1986 nova gets no fuel

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silver5liter - 04 Apr 2006 04:12 GMT

I have a 1986 nova that I thought the fuel pump was out on. I replaced
the fuel pump and still wont run unless you put gas in the carb. I
have tried to blow thru the feed line from the fuel tank with
compressed air and have tried sucking on the line. No fuel and you
cant blow or suck thru it. Is there another fuel pump that feeds the
mechanical one? I cant believe the lines could be so clogged that
compressed air wont blow thru it. Any ideas? No fuel at the pump or
fuel filter.

Thanks

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HLS@nospam.nix - 08 Apr 2006 17:25 GMT

> I have a 1986 nova that I thought the fuel pump was out on. I replaced
> the fuel pump and still wont run unless you put gas in the carb. I
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> compressed air wont blow thru it. Any ideas? No fuel at the pump or
> fuel filter.

I have seen fuel lines that were completely plugged. Not very often,
however.

AFAIK, it is not normal to have both an electrical fuel pump and a
mechanical one on unmodified production cars.

You may end up having to drop the tank and check the condition of the
innards. Pickup may have fouled or even dropped off.

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larry moe 'n curly - 09 Apr 2006 01:47 GMT

www.autozone.com has repair information for many vehicles, and many
libraries carry Mitchell, either in book form or online.

Can you check for fuel delivery by looking at the sight glass on the
passenger side of the carb to verify that the fuel level is close to
the center?

I have the Toyota version of that car. There's only one fuel pump, the
mechanical one, but there are also two fuel-cut solenoids, one for the
primary barrel (driver's side, two wires, also called the slow cut
solenoid), the other for the secondary (front, one wire), and I think
that the primary one has to open for the engine to start. BTW the
factory manual and maybe the Mitchell shows these solenoids mixed up.
Fuel solenoids should click when 12V is applied (connector is a 1"
diameter green plastic barrel near the firewall, passenger side, 3-4
wires), but even if the primary side oen does it's possible it's
clogged by debris, such as from a broken rubber o-ring. I think it's
also necessary for the throttle position switch (passenger side, single
wire, green connector near firewall) to be open (infinitely high ohms)
to make the computer trigger the primary fuel cut solenoid. The
adjustment for this switch (screw facing firewall) is very touchy, and
barely pressing on the throttle should make the switch change
resistance (this should occur at about 1800 RPM).

My own carb was clogged with bits of rubber shed from the fuel hose,
some clogging one of the main jets, the rest jammed into the float
valve because it was an aftermarket valve without a protective.mesh
screen filter at its inlet. So I put back the brass body from the
original Toyota float valve but relaced the rubber plunger assembly
with a new one from the carb rebuild kit.

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