Car died. Not sure if optispark or fuel, looking for advice

My 95 RM wagon died last Friday while I was going down the highway (in the middle of a blizzard...) It died once, so I put it in neutral and it started with the key. It drove ok for another few miles before quitting again, this time with no restart. After sitting for a bit, it started but was running really rough. I towed it back home and it's back in the garage.

At first I figured it was the opti, but after looking up some videos of them failing it seemed like a more gradual failure where it starts to miss at high rpm. Mine just quit all of a sudden, and about 20 minutes after I had filled the tank.

I'm probably going to start with the fuel filter, since that probably should get changed anyway. I'll drain some gas into a bottle to see if it separates.

Could it be fuel, or is it probably still the optispark?

Thanks

The usual suspects:

Check codes. Dump a can of fresh gas in it.

1. Test fuel pressure. You're due for a pump if it's never been changed.
2. Coil wire.
3. ICM
4. Coil
5. FPR

22 years and 215k miles, I should probably do the pump regardless.

I haven't pulled codes but the check engine light isn't on.

Should I go AC Delco or another brand for the fuel pump?

Don't throw parts. Test the fuel pressure first.

""I haven't pulled codes but the check engine light isn't on.""

The ECM will store intermittent or reoccurring problem codes in History even is the fault is not current.

Other than an actual visual inspection under the hood for the obvious, reading the ECM memory should always be a first step.

Having said that, checking fuel rail pressure is suggested by your symptoms.

Its been my experience that fuel pumps quit after they are shut off,. Not rolling down the highway.,
Spray wd 40 liberally all over the coil and wire,. See it it makes a difference,.

phantom 309 wrote:

Its been my experience that fuel pumps quit after they are shut off,. Not rolling down the highway.,
Spray wd 40 liberally all over the coil and wire,. See it it makes a difference,.

Interesting, I've never heard of that. I'll give it a shot

Rev Bob wrote:

""I haven't pulled codes but the check engine light isn't on.""

The ECM will store intermittent or reoccurring problem codes in History even is the fault is not current.

Other than an actual visual inspection under the hood for the obvious, reading the ECM memory should always be a first step.

Having said that, checking fuel rail pressure is suggested by your symptoms.

I've got a combo obd1/obd2 reader, I just need to figure out where I put all the adapters that came with it

When I try to pull the codes, the electric radiator fan comes on and it says it can't communicate with the ECU. Low battery, or incompatible reader?

Read the codes through the HVAC, no reader needed on a Roadie.

That's cool, I didn't know about that feature.
I've got error code 44 on the PCM, lean O2 on left side. Could be low fuel pressure or bad gas

Where are you located?

Detroit metro area

Well that's a bit far for me to help...

rallysanti wrote:

That's cool, I didn't know about that feature.
I've got error code 44 on the PCM, lean O2 on left side. Could be low fuel pressure or bad gas

it can also be lean O2 on the left side. Not intended to be sarcastic. Scan your 02 mV before throwing parts at it. A right hand O2 failure at the max rich position will make the left O2 sensor pull fuel. Your car will run like garbage.

rallysanti wrote:

phantom 309 wrote:

Its been my experience that fuel pumps quit after they are shut off,. Not rolling down the highway.,
Spray wd 40 liberally all over the coil and wire,. See it it makes a difference,.

Interesting, I've never heard of that. I'll give it a shot

Wd40 repels moisture,. The part where it quit in the middle of a blizzard leads me to believe it might be bad wires,.

Well, I figured it out. It was really dumb, and I should have checked for the obvious first.

The electrical connector for the pump at the back of the car was unplugged. I only realized this when I got 0 fuel pressure at the rail and was preparing to drop the tank, going through the steps on the sticky on here. As soon as I plugged it back in (and the filter), I had 38psi of fuel pressure on priming. I put the intake boot, line retainer, and heat shields back on and the car drove just like it did before. I threw a loop of safety wire around the plug as a precaution. I think I might have unplugged it to put my hitch on and didn't seat it fully/damaged the clip when I did that.

It had 36psi at the rail when I started it up. Is this in the normal range?

Thanks for everyone's help.

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You are right in the ballpark with the fuel rail pressure. It varies with the engine running because of the vacuum operated pressure regulator that senses engine load.

I love it when it's something simple. Good work! Aren't you glad you checked the pressure?