My ‘90 Tracker, 4WD, will suddenly act like its running out of gas. It will turn over, has spark and if left alone for a few minutes will start back up and maybe run for several days before it happens again. No codes have been showing up. Today it was acting up and we found it was bypassing the injectors and the fuel is being sent back. (Fuel regulator?) Does this sound like the injectors, or could it be something else in that system? Maybe more than one thing? How should I check on it?
Fuel pump and filter have been replaced recently. Entire fuel system has been checked from tank to intake valves, but of course this was when it was not acting up.
Help and suggestions are much appreciated by this Newbie.
What do you mean by the fuel is bypassing the injectors? On an open loop fuel system it is normal for most of the fuel to return to the tank in the fuel return line and the fuel pressure regulator can not cause major engine failure (at least not in the MPFI). Sounds a lot like a dying fuel pump. The next time it dies try hitting the gas tank with a hammer and see if it will run again.
It did exactly the same thing with the old fuel pump as the new one. (Sorry, but I don't know what MPFI is.) I was told that the amount of fuel being returned was way too much. When this happened, it was acting like it was not getting gas, and the exhaust smelled funny, like it was very lean. Does this help?
At stop signs or stop lights, the rpms drop and go up before it acts like it's out of gas. I've looked around and read a lot of posts on the iac valve, but nothing quite like this problem. Do you think it could be a factor in it acting like its out of gas, and all the gas going around through the regulator? As you can probably tell, I'm desperate to find a solution to this problem. So many parts changed, and no difference.
when this happens again, be ready with a can if instant start. ( every auto supply sells it )
WONT START:
open Air cleaner , spray for 2 seconds in the induction hole of AC body (inside) dont over do this.
turn key, verooom , or verroom; die thencar is starving for fuel.
some use propane torch (not ignited) to do this.
you have two paths here.
1: is my fuel pressure good ?
2: is my ECU pulsing my injectors.
1 requires a fuel pressure gage and how to use it.
2 requires a NOID test light or scope.
not having these facts , requires guessing.
id make sure my fuel pump has 12dc when it fails.
at the pump connection point.
maybe you can get lucky.
PS: there are 3 test for fuel pressure.
1- not running
2 running
3 and leak down time. ( finds leaking injectors)
with a hot engine and rpms up and down, mayby your TPS is bad.
it will cause ECU to guess at air flows + MAP readings.
and wont be accurate.
My Tracker is now fixed! It turned out that there were three things causing two problems. The IAC was dirty and gunked up. With a good cleaning, it is now working okay. The part is no longer available from the dealer so this was my only choice. No one had taken it apart and visually checked it. There was another problem contributing to the constant stalling. The pick up coil in the distributor was not working right all the time. Before buying a new part, and suspecting something might be related to the alarm system, we disconnected the Clifton alarm and kill switch, and suddenly everything was okay with the pick up coil. The circuits were put back the way they were before the alarm was installed. It now runs fine, has no problems in stop and go traffic or anything.
Hope some of this will help someone else. Thanks for all the suggestions. This is one good group!
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Injectors, or????
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