No Start

[denguy]

First time for this one. I was driving my 91 fi stock festy around town today doing some shopping, no problem. After my last stop, out of nowhere, it wouldn't start. It would fire a few times and then quit. I hit it with some starting spray and it would fire right up and run smooth until the spray ran out and then die. Being 25 miles from home, I called a tow truck. After 20 minutes it got there and the driver tried to start it. The damn thing fired right up and ran fine. I kept it running and drove straight home, holding my breath. At home I restarted it about 5 times and it worked fine. Of course I am now leery about driving it anywhere. Any opinions about what's going on here would be greatly appreciated. As far as I know everything in the fuel system is original except for the fuel filter which I changed a few months ago.

[skimsucka]

fuel pump or fuel pump relay most likely the relay is up above hood popper handle
easy to change and the pump is under the back seat if you use one and easy to change as well

[Movin]

A tow truck will fix a bad fuel pump every time, for a little while. Tapping the bottom of the tank might work a time or two. Plan on replacing the pump, check connectors for overheating while you are there, anything not pretty fix.. make sure the new pump has the sock, some of these new ones are selling them separate now. Last of all replace the fuel filter, it is probably required for warranty. Clean any debris out of the bottom of the fuel tank. Safety first, no sources of ignition, fumes can collect inside the car on this one, pull the battery neg.

[Damkid]

Id check the relay first

[georgeb]

Carry a rubber mallet with you to bang on the tank. Short trips only.

[nonamekid]

Also make sure the VAF is plugged in all the way. Also seen the short wiring harness that goes from inside the gas tank to the outside go bad. It caused intermittent starting problems. Would work fine for awhile, and then not work, and then starting working a couple hours later, very hard to diagnose.

[denguy]

Thanks to all...will do.

[denguy]

This car has a lot of miles [250k] showing on the od, a lot of them put on while it was being towed behind a motorhome, i assume, before i bought it. It had a huge towbar setup bolted to the front bumper. i haven't yet had time to work on it but i have noticed that the ignition switch is worn pretty sloppy. do you think there is a way this could be causing the nostart problem? I have started it 20+ times since the incident with no issues.

[Movin]

The key and tumbler are linked but not part of the switch.
All sorts of things have made a fuel pump not pump fuel
and its possible one of them could be there, but by far
the fuel pump itself statically will be the problem you describe.

[scitzz]

Fuel pump is my first thought, however, considering Fetsboys magic stick, I would keep the VAF, and the wiring to it in mind as well....

[denguy]

Nothing like an intermittent problem. What fun. I must have started it 40 times without a hitch since the event.

[Movin]

keep the rubber mallet handy!!