Alright good deal. Just changed the filter about a month ago and it wasn't that hard. I was thinking that that was the only way to test it but I thought I would get an inaccurate read on the gauge because id have to cut the line off. Or it would be too dangerous

I went to NAPA and my guy there can find the fitting that hooks into the gauge, but not another fitting that can hook it into the fuel line. I brought the gauge, an old fuel filter I forgot to toss, and printed your last post for a reference. NAPA is the only parts store that's worth a damn in this town so I would have to buy online. Any ideas where I should start looking?

 

Well I had no luck finding any fittings to test the pump, so I just went with the cheapest part first, the fuel pressure regulator. Little thing cost $70. Interesting job I thought. Never actually did more work than a spark plug change. So that went surprisingly well, but, no change. Still didn't want to start.

So Afterwords I replaced the fuel pump. Cost $400 from NAPA. I heard some horror stories about dropping the fuel tank so I wasn't looking forward to this. It was actually pretty easy. A lot easier than I expected. Well without any more rambling i'll finish by saying that the fuel pump was my problem. After I got everything back together I went to check the pressures. Went to start it to check what the pressure was there... didn't get the chance it fired up after 1 crank and scared the **** out of me.

Here are the pressures im running now:
Engine "cold":
Prime: 62 psi
Bleeds down to: 56 psi in 5 seconds
Ignition: 62 psi
Running: 55 psi
Revving 2k-3k RPM: 55 psi
Doesn't bleed down 10 seconds after engine is off

20 minutes later:
Prime: 62 psi
Bleed: 56 psi
Ignition: 62 psi
Running: 56 psi
Revving 2k-3k RPM: 54 psi
Bleeds down to 50 psi 5 seconds after engine is off.

So thank you for all the help swartlkk. Probably would still be standing around scratching my head wondering whats wrong or bashing my face on the steering wheel if not for the forum. Fires right up every time so far. Now next step is to start browsing A/C problems to try and find out why mine won't work. Then its off to the lifting tech...

More unrelated babble: I broke down in the middle of an intersection earlier today... threw the caution lights on, hopped out and smelt the fluid that spilled...gasoline. I saw its right where my fuel filter is. Right at that time a cop pulled up behind me with his lights on. He got out and asked me if I needed help pushing it too the side and I said, give me ten seconds. Got under there and saw that the quick connect for my fuel filter fell off... Not sure why because I didn't do anything in that area when replacing those parts... maybe I jiggled it loose when I was yanking the fuel lines out of the upper intake... idk. But I got it back on and drove to the side of the road awaiting my ticket. Nice guy, didn't write me a ticket.

 

glad to hear you got the truck running and that cop was nice enough not to write you up but yea good luck =)

 

Hey tsLongarms

im glad 2 hear u got the problem resolved. For a couple months now, my 2000 Blazer has been doing the same exact thing. Never wants to start right away when its cold. But once it was warmed up, it would start just fine. At 1st i figured it was time for a tune up (plugs, wires, etc.), but as it turns out, it didnt help. so i turned to the forums and here u are struggling with the same problem. i read through the tread and checked the fuel pressure as swartlkk suggested. (THANX SWARTLKK!!). After the engine was turned off, the guage would drop down to 35psi. So now im suspecting that my pump is bad to. (I had changed the pressure regulator towards the beginning of my problem, so im ruling that out)

 

You can confirm by testing the fuel pressure at the fuel filter using the information I posted above about the adapters.

 

Thank you, bigboyblazer. Good to see this thread is helping someone else. If you do find out its the pump, the parts stores had two available for my blazer. They said the cheap one is meant to put out only like 40 psi, so definatly make sure you get the expensive one, (mine cost $400). But I, myself can't account this for fact or not, its just what the parts guys told me.

I'd wager a guess it's likely the pump, I hear they seem to go out a lot on these rigs from what I hear, but I am not an expert. If your parts store can get you the fittings to test on the filter, then by all means do that before you spend tons of time and money on the pump when its not really the problem. I've seen others having trouble with an ignition switch here, but I doubt it would mess with your fuel pressure. But, as I said i'm no expert.

Oh, and if you do end up dropping the tank, cut yourself an access panel through the floorboard after u remove the tank. If there's something else causing your pump to fail, it'll make the next replacement easy as can be.

 

So i swapped out the Fuel Pump and now she starts like a brand new truck. I also changed the filter because i was advised that its wise to do when changing the fuel pump. They say a dirty/clogged filter reduces the life of the pump. I like to be on the safe side, I figured since im already spending so much money on a new pump, might as well put the few extra $$ for a new filter. But thanx for the advise Swartlkk.

My parts guy was telling the same thing tsLongarms. He said it has something to do with the 4wire connection on the pump, Something about the connectors short out. My pump cost $280 (and that was the expensive one lol). Unfortunatlly, I didnt read ur post on cutting an access panel before doing the swap. But its a great idea. Next time something goes wrong with the pump, god forbid, Ill remember to do that.

 

Just change the filter often and make sure you get good fuel and hopefully it won't go out again. Run some Z-max through it to make sure the lines are cleared out good. I'm sure my pump went out because it went 170,000+ miles without a filter change!!! I'm not certain about that but i know that the filter had about as much rust on the outside as the frame does... I thought they were stainless steel but i guess not . Hopefully the Z-max cleaned out that mess left in the lines after i replaced it.