1996 Neon DOHC no start

Quoted From EricTheCarGuy:

As much as it pains me to say this Airtex pumps don’t have a very good reputation and since you have done the right thing by checking the pressure and have stated that there really is nothing between the tank and the engine other than a fuel line I would say you might want to replace the pump and recheck for the problem.

Just talked to Amazon.com where I purchased the Airtex pump module and they are over nighting me a new pump. I will follow up when I have more info to post about this. Thanks for the personal reply Eric. Just got through watching FATR 31 thru 47 Gotta find 1 thru 30 and watch them also don’t know if there are any after 47 will have to see if I can find them if they’re out there.

Quoted From EricTheCarGuy:

If you have power at the pump then it SHOULD be giving you the proper pressure unless there’s a restriction in the line somewhere OR one of your fuel injectors is stuck open in which case you should have a very wet spark plug somewhere. I guess we’ll wait and see what you have after you install the new pump.

Thanks Eric, I’ve installed new pump in the module and am testing regulator/filters with it before I install this one. Did a lot of work installing the last pump module which was new and never got pressure to the line. This time I’m checking the module before I install. Good results so far. New pump motor gives 50 psi to output at the regulator/filter so I know I’ll have enough pressure to the line this time. After 24 hours off the pressure at the outlet of the pump module is at 17 psi I think this is what will be installed when I’ve emptied the tank and done the pump module R & R Got the tank emptied and cleaned out again and the pump module installed and put 6 gallons of gas in the tank. 50 psi at the tank outlet now. All that’s left now is to disconnect the fuel pressure gage and connect it to the fuel rail and reattach the quick connect gas line to the outlet at the tank and to the fuel line. Fingers are crossed.

Quoted From EricTheCarGuy:

Good plan, keep us posted on your results.

Back on the road again! Isn’t there a song like that? Took a while to get it to fire up and stay running but everything seems to be working fine now. Took it for a short ride (about a mile) seemed to be running good. Nothing came up on the MT2500 to indicate any faults, but then it wasn’t driven very far. Wife will be happy now that she won’t be having to feed my gas suckin’ Caravan. She drives 75 mi each way to work every day so with this fixed she’ll cut her driving expenses. I will now be “bench testing” before installing, no sense in having to do it twice (I don’t need the practice). Next project is getting the ’73 Honda CB500 on the road for the summer then some work on the ’88 Lebaron convertable (got a bad rear stabilizer bar that broke and I never did get it off last fall have to cut it out ’cause the bolt is rusted to the steel bushing it went through). This was a good learning experience about pump motors and pressure regulator/filters. Test will be if it gets the wife to and from work tomorrow.

Thanks to all who contributed all the good suggestions, and advice.

Quoted From dreamer2355:

Thanks for posting the fix!

Good job with your diagnosis!

So far the fix was a NEW pump motor ($21.95 on eBay) with the old pressure regulator/filter from the BAD Airtex pump module E7097M that I installed in January (which was NEW when I installed it and only lasted a couple months) using the original pump module housing, because the new pump motor was designed as a replacement for the original motor, Walbro (not for the Airtex, Carter, etc. aftermarket pump modules which have different pump motor designs and a different configuration inside the module. Now that I’ve made a pump module test setup I will be testing my old pump motors and pressure regulator/filters discarding what’s bad and saving what’s good. Probably saved at least $150.+ (not even considering the labor saved) by replacing just the motor rather than purchasing a new module assembly and I learned about rebuilding my module. That investment in a Harbor Freight fuel pressure gauge has paid for itself many times over just with this fix. Invest in tools! Don’t just throw money at the problem. The right tools will save you money.

Don’t know who you are but thanks for the advice and support you’ve given me.

Quoted From EricTheCarGuy:

Well done, thanks for posting your fix, sorry to hear about the Airtex pump, that sucks to get bad new parts like that.

Well, the problem with the Airtex fuel pump module was more of an inconvenience, in that its failure required that I had to remove it and put in another new pump module which didn’t work and had to be removed and replaced it with the original Chrysler fuel pump module, in which I put a NEW $21.95 (Lifetime Warranty) motor and the fuel pressure regulator / filter from the Airtex E7097M which is now providing the fuel for the vehicle. Amazon.com sent me a NEW replacement Airtex E7097M pump module which is now one of my spare parts in the basement. They didn’t request the bad module be sent back so I figured I’d use that pressure regulator / filter that only got 3 months use before the motor died.