So Pete or anyone with any input...

First off the following probs are with my 94 Z28...5.7 LT1, 135K miles

Ok, I have a couple problems. 1st relating to the car not starting; and second, a problem with the fuel gauge

1) Just yesterday all of a sudden my car wouldn't start. It tries to turn over, gets close the first time I tried, but then every time afterwards it only tries to crank but not turnover. So when turning the ignition to the "ON" position, I don't hear the whine of the fuel pump as how it should. So I checked the battery which of course was fine, I checked all the fuses, but I honestly am not sure what the fuses labels (fuse naming convention on the panel with the fuse diagram)are associated with the fuel pump. In my repair manual is indicates to check the fuel pump fuses, but didn't tell the exact location and the exact fuse(s) to check. If you could let me know of that info either by writing it out, or even a picture, that would be AWESOME! So does this actually mean that the fuel pump is done with if this is true with fuses being all ok? I would need to replace the pump? Which I know is a total pain...

2) At the same time as I was first tryingto start the car, and priming it by turning the ignition to the "ON" and "OFF" positions repeatedly, the fuel gauge is now stuck at the past full position, about a half inch AFTER the full position. And at one time the needle went COMPLETELY around clock wise and stopped at the peg at the empty position. So what’s going on? And note...everything worked PERFECTLY, no noises or anything at all with in the engine, tank, no leaks ever or anything the whole time I've owned her, until now...

What the heck is happening? Could you please help? I am in actual dire need to know the prob and fix it correctly. This Camaro has a lot of sentimental value to me in many different ways. Thanks a lot!!

I can take a picture of the actual gauge ifneed beso you can see how far off it is.

 

Power for the fuel pump comes from the ignition switch, goes through fuse # 5 (15 AMP)in the instrument panel fuse block, then goes to the fuel pump relay which is controlled by the PCM, and from there to the fuel pump using a gray wire. A fast check to see if the fuel pump is getting power is to connect a voltmeter to the fuel pump test connector. This connector is a single wire with a connectorhanging out of the wiring harness near the right strut tower. This wire is spliced directly to the wire going to the fuel pump. Connect the positive lead to the connector and the negative lead to ground. Turn the ignition to ON, and if everything is working as it should, you should see 12 volts for about 3 seconds. If nothing happens there is a wiring problem, bad pump relay,or a blown fuse. (the fuel pump relay lives under the foot rest on the driver side)You can also apply 12 Volt from the battery to the connector. This will feed 12 volt directly to the pump and force it to work.( Use a fused jumper lead, you don't want to start a fire in case the wire is shorted to ground)If nothing happens, the pump is bad or the wiring is messed up.

The fuel gage stuck on Empty = gage lead shorted to ground, bad sending unit inside tank, bad gage.

Considering that all this happened at the same time, you may want to take a look for shorted or cut wires.

 

Ok, I hooked up the voltmeter to the fuel pump connector, and result did come up to 12 V, 11.3V to be exact. And I checked the fuse, which was fine. And I also found the relay for the fuse pump, which I tested with the voltmeter and the result was 11.3V exactly as well. So I'm prettysure that concludes to be that the fuel pump is bad?...Just wanted as a second opinion from you.

Since the problem with the fuel pump has been troubleshooted, my concern is now the gauge.

So as for the gauge, I wanted to check the electrical portion first, so where can I find the lead ground for the fuel gauge? So I can check if the ground has shorted out. I would think the ground for the fuel gauge might be separate from the rest of the gauges, because all the rest of the gauges work perfectly that I can see (except the MPH and Tach gauges since the car can't start just yet and I won’t be able to tell. And even though all the gauges run through the same fuse, I checked the fuse anyways, and it was ok. But to say ahead of time, if I see that there isn't a short, then I would gather from what you're telling me, the highest possibility is that the floater in the tank is bad.

There is one more thing that did come to mind, and I'm going to do this the next morning, but maybe the relay for the fuel pump is bad. So I was planning onputting ina new relay tomorrow and see if that could be the trouble for the fuel pump. But if that would be the case where the relay will fix the fuel pump problem, here's another question. If I do replace the relay, would that fix the fuel gauge signal. I guess the real question is, does the signal fromthe floater in the tank get sent through the same relay as the fuel pump? Since they both are coming from the fuel tank?

And I also included a picture of the actual reading from the fuel gauge; just do you can see what I'm looking at.

[IMG]local://upfiles/8686/FCB47CC269FA492EB2FACD1C9A2D56D8.jpg[/IMG]

 

I want that much gas!

 

my old 98 malibu, everytime i disconected the batt the gas gauge would go compleatly around and get stuck. i had to take the cluster out and the plastic off to fix it.

 

no the fuel gauge doesnt go through the relay i've gotten the gauge stuck doing the same you did trying the prime the fuel line. what i just pulled the dash apart a little and pushed the needle back and its worked fine ever since.