Nut Kit How-to Question -94 Blazer CPI

Hi all,

I have been working on a 94 S-10 Blazer 4.3 Vortec "W" six cylinder engine that won't start. Fuel pressure is 64 PSI when the pump is on and 52 PSI during leak-down. It was leaking down to zero PSI in seconds until I put in a new regulator - thanks to this forum and its guidance. The car still won't start - it sputters, but but just won't run continuously.

I bought a nut kit for it and tried to put it in today just to ensure that there were no small leaks at the fittings. However, I'm having a real problem getting the the lines into place. The O-rings on the couplings that go to the tank fuel lines really resist sliding into place in their holes in lower manifold. Is there some trick to getting these lines pushed into those mounting holes far enough to put on the retainer plate? Also the O-rings that tie the plastic fuel delivery lines to the injector seem to be obstinate in their resistance to allowing me to put the lines far enough into the injector to put on the retaining clip. Is it simply because I'm working in a driveway where it's 20 degrees F and the compliance of the rubber is non-existant?

Any advice is greatly appreciated. (Warm thoughts, too...)

lube them up with vaseoline or WD-40

You might try installing the lines in the intake manifold holes loosely first then connect them to the CPI.

83Cutlass and Chris,

Thanks for your suggestions. I did both - lube and a loose install - and the Nut Kit is in! I also warmed up the parts on the heater of my working truck so that the O rings were really pliable before I lubed 'em up and ran out to put them in. It's 15 degrees warmer today, too, so some more luck was with me.

Yesterday neither line would budge. But the all parts were 20 degrees F by the time I got around to them. It sure makes a difference. Anyone else trying this might want to remove the distributor cap to give some more room to turn the wrenches on the tank fuel line nuts. I also got this little tiny 1/4" ratchet at the auto parts store. The tool looked like junk and was $10, but was small enough to put a torx screwdriver bit in and get between the intake manifold and the fire wall to get the retainer plate screw off the Nut Kit. That removal process is by the Braille method only. You can't see jack.

My only problem now is that fuel pressure still leaks down to between 40 and 50 PSI over the first minute, then holds steady. The car won't start. My next question is does leak-down affect starting? If so why? shouldn't a pump that's supplying 62-64 PSI start the engine?

Yeah it should still start. I have a '95 Blazer 4.3l "W" CPI and here is my recent no start scenario. I was have a hard start/extended crank for some time. I found out that was due to the CPI injector leaking fuel into the intake. So I replaced that and the truck started much nicer, until several weeks later it got really cold out (-5 to +8 degrees F) and my truck wouldn't start at all. It would crank crank crank all day and only sputter a little bit but not enough to get it running. I checked the fuel PSI again and it was good. I read on here somewhere that a good tune-up should fix it. So I did the cap, rotor, plug wires, and spark plugs (all AC Delco stuff) and ever since then the truck has started perfectly.
I found that the spark plugs themselves were the culprit in my case. The gap was .060" to .068" with some severe wear. The spec is .035" so mine were almost double. I guess the spark couldn't quite jump the gap or wasn't strong enough to the light the cold gas.
So maybe you need plugs??

Now that the big regulator pressure leak is fixed, you might be right. This is a friend's vehicle and it just had a junk engine put in, so the condition of the ignition components (plugs, wires, cap rotor) are unknown. It was running a week ago, then got into chugging and finally no-start mode. I was asked to look at it (no good deed goes unpunished) and smelled gas all over the place. That's how I ended up on this forum. So now with a new regulator, a clean EGR, and a nut kit it tries, but won't grab. I hate to spring for a spider and find it STILL won't start, so I'll take your advice and do some ignition replacement first.


Thanks,

For the sake of closure for anyone reading this in the future, today I installed a new cap and rotor (the old rotor looked gukked up on the contact). The plug wires were put back onto the new cap according to the firiing order obtained from AllData.com. The engine fired on first crank, but idled a little roughly - probably because of the fouled plugs from all the fuel pumped into the cylinders over the last week - as well as the ECM being powered down a couple of times. Upon warming up and driving a bit, the engine worked fine. It starts and runs well, but turns the Check Engine light on after the 10-or-so-minute initial operating window. This means the emission control system is not happy about something, so now it's time to check the codes and see if that can be remedied. Also, I'm going to change the oil because the fuel leak in the regulator dumped a lot of gas into crank case and the oil smells and feels "gassy".

I agree with the oil change to keep from ruining the rod and main bearings which requires total engine removal & disassembly.

I have had a problem with my 94 s10. last year the truck would start when cold and run fine till it warmed up... then would stall and not restart till it cooled down... it had srark and good FP. I replaced the cpi and that fixed it till about a week ago its doing the same thing it wont run when hot but it has good spark and FP... looks like the cpi again. Any one have any ideas how this could happen? the regulator is not leaking the the lines are good I have never seen A cpi cause this problem????

Welcome to AF.
Does fuel pressure show a fast leak down?
Best to start a new thread with a new problem.
MT

Dont know if its to late to post on this topic,But no one mentioned yet,That on the 94 models with the vortec 4.3 V6,they are famous for the nutt kit goin bad and the worst problem is the stupid spider assembly starts leaking gas right into the motor.
I`ve fixed so many i cant count them all anymore,From the s10`s to the s10 blazers and even a few in 94 chevy vans,and all of`em,u pull the dipstick and it smells like gas or its full to the top with oil and gas mixture,If your going to change the nutt kit you should always change the spider assembly just for good measure and assurance,becuase when it goes-It doesnt take long for the motor to go as well before you notice your blocks full of gas and not oil anymore.