'88 90Q - NO Starting, ice in the fuel lines??

[Doyt W. Echelberger]

At 10:07 PM 1/27/2005 -0800, you wrote:
>actually we did the ice test..the mechanic parked it in his heated 
>garage...then parked it for a few days outside..i picked it up and 3 days 
>later it died....funny thing is...it drives for a few miles...then dies 
>like the car has run out of gas...you see i don't drive the car much...i 
>commute to work so i drive in maybe 2-3 times a week....and this happens 
>always after i park it for a few days....
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Hello Walter......You note that it is a fuel system problem and call it 
"fuel starvation." The operating mode is hot running as opposed to cold 
start. Something is happening in the fuel system that is preventing fuel 
from being pumped out of the tank to the fuel distributor and injectors. 
So, what is going on between start up and the appearance of the condition?

Answer: The fuel pump removes fuel from the tank. Eventually this action 
results in fuel starvation, as though the tank had been emptied.

So could stop the flow of fuel?.......It is possible that a vent for your 
fuel tank is blocked, and a vacuum builds up in the fuel tank as your fuel 
pump removes fuel from the tank. At some point, the vacuum is enough that 
the pump can no longer move fuel from the tank.

You could test this possibility by removing the gas cap when condition 
appears. If removing the gas cap temporarily allows the car to start and 
run, then you have narrowed the problem down to the venting system for the 
tank. Then you can explore the diagrams of that system and find the source 
of the blockage.

Just a hypothesis.

Doyt Echelberger