No Pressure When Removing Gas Cap - Bad?

[1993_VG30E_GXE]

Can this situation lead to the degradation of certain parts - like the fuel pressure regulator or fuel pump?

Today I had to have my car towed on the main road because I was driving down a hill (after I replaced the fuel filter with a new one), and it died suddenly. Fuel Pump fuse blown when I looked at it. This is about the 10th fuse I've blown in the last 24 hrs.

It's quite intermittent. Some times it would run. Most of the time, the car would start up, then immediately die out. My fuel pump has only 20,000KM on it, it was brand new OEM.

 

[1993_VG30E_GXE]

Oh and Colt, I checked the fuel pump resistance with the DMM, across the 2 terminals like the manual says, and it's at spec.

One strange symptom I thought I would mention, when I went to replace the fuel filter, before the driving when it died out, when I removed the top hose from the fuel filter which is the FEED hose to the fuel rail, WAY MORE gas than normal sprayed out, almost 500mL worth, I thought it was going to keep going.

 

[2oldtommy]

Is it possible that you bought a tank of dirty gas? Sounds to me like that new filter clogged almost immediately after you installed it. FWIW -- Oldtommy

 

[440Magnum]

If you're blowing fuses that often, there's definitely more than a loose fuel cap. I'm betting you have an intermittent short circuit in the wire feeding the fuel pump? Is it always the fuel pump fuse that blows?

 

[1993_VG30E_GXE]

It's always the same fuse - the fuel pump fuse. I don't think it's dirty gas, I only drove about 5 minutes after I installed the new filter before it failed. I highly doubt it would clog that quickly.

Also, now when I turn the key to start, the fuel pump doesn't make the ON sound like it's running before I turn the key all the way on, even with a new fuse, as it used to.

 

[1993_VG30E_GXE]

440 here's an update, I just put in a new fuse, and I turned key to ON position, not start, to hear the fuel pump operate, and I pulled the fuse out immediately after just hearing the operation of the pump, without the starter moving, and the fuse is blown.

Don't know if that helps.

 

[willix]

I would steer to charcoal canister valve solinoid but not before inspecting the gas fill tube & vent It maybe losing its vacuum from a cracked fill or vent hose or rusty tubes w/pinhole leak.

I think you have other issues unrelated to the fuel tank ventilation.

 

[demarpaint]

Sounds to me like there is a short somewhere in the line that supplies power to the pump, or the pump itself is binding up and blowing the fuse. Get a shop manual and find a wiring diagram and start looking for the line that supplies power to the fuel pump. Check all connections along that line too.

 

[1993_VG30E_GXE]

Thanks guys. Some response. Willix: There is a point I should mention regarding the vent system.

1. The gas tank has a dedicated hose coming out (1 foot length) that is a "breather hose" for the tank. This hose would connect to a steel pipe that goes all the way to the engine bay, and connects to the Carbon Canister. Last fall I replaced all fuel and brake pipes. Because of the hassle of the job, I left that breather pipe out, so that hose from the gas tank is just dangling.

2. Yesterday when I filled the tank up with new gas, immediately after I filled it I noticed underneath a small gas leak. It was likely a pinhole sized leak coming from the area of the filler neck or another breather hose that runs alonside the filler neck. The leak stopped for after a few minutes.

A maxima pro said to me it doesn't matter if that vent hose is open coming out the tank, the car will run fine. This is why I didn't bother.

Demarpaint: I'll do exactly that. I ordered a new (analog) DMM and I printed out the schematics from the service manual, so I'll find someone to help me read it, as it's complicated for me. I don't really understand the electrical stuff.

 

[mechtech2]

Sounds like the pump is going South.
I don't get the gas cap connection.

 

[1993_VG30E_GXE]

But Mechtech, have you ever heard of a new OEM Bosch fuel pump dying in 20,000 KM?

Besides testing the resistance of the actual pump, is there another test I can do on the pump to see if it is dying?