Not going my way

[Neverdone]

Things just aren't going my way.

I have three daily driver vehicles. All of them now have some sort of an issue.

My poor old beloved truck, I pulled up to the gas station friday, shut it off pumped some gas into it, went to start it back up and nothing. Fuel pump not running, think its the sending unit. Made a quick call and had a buddy come show up with his truck and we tow strapped it home. Had this same issue about a year ago, dropped the tank 3 or 4 times, never found any issues, just one day it started working again. I pretty well had it narrowed down to the connector on the sending unit then, but I have no idea. Put in a new fuel pump, pump relay, cleaned up and tightened up the plug outside the tank, same for inside the tank, the only thing that seemed to make a difference was the plug outside the tank. Ran a wire direct from the battery to the sending unit and nothing. Actually it didn't even spark, like it was not making connection at all.

My Monte Carlo, she was driving it earlier in the week (tuesday I think) and the dash lit up like a Christmas tree (Trac off, ABS, Service Traction System). Plugged it into my buddies scanner and there is something screwed up with the right side of the car as far as sensors go.

My Jetta TDI has some sort of idling issue. Feels like it might be beating on 3 out of 4 cylinders or something, possible balancing issue, fuel delivery, I have no idea. It doesn't throw any fault codes and it only does it when it is idling, and not even all the time. Not sure what is going on there but since it is a VW I am sure it will be expensive.

Three vehicles, never thought I would need to bum a ride to work, but if something gets worse on the Jetta (what I am driving now) I am in big trouble.

 

[CR55]

Sorry to hear things aren't going well. Sometimes you have to sit back and rethink things. Hopefully the repair issues will come to you and you'll be up and running again. Good luck

 

[Willowbilly3]

Sounds like the truck has a ground problem on the fuel pump. Might be the same problem on the Monte. Find a good manual that tells you where the grounds all are, check and clean them. That's always where you start any electrical diagnosis, then unplug and reconnect connectors looking for a bad one. A amazing large percentage of the time you'll fix the problem.

 

[Old Iron]

On the VW, check the egr valve, may have carbon build up around the port and plunger. (stuck open = rough idle)
Willowbilly3 + 1

 

[Sam_Fear]

Willowbilly said it -check the grounds. You live in MI - road salt capital of the USA.

 

[Bamamav]

Don't feel bad, you're not the only one. Wife's Jeep needs cat back exhaust, my pickup needs pads and rotors, the Vette's down needing to get the heads worked, and the Maverick developed a crazy steering problem after I put on a new tie rod end, sometimes it feels like it wants to go it's own way!
And I'm not gonna mention the lawnmower that needs a new belt and the farm tractor that the brakes and clutch are getting weak on, oh wait, I guess I did just mention them!

 

[donsrods]

Do you know how you can recognize a rich redneck.............he has 3 cars up on blocks in his front yard.

Sorry, I wasn't saying YOU were a redneck, it just reminded me of that joke .

There is nothing worse that having a daily driver that is giving you problems. I remember only too well having to work on my car over the weekend so I could get to work on Monday AM, or trying to get it running so my Wife could get to work.

If I were you, I would concentrate on the one with the least amount of problems and make it the primary car. That would be the truck IMO. There are several things that can cause what you have going on. It could be the pump heating up and a contact opening up, or it could be the fuel pump relay. Do you have a manual for the truck ?

Don

 

[Neverdone]

Well, truck is back up and running. Loose connection at the ground. Made a new ground, soldered on a new connector, put on dielectric grease on the connection tightened it in with a new bolt and torque prevailing nut.

Looked at the Monte Carlo, see nothing wrong with the wiring or connenctions for the RR wheel speed sensor like it says on the code reader. Possibly needs a new hub?? [S

The Jetta, I am running the tank down low and then going to get my fuel from some place different and give that a whirl. Put on a new fuel filter (old one looked perfectly fine), dumped a can on diesel clean in the tank with a half tank left. Drove it a little bit and still no change. Thinking this one is going to have to hit a shop.....