Well, to make a long story short, my Chevy Tahoe has been hard to start lately. So, my dad came over this weekend, and checked the fuel pump regulator, very simply I must say. He turned on the key (pressurizing the fuel system), then pulled off a vacum line on the regulator, causing fuel to squirt up in the air. I'm not 100% sure how this checks it, but after putting a new one on, it starts like new.
So, my queastion, could there be an easy way to check our regulators such as this that we are missing??
fuel pressure regulator
Pulling a vacuum line shouldn't cause fuel to squirt unless the diaphragm between the fuel and the air (manifold) is damaged in the regulator. There is typically a cap on the fuel rail with a schrader valve under it that is used for pressure relief (service). You can remove the cap, pull the schrader valve out and install a fuel pressure gauge from Summit ($19.99). This will allow you to monitor/check your fuel pressure and determine if your regulator is good or bad. It sounds like the diaphragm in your regulator was leaking fuel to the intake and not allowing the fuel system to pressurize properly. I think that what your dad did is probably the easiest, quickest and cheapest way to check for a problem like that. Glad to hear it runs good now.
Doug,
We'd been having a similar problem with our bonnevile which has the 3.8L v-6. I stopped by the dealership and the guy that I know there, a mechanic, showed me to do the same thing. From what I understood fuel should not come out when you remove that cap/line. He told me that if it did, we needed a new one. It ended up being a bad injector.
I believe that we could check ours the same way. Isn't there a vent that runs up to the X or T fitting by the airbox? If there is, I believe that removing that line at the regulator would show weither or not it was leaking. The rest of the fuel should be flowing back to the tank, not out that line.
We'd been having a similar problem with our bonnevile which has the 3.8L v-6. I stopped by the dealership and the guy that I know there, a mechanic, showed me to do the same thing. From what I understood fuel should not come out when you remove that cap/line. He told me that if it did, we needed a new one. It ended up being a bad injector.
I believe that we could check ours the same way. Isn't there a vent that runs up to the X or T fitting by the airbox? If there is, I believe that removing that line at the regulator would show weither or not it was leaking. The rest of the fuel should be flowing back to the tank, not out that line.
If fuel comes out your vacuum line, then it is obviously bad...but an easy way to check your pressure regulator is to hook a fuel pressure guage on the system and check your pressure. With the vacuum line hooked up and engine running, it should be within factory specs....unhook the vacuum line and the pressure should increase above factory specs.
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cannondale27
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