Will this part just all of a sudden go bad or does it go bad over time? My '01 Blazer 4X4 drove fine all summer...sputtered a little here and there.....then fine again.....now last night....turns over and over and tries to fire but won't....STRONG fuel smell......new battery, plugs, wires, ignition.....haven't checked the fuel pressure.....fuel pump is pretty new (1 year)......any thoughts?

What is the average price on a replacement?

 

The FPS cost me like 35 bucks. I just checked the prices and they went up like 10 bucks, @ autozone they are 45 and kragen 56 and up!!! I replaced mine 6 months ago.

 

Did you do it yourself or have shop do it?? How difficult to exchange? Where is it located? Thanks !!

 

I had a buddy of mine that owns a shop do it, but from what I saw it's not very dificult with the help of this forum, it might be a little time consuming though. It is located in the plenum, so you have to remove above it, but like I said with the help of this forum and its threads it's possible. After I saw my buddy do it I was like that's it??? You cant see it from outside like I thought I would, it's located inside.

 

It really is not all that difficult. The worst part of it all is removing the fuel lines from the top of the engine. They can be quite difficult to disconnect at the back of the engine near the firewall due to the restricted space. Stubby wrenches are a must and I believe the size is 16mm (IIRC).

The FPR itself is located off the back side of the spider under the plastic upper intake plenum. You basically have to clear most everything off of the top of the motor to remove the upper intake plenum (distributor can be left in) to remove the plenum. Once the plenum is removed, the spider can be removed and the FPR replaced.

Before you go through the trouble of replacing it, you really need to figure out if it truly is at fault. A cold weather start up issue can be caused by bad gas, water in the fuel, or just gummed up injectors. Bad gas can sometimes be traced back to a single fuel station. Water in the gas can be cured by using IsoHeat (red bottle) available at most any place that carries automotive fluids. Gummed up injectors may be remedied by using some injector cleaner. For really gummed up injectors, you may have to have them professionally cleaned.

There are other things that may be causing your start up troubles and that is where proper diagnosis comes in. You need three things for the vehicle to start, fuel, air, and spark. These all need to be in the appropriate quantities (strength in the case of spark) and timing for the engine to start.