A couple of thoughts.
It could be that the fuel pump is running when the key is first turned
on and not running during cranking.
Or, the fuel pump is running during cranking, and there is no injector
pulse and the engine is running on the initial squirt from the cold
start injector (which is controlled independantly of the ECU and
related electronics).
Either could possibly indicate a problem with the main and/or fuel
pump relays.
There is an in-line fuse for the fuel pump under the rear parcel shelf
on the passenger side. The holder for this fuse tends to fail due to
age.
Also, in the same vicinity, is a single 6mm Philip head screw. Under
the head of this screw, is a single ring terminal attached to a single
black wire. This wire is the ground for the fuel pump. It's pretty
common for this connection to be corroded.
The two relays next to the ECU are the main and fuel pump relays. The
small silver one is the main relay, the larger black one is the fuel
pump relay. FYI, neither of these are common relays and are different
from any of the other relays used on the car.
Does any of this help?
Jeff
Sent from my iPhone
On Sep 19, 2009, at 2:27 PM, Joe Elliott <[email protected]> wrote:
I was hoping that someone with more Spider-specfic knowledge would
chime in, but it sounds to me like the fuel pump is running when the
key is in the Start position, but not continuing to run in response
to the engine turning. If it runs for 3 or 4 seconds (as opposed to
1 or 2), I would guess that the injectors are operating, but the
fuel pump ceases to do so when the key is released. The L-Jet
Spider's fuel pump is switched by the ECU, so I would look into any
relays or fuses involved in that circuit.
-Joe
At 5:05 PM +0000 9/19/09, alfa-digest wrote:
Date: Fri, 18 Sep 2009 12:31:51 -0700 (PDT)
From: Tess McMillan <[email protected]>
Subject: [alfa] Now I am Puzzled
Thanks for all the incredible advice so far in the dx of my '87
Spider. I have made a miniscule amount of progress, in that she
starts
easily and the engine sounds fairly good for the 3 or 4 seconds
that she
runs. But then, she stalls.
Here's what I've done so far: I got ready to pull the plugs and
realized I
apparently didn't have a socket for this. Largest I have are 19s,
which
are just a tad too small. So I decided to prime the engine and give
her a
test start just to see if there was any change from what I
remembered a
few years ago.
I used the starter to prime because it seemed I'd need to pull up
the radiator to get at the bolt referred to for manually cranking.
Then I
added 4+ gals of 92 octane to the tank along with a bottle of
injector
cleaner.
Now when I insert the key and turn it part way, I get all the dash
indicator lights, and I hear a "click" in the passenger rear side
of the
cockpit. I don't hear a fuel pump running and can't remember if I'm
SUPPOSED to hear a pump running like I do in my Audi (which has CIS).
If I turn the key over -- this reminds me of a joke Steve Schaeffer
used
to tell about starting Alfas where the punch line was "Si si si?
NO! Si si
si? NO! Si si si? NO!" -- she starts right away. "Si si si?
Prrrrrrrrrrrr
...." But the engine only runs for about 3 or 4 seconds, and then
stalls.
Not dramatically or with hiccuping or anything; the engine just
stops running.
If I feather the throttle, this if anything seems to make things
worse
and she I think hiccups or at least gasps and then stalls more
quickly (I
think).
There are no holes or cracks in the plastic hose, BTW, that goes
over the
top of the engine from the air filter to the intake. I remember about
keeping an eye on that one.
So I am puzzled. I don't understand how -- if the fuel pump isn't
running,
for example -- the car would run at all.
I am also puzzled at Biba's post. You don't say whether I need to
check
the fuel pump with gas out of the tank (which would mean draining it
yet again.) It would be helpful for me to understand how to test the
circuit since there is fuel involved.
Any new ideas? Thanks again,
Tess
in Bellevue, WA USA
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