hey everyone

all of a sudden out of the blue the engine just started sputtering and cutting out. this when on for two days or about 20 miles (thats the total I drove it for those days). pulled it in the driveway and when I went back to it a few days later it won't start al all.

it sounds to me like it is out of gas which of course is impossible, it was on a 1/4 tank when this happened so the possibility of this being the cause is slim to none.

73' 1.7 FI

any thoughts...


-jp-

GOT SPARK?

If you're absolutely sure it has fuel (don't trust the gauge), check the fuel pump. This happened to me, and my fuel pump was bad. 'Course be prepared for sticker shock when you find out how much a replacement fuel pump is going to cost. You could do the carb conversion (32/36 or dual 34s) WITH the correct carbed fuel pump for less than the price of a replacement FI fuel pump...

Fuel. Air. Compression. Spark. All four needed for the engine to work.

Wtf? A new fuel pump can be had for around a hundred.

What kind of "doesn't start"?

Doesn't crank over? Cranks over weakly?
Cranks and cranks strongly but doesn't light off?

As mentioned, need to check the basics.. fuel, air, spark.

Dirty gas tank sock? clogged fuel filter?

Had you done anything to the car lately? ie, you set xxxx but never tightened something back down all the way?

ok going to check the four parts to this mystery. first, going to make sure there is gas
second make sure there is no houses disconnected, then the spark, then I forgot what the fourth one was, but I'm on it...

starts same as it always did jut doesn't complete the task of firing up...
strong crank over. how done nothing to it..

Check the fuse for the pump (on the relay board in the engine compartment)--sometimes it will look good, but corrosion on the ends will keep it from providing power to the pump. "Spin" it to make sure . . . .

You can also check it by turning on heater fan--IIRC, they're on the same fuse.

Hope this helps!

Say what? Red flag rising. Do you mean "cranks" like always (as in it turns over)? Starts means it runs. We may need to clarify the semantics to be more helpful.

1. Check spark because that only takes a minute (literally).
2. Pull injector and put in a glass jar to get a real measure on fuel flow.

Unless there was a serious event, the compression and timing shouldn't be suspected before these.