2001 Won't Start - Regulator Change?

[hcary]

It was 27 this morning and I wore my battery out trying to start my Blazer. It would catch very briefly, but just continue turning.

Is already tuned up, newer cap and rotor, good fuel filter and pressure seems good.

I'm considering changing the fuel regulator myself. Is it similar to the earlier 4.3l engines? I see tons of notes and part numbers for the engine, but not 2001. Is there anything else I should change while I'm in there?

Any ideas!

Thanks!

[Blue Bowtie]

Before you jump right in there with a new fuel poressure regulator, make sure you aren't changing it unnecessarily.

It would be good to be sure that the problem is related to fuel delivery and not the ignition. If you can manually administer some fuel to the throttle body and get the engine to fire, the ignition system is probably intact. If adding fuel manually does not change the condition, the ignition system is suspect.

If you do determine that the fuel system is the likely suspect, test the fuel system pressure with the engine off, and if you can, engine running. If standing pressure before start is not at least 61 PSIG, you will have difficulty starting.

If the pressure is indeed low, the regulator is only one possible cause. A restricted fuel filter, low system voltage, leaking fuel pump connection in the tank or a failed pulsation damper, and/or poor electrical connections to the fuel pump can all cause low fuel pressure.

It would be an even worse day if you went to all the trouble of changing the FPR for no gain.

[hcary]

As expected, I got home when it was 55 degrees outside, and turns over great.

I'll update this post with resolution if/when it happens again. Likely won't be for a few days because we won't be getting as cold at night.

[riptide44]

sorry .. i had to convert 27 to canadian ..lol 27f = -2 celsius .. not that cold really to where you would need to plug it in - it starts good when warm though -- maybe you have some water in your fuel put in about a 1/4 cup of methal hydrate and run it in when its warm just see if that helps -could be freezing up in the fuel filter - .


*** another suspect ( maybe ) is a coolant temp sensor that thinks it is warm out and therefore not riching up the fuel . start with the methyl hydrate though ( cheap trial ) the problem as you describe it would be a difficult to just say exactly what it is of course there are the likely suspects but you really need to be inclined to test those things with a vm or a scantool in fact if you really want to diagnose a possible sensor problem you really need to get a scantool - even the 200 buckers will tell you what the sensor is reading and from there you can compare it to the specs and dont confuse a scantool with a code reader that sometimes is labeled as a scantool -( not the same )

[DelCoch]

Check the battery with a load type tester. AutoZone will do it for you. I had a similar problem when my battery was going bad. Cranked over great, but the starter was taking all the juice and nothing was left for the fuel pump.

[hcary]

Update:
Seems like the two bottles of Heet I ran through my last two tanks of gas did the trick. This morning was the first day it was below freezing since the first episode and it started right up. By the way, I also changed the battery to be on the safe side.

[DelCoch]

I think changing the battery did more for it than the two cans of heat.

Glad you got it going. I love happy endings.