*Sigh* Startup Issues

My 92 is giving me a hard time.

Cranking over like a beast, but no start. If I bathe the throttle body with starter fluid, eventually it does start. But I'm talking about damn near an entire bottle of starter fluid. At that point, she runs and drives just fine. Spark on all cylinders, so I'm fairly confident it's fuel related. I have been wanting to check the pressure, but have no idea where the relief valve is. The fuel pump is clearly kicking on when I turn the key. Is this possibly a dying fuel pump?

Could be a failing pump or pressure regulator. The schraeder valve to check the pressure is on the fuel rail and is hidden under the plastic cover that covers the plug wires opposite the radiator. Remove 1 screw and that cover pops off.

Befor you start replacing parts check the codes and see what you get coming up then go from there.

Could someone tell me where the fuel pressure regulator is located?

And it's not pulling any codes at all.

The schrader valve sprays a stream of fuel out after I turn the ignition to the on position to engage the pump, but it's just a single squirt and then just a slow dribble.

Well, if it runs fine, IMO its not the fuel pump or injectors at all.

The thing about starter fluid is that it uses engine compression to ignite, so in theory you do not need any spark to run an engine on such fluid. So I think your problem is ignition related.

I would strongly suggest you change the spark plugs and plug wires. I had an '88 Bonneville that did exactly as yours is doing now. New plugs and wires fixed it right up.

There's spark on all cylinders.

When I turn the key to the ON position and push in the shrader valve, one quick burst of gas comes out of the rail, but I don't have a pressure tester to actually do a thorough test. I would imagine that it should be a constant stream of fuel rather than one quick burst?? Am I wrong?

Now that I've actually located the pressure regulator, I can't figure out how to get the bugger off the fuel line. It's like magically fused to it somehow. If this ends up being a fuel pump, is that a major pain in the balls? Is there an access panel through the trunk or do I have to drop the tank?

It's not starting at all now, even with a boost of starter fluid. Just cranks over, spits and sputters, then dies again and back to no turning over.

The regulator is part of the rail, get a gage on it and see what you have no other way here other than guess work.

The regulator is part of the rail, get a gage on it and see what you have no other way here other than guess work.

So what happens when a replacement is necessary? Replace the entire rail?

The code I'm getting (current) is EO12 - No distributor signal. Pulled the cap, rotor and cap both looked like shit. Cleaned the contacts on the cap and rotor (this is my only option. I'm about 30 miles from the nearest parts store and this is my only vehicle). Checked all the connections on the distributor and everything looks good. Put the whole mess back together and it turned over, but still didn't start. Jerked around with the connections again and finally she fired. Now she's running intermittently. Dying off and on. The EO12 code is also clearing, listing as history, and then reappearing every time she dies and I try to fire it up again.

So I'm guessing this is possibly electrical, as MR suggested. I'm wondering if a cap/rotor and possibly plugs and wires would clear this up, or if it roots deeper. What I've read about that EO12 code states that it could be anything from the pickup coil to the ICM and anything electrical in between the distributor and computer. I'm about ready to just give up and use her for target practice.

Any advice??

So after a little more reading, I opted to try the ignition coil. Fifteen dollar part, I figured it was the cheapest way to start. Swapped the old one with the new, first crank, fired up and ran like a beast. I hope this thread can maybe help someone else with a similar problem.

What I've also found after doing a little more research is the following:

From the way it's been explained to me, the computer needs to get a signal from the ignition system BEFORE it will engage the fuel system. I.e; if the computer doesn't receive data that the ignition is functioning correctly, the fuel PUMP will engage, but the computer will not send the signal to activate the injectors. In essence, by adding starter fluid to the throttle body, I was ultimately overriding the computer's decision to not allow fuel into the cylinders, thus initiating compression and spark. Once the computer realized "Oh shit! The cylinders are firing!" it then acted as if the fuel system was engaged and started sending fuel to the injectors.

E012 is almost alway the ign module or pick up, which is what the pcm uses to pulse the injectors. So keep your eye on that area.