[s-cars] Need Help - Won't Stay Running

[chris chambers]

Tom,

The "ground problem" could be effecting the fuel pump relay which is
located in the dash under a cover to the left of the steeing wheel at
knee height. It could also be this relay is failing and is causing the
other problems.

Next time the problem appears pull the relay and se if the other
problems go away. If so you can try bypassing the relay and see if the
car starts. The fuel pump relay can be removed from the fuse box and a
jumper connected across the two large fuse box connectors to bypass the
relay operation and turn on the fuel pump for testing the fuel
pressure. The fuel pump delivery rate (liters/min) should be checked as
well, don't overlook a possible clogged fuel filter as the cause of low
flow. 

You may just need a new relay.

HTH
Chris


--- Tom Feller <tdfeller at comcast.net> wrote:
> Help!
> 
>  
> 
> I have an odd problem.  My 92 S4 sometimes will not stay running
> after
> starting. It will start fine but after about 10 to 15 seconds, it
> appears
> the fuel pump shuts off and the car dies. It can be restarted but
> each time
> it runs for a shorter period until it will not run at all. Most of
> the time
> after 6 to 10 tries it starts up and runs fine. 
> 
>  
> 
> Since the problem started about 3 months ago, this has happen 4 or 5
> times,
> each time it eventually started and ran with out a problem. I have
> checked
> it with my Prodiag after the events but it has not shown any faults.
> Again
> after is starts it runs fine.
> 
>  
> 
> The last two days we have had some quite cold weather here in
> Portland, 15 -
> 20 degF. Sunday night the car would not start at all so I had it
> towed to my
> friends shop on Monday. Sure enough, it would not start for him. He
> put a
> fuel pressure gauge and confirmed that the fuel pressure starts to
> fall and
> then car dies, leading to the idea that we are losing fuel rather
> than
> ignition or injector trigger signals. Of course, after the car warms
> up in
> his shop it runs starts and runs fine. He is an Audi expert with
> almost 30
> years experience and has seen a lot of strange things but this one is
> new. 
> 
>  
> 
> Here is the most interesting point of the story. Whenever it will not
> start
> the System Diagnostic display, you know with the bulb check and
> stuff, goes
> crazy showing low fuel, bad brake lights, etc AND the front parking
> lights
> come on! Dim but they are on. Once the problem goes away so does the
> problem
> with the display and the parking lights.
> 
>  
> 
> So it sound like a ground problem and the whatever is bad is finding
> a
> ground path though the parking lights. But how can the parking lights
> be
> related the engine electronics? This problem did start after I
> replaced the
> cam belt drive gear. Since I had to pull the front end off and swing
> the
> radiator out is it possible I left a ground loose or pulled a ground
> wire
> off? I don't remember anything like that when I did the job but who
> knows.
> Well, I hope someone on the list does!
> 
>  
> 
> Thanks, Sorry about the long post.
> 
>  
> 
> Tom Feller 
> 
>  
> 
>   
> 
> _______________________________________________
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> S-CAR-List at audifans.com
> http://www.audifans.com/mailman/listinfo/s-car-list


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