Help! Gas smell slike varnish. Where do I start?

[C4 DEUCE]

I finally dug my c4 out from the pile of boxes, Christmas trees, and what have you to fire it up this spring after 5 years in exile.

Put in a fresh battery. It cranked. Nothing. Shot some starting fluid into the intake and VROOM! So far so good: spark, compression, ignition. Pulled the gas cap off (should have done this first) and out drifted the smell of fresh...varnish. Fuel pump is silent. 0 psi on the fuel rail. Fuel from the rail smells bad too.

Any experience here? I assume that I should start with a new fuel pump and filter. Then what? Replace the fuel lines? Flush them? How about the injectors and plugs?

I assume that if I can get fresh fuel to the rail it will fire right up. Unless the injectors are plugged. Am I unrealistically optimistic?

Oh, and feel free to razz me for getting into this situation to begin with.

 

[forrest]

I finally dug my c4 out from the pile of boxes, Christmas trees, and what have you to fire it up this spring after 5 years in exile.

Put in a fresh battery. It cranked. Nothing. Shot some starting fluid into the intake and VROOM! So far so good: spark, compression, ignition. Pulled the gas cap off (should have done this first) and out drifted the smell of fresh...varnish. Fuel pump is silent. 0 psi on the fuel rail. Fuel from the rail smells bad too.

Any experience here? I assume that I should start with a new fuel pump and filter. Then what? Replace the fuel lines? Flush them? How about the injectors and plugs?

I assume that if I can get fresh fuel to the rail it will fire right up. Unless the injectors are plugged. Am I unrealistically optimistic?

Oh, and feel free to razz me for getting into this situation to begin with.

Name calling or razzing not my style, you are already aware of the one big factor the gas is Dead, so bury it. since your Fuel pump appears to be not working I would start with "A" confirm that the fuel pump is getting power. there is a plug under the rubber bib by the filler neck check for Voltage. then pull the Fuel pump and Dispose of the old stinky gas when you first start to remove the gas get a sample in a clear glass Quart jar let it settle out and look for water separation (a layer of water in the gas) and silt/crud. wipe out the tank with a rag real good

once the old stuff is gone do what ever pump repair is needed, before you try to start remove the fuel filter Cycle the key/fuel pump (DO NOT CRANK AND PUT A HOSE OR SOMETHING TO DIVERT INTO A CONTAINER) flush out the lines. put in a new filter than find a low side R12 A/C hose or a suitable hose with fitting put it on the Fuel pressure port on fuel rail flush the rail. Start car and pray it smooths out.
run the car locally for awhile and replace the filter after a few weeks

Good luck

 

[C4 DEUCE]

run the car locally for awhile

Thank you for the suggestions. Particularly the advice not to stray too far from home until it has proven itself reliable.

I siphoned out the the fuel from the tank and a dark sludge settled to the bottom of the bucket. Rinsed the tank with fresh gas and siphoned it out again. It now passes the sniff test.

Will let you know how the pump looks when I get it off.

Thanks again!

 

[RedHot85Vette]

Lawn & Garden Tractors

Good Day! I hope you're enjoying a pleasant and better quality fuel system one. I used to work for Sears as an Electro-Mechanical Tech. My Biggest thing during the season, in Florida, was Lawn & Garden Tractors. I had a truck/big van that had Everything on it plus stuff that I scavenged. .Occasionally I'd come across some big 'ol Garden Tractors with your same problem and worse. Boy, I never knew gas could get so stinky. I'd of course change out the hoses and filter, drop the gas, flush the tank, clean out the float bowl, clean the plugs before and after... shoot a little "something" in the plug holes maybe... hoping I wouldn't have to special order parts... as you can see from previous threads, flush out what you can and hopefully you'll only have to replace rotten rubber things like hoses.

Then I'd use high octane premium gas and fuel system cleaner, sometimes Marvel Mystery Oil, and/or whatever else I could find on the truck (you wouldn't believe some of the stuff I used) that I thought might dissolve what was left over and burn it out the exhaust. and cross my fingers. It would usually spit and sputter as it woke up, but it usually did. Might kill your battery so have another one on hand or a good starter box. Once you got all the available stuff cleaned out the injectors should spit out the rest and hopefully be fine after a while. I used to use a same process when someone put diesel fuel in the tank. You'd be surprised how many people do such a thing.

I don't work there anymore. That was many years ago. But I loved working on them tractors. With my truck/rolling shop with lift, compressor, generator, grinder, parts up the wazoo... you name it... Could go anywhere, and fix a tractor anywhere, even if it was dead in a field somewhere. I once had 13 vintage tractors... no lawn. I have one in my backyard right now. An old 70s Ford that I'm going to restore a bit. I bought it for too much money but I didn't care. The gas is stinky and the tank is rusty. They're Fun to work on and I love the roar they make when I get 'em just right.

Good Luck with your Corvette. I'm a New Vette owner myself. A real nice Red '85. Watched a hundred or more YouTubes, read a pile of articles and reviews... It's a Corvette, a fantastic machine, it'll come back to Life in no time... and it sounds like you got all the right skills and professional support to make it happen.

If it ain't broke, Drive It!

John

 

[C4 DEUCE]

Bad Gas Update

Good Day! I hope you're enjoying a pleasant and better quality fuel system one. I used to work for Sears as an Electro-Mechanical Tech. My Biggest thing during the season, in Florida, was Lawn & Garden Tractors. I had a truck/big van that had Everything on it plus stuff that I scavenged. .Occasionally I'd come across some big 'ol Garden Tractors with your same problem and worse. Boy, I never knew gas could get so stinky. I'd of course change out the hoses and filter, drop the gas, flush the tank, clean out the float bowl, clean the plugs before and after... shoot a little "something" in the plug holes maybe... hoping I wouldn't have to special order parts... as you can see from previous threads, flush out what you can and hopefully you'll only have to replace rotten rubber things like hoses.

Then I'd use high octane premium gas and fuel system cleaner, sometimes Marvel Mystery Oil, and/or whatever else I could find on the truck (you wouldn't believe some of the stuff I used) that I thought might dissolve what was left over and burn it out the exhaust. and cross my fingers. It would usually spit and sputter as it woke up, but it usually did. Might kill your battery so have another one on hand or a good starter box. Once you got all the available stuff cleaned out the injectors should spit out the rest and hopefully be fine after a while. I used to use a same process when someone put diesel fuel in the tank. You'd be surprised how many people do such a thing.

I don't work there anymore. That was many years ago. But I loved working on them tractors. With my truck/rolling shop with lift, compressor, generator, grinder, parts up the wazoo... you name it... Could go anywhere, and fix a tractor anywhere, even if it was dead in a field somewhere. I once had 13 vintage tractors... no lawn. I have one in my backyard right now. An old 70s Ford that I'm going to restore a bit. I bought it for too much money but I didn't care. The gas is stinky and the tank is rusty. They're Fun to work on and I love the roar they make when I get 'em just right.

Good Luck with your Corvette. I'm a New Vette owner myself. A real nice Red '85. Watched a hundred or more YouTubes, read a pile of articles and reviews... It's a Corvette, a fantastic machine, it'll come back to Life in no time... and it sounds like you got all the right skills and professional support to make it happen.

If it ain't broke, Drive It!

John

Thanks for the support John! I drained the lines and tested the fuel pump. Now, in addition to the bad fuel, I'm not getting 12V to the fuel pump when I turn the key on.

As soon as I trace through that mess and get pressure to the fuel rail I'll let you know how it went.

Thanks again to everyone!

Steve

 

[forrest]

Thanks for the support John! I drained the lines and tested the fuel pump. Now, in addition to the bad fuel, I'm not getting 12V to the fuel pump when I turn the key on.

As soon as I trace through that mess and get pressure to the fuel rail I'll let you know how it went.

Thanks again to everyone!

Steve

When you say your getting no voltage to the fuel pump if you are running a standard corvette fuel pump circuit (people have been know to make there modifications or slide whole power train into street rod's) if I'm not mistaken you should not get a constant voltage until oil pressure is confirmed and engine running. But you should get a 2 or so second primer pressure cycle for the injectors to have something to shoot.

as you can well imagine, if no Voltage start with Fuses / relays and so on.

 

[C4 DEUCE]

Thanks for the support John! I drained the lines and tested the fuel pump. Now, in addition to the bad fuel, I'm not getting 12V to the fuel pump when I turn the key on.

As soon as I trace through that mess and get pressure to the fuel rail I'll let you know how it went.

Thanks again to everyone!

Steve

...or I thought I tested the fuel pump. It made noise but wasn't delivering anything to the rail. In retrospect, it made too much noise. Sounded like a hoover vacuum running over a pile of sunflower seeds. So we removed it and banged it around. Yep, a chunk of crap came spewing out of the pump. Hooked everything up and now we have 47 psi at the rail. This is with the pump hot-wired through a fusable link.

No start yet, but it did fire up with a little starter fluid in the intake - followed by a small engine fire - put it out with the garden hose - after unscrewing the sprinkler and dragging the hose 50 feet to the driveway. Really. I can't make this stuff up. Looks like nothing got fried. Will look things over tomorrow in the daylight.

Next we are pulling the rail to test injectors and see if they may have been gummed up as well.

The good news is that I don't have to drive it to work Monday...

 

[RedHot85Vette]

You're killin' me!!!

Sounded like a hoover vacuum running over a pile of sunflower seeds.

No start yet, but it did fire up with a little starter fluid in the intake - followed by a small engine fire - put it out with the garden hose - after unscrewing the sprinkler and dragging the hose 50 feet to the driveway. Really. I can't make this stuff up. Looks like nothing got fried. Will look things over tomorrow in the daylight.

Next we are pulling the rail to test injectors and see if they may have been gummed up as well.

The good news is that I don't have to drive it to work Monday...

:L

HAhahahha!!! ol' timey trick to use water in spray bottle to clean carbs... would use it on small gas engines I worked on, doesn't wreck any rubber/plastic things like carb cleaner can. But I never used a hose to clean a carb... let's hope the fire burnt out all the old carbon and junk, and the hose washed it away.

I had a 90 Chevy Lumina many years ago. When I turned the key, not all the way, I could hear the fuel pump prime. But the car wouldn't start. I started checking things out and I wasn't getting voltage to the fuel pump. After looking at schematics, turns out the Oil Pressure Switch is also the Fuel Pump Switch. The fuel pump won't get voltage if the Oil Pressure Switch doesn't sense enough oil pressure. On my car the switch was close to the starter. A Spark from the starter at some time in it's life, ate some of the Oil Pressure Switch. Eventually the Switch popped a hole in it. I took it off, filled the hole with liquid steel (or equivalent, got 1000s of goops), reinstalled it, Done!

You may have something like that so you may also have a gummed up Oil Pressure Switch. I don't know enough. I just got my First Vette Feb 20th, my first SB Chevy (YeY! Thank You God of ElectroMechanicalMania), Drove it once. From owner to home. Few days later got ride in ambulance to hospital (again). Got 14 spine fusions & repairs, and rods, and screws, inside of 9 months, 5 surgeries, said to myself, I deserve anything I want: Hello First Vette, '85, Beauty! All GM, All Stock, All Works, RED! that's just the beginning, now to accessorize! I can't drive just yet (again!) but I can use a computer and a paypal account.

It's the Perfect car for people with disabilities like mine. I'll post the reasons in another area around here. New here too! I'm just ecstatic to be a Corvette owner! I have my wife park it on the lawn for me so I can see it.