I'm having some fun with a who dunnit on my EA 3.9 CFI 4SP auto. it stopped dead whilst driving 4 times. each time taking longer to restart. It appears to be a fuel problem (i think). The engine fires up with the key held on start ( albeit, backfiring and inconsistant spay from injectors) but cuts out as soon as i move it to "on" position. then later, it will fire up and drive as per normal like nothing happened.

Upon investigating, i've found what looks to be a problem but not sure if it's normal or not. the fuel pump is supposed to kick in for a second as soon as the key is moved to on position. but won't kick in again unless i leave the key off for about 10 seconds ( when the relay clicks off ) . In my fathers EA 3.9mpfi, the pump kicks in every time the key is switched on. i tried swapping the pump relays between the cars but it made no difference.

IS THIS NORMAL FOR CFI? Fuel is clean, filter is clear, fault code 11 (no faults)

fuel pump should kick in straight away, it did on mine.

love the picture smiley... is yours a cfi injection? did it kick in everytime you switched the key on and off?

It should also run for 2 - 3 secs when you kill it. I can hear mine do this, and I assume it's to keep pressure in the lines for the next start.

fuel pump should kick in straight away. if it doesn't it might be ur pump that needs replacing. fuel filter might be extremely blocked for some reason. or maybe ur losing spark so check ur dizzy, leads and spark plugs. btw check the battery terminal. sometimes the negative and/or positive cables might be corroded and not allowing enough current to be supplied to the require components to start a car. happened to my EA. the car started fine but when i turned my headlights on it just shut off....and i found out my positive cable was hanging off one copper wire from the thick positive wire.

hope that helps

phong =P~

THE THING I NEED TO KNOW IS DOES THE FUEL PUMP KICK IN EVERYTIME IF I REPEATEDLY SWITCH THE KEY ON AND OFF, OR DO I HAVE TO WAIT FOR A APPROX 10 SEC FOR IT TO WORK AGAIN...

I KNOW THE PUMP KICKS IN EVERYTIME IN MY DADS EA WITH THE MPFI INJECTION. BUT MINE IS CFI THROTTLE BODY INJECTION, AND IT'S NOT KICKING IN EVERYTIME UNLESS I LEAVE THE KEY IN OFF OR ACC POSITION FOR ABOUT 10 SECONDS WHEN THE PUMP RELAY RESETS ITSELF. I'M NOT SURE IF THIS IS NORMAL.

BY THE WAY I WRECKED THE STARTER MOTOR AND CAN'T EVEN ATTEMPT TO START IT UNTILL I GET A NEW ONE.

The pump will run until the pressure in the fuel rail builds up and then it will cut out till the pressure drops.

Sounds like your fuel pump isnt working properly.Try cycling the pump 3 or 4 times before starting the car.Can do this by turning the key to the on positon and turning it off.It sounds like the pump isnt holding presusre in the fuel line.Thats just my say.

there is no pressure switch to turn the pump on and off. it will cycle for a few seconds when u first turn the key on and should then switch on when cranking. it's not unusual to not prime up if u switch the key off and straight back on again.

if the engine only runs while u have the starter engaged then i'd be looking in the tfi module area. using a testlight check that u have power to the red/green wire on the coil and the 4th wire(counting from top) on the tfi module with the key on. if there is no power to one or both wires then u have a wiring problem. if u have power to both it's your module