Default Little help: Won't crank

Hi, guys. I'm a newbie ... in so many ways.

I'll try to make this story short:

My dad bought a 1990 Bonneville in time for a long trip. He drove it three years, then was bedridden. My mother never drove. It'* the first fuel-injected car I have had the occasion to work on.

The Bonneville has 48,000 miles. My wife now drives it, but it ran out of gas last week. She got gas for it, ran it for three blocks, then it died. Now it won't crank.

I don't have a manual (which repair manual would you suggest?), and I'm not sure where to start to get it running -- other than paying for someone to look at it.

Any ideas would be appreciated. TIA.
Old 07-16-2004, 07:12 AM
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In my experience (it`* little but still) it may be that Your car'* fuel pump is dead. Sometimes they do so, if they've been run out of fuel. So maybe You could try another fuel pump. Or, first to check ik. Have some friend next to the fue.le inlet door (I coul'nt make some other word for it) and turn the key to the place, where the lamps in gauges gonna work, and if You hear a little humming from the fueltank, the the pump should be ok. If not, then it could be dead.
Don`t hit me if I`m wrong, just trying to help a little

Sorry for bad English, it`* not my motherlanguage.
Old 07-16-2004, 09:24 AM
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The real way to check is to put a fuel pressure guage on the fuel rail and connect the "Prime" connector (green connector that is loose behind the battery) to 12v. Over 20 psi and the engine should run.

If the car sat for a long time, particularly with only a partial tank of gas, it is likely to have gone to gum and varnish and clogged the sock, fuel pump, and fuel filter. Running out of gas just aggravates the condition.

I would not be draining (the hard part) or dropping the tank to replace the fuel pump until checking everything else out first though.

As far as a manual is concerned, the factory manual is the only one worth having and are around, might even find one on e-Bay.

There are starting to be a number of scanned manuals available on the 'net for download if you have a high speed connection - the manual for a 1990 Buick Reatta/Riviera (same drivetrain) is at http://www.reatta.net/docs.html but you will need to register first.

I just went through the process of getting a gummed up Fiero running again and if that is the problem you will need to flush the tank.
Old 07-16-2004, 09:40 AM
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Is one on e-Bay now: 1990 Service Manual so you can at least see what it looks like.
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