Fuel pump or frozen line?
 

Hello all,
I'm new to the forum and it looks like there are a lot of knowledgible people on here. Here's my problem. I have a 1995 Blazer 4x4 that I bought for my daughter a few months ago. It has 150,000 miles on it and it's in great shape inside and out. The motor is strong and it was very reliable until yesterday morning. I live about 50 miles west of Chicago and it got down to about 3 degrees. My daughter went to start the car and it wouldn't turn over. The battery didn't crank for very long but enough that it should have started.

I got home from work, tried to jump it and it had plenty of crank but wouldn't start. Gave it a shot of starting fluid and it turned over and stopped immediatley after the fluid was burned up. The car has a remote start and when used you can hear the fuel pump start and then the motor would crank and turn over. I noticed now that I really cant hear the fuel pump. I got it into my gagrage last night. Its not heated but it is about 35 - 40 degrees in there even when its 3 degrees outside. I let it sit in there over night but by 5:00 AM this morning the little snow it had on it barely even started to melt. Tried to start it again and nothing. I here something (moving, or running) by the intake (when you first turn the key before I crank it) but it sound like its weak.

Does this sound like a fule pump just quit all of the sudden or a frozen fuel line. Is there a fuse for the pump? For what it's worth, the tank was less than a 1/4 tank full.

Sorry about the long post and thank you all in advance for your help.

Make sure the battery is good first and has a full charge. If it still won't start check on proper fuel pressure, providing the pump is running.

The only way you'll have a frozen fuel line at those temps is if you have quite a bit of water in the fuel system. Gasoline's flash point is -45* F and the freezing point is quite a bit lower than that.

I noticed last night that the battery had a manufatured date of September of 2005 so that is definitely being replaced. It was on a charger over night and cranked good this morning but wouldn't turn over.

I'll check the relay in the glove box. I was just in there trying to find the signal flasher and I just remembered that I moved one of the relays (the one on the left) and the truck died. At the time I didnt even know what it was for and thought it was odd that it barely was moved and it made the truck die. I also remember it being pretty hot. Is it supposed to be hot?

I wish I would have checked that last night but nothing could be that easy for me.

I'm still dreading dropping the tank and replacing the pump. I guess if I have to do it I'll change the sending unit because the gauge is not reading very accurate. Once it's under a half a tank the gauge bounces anywhere between half and near empty. I was hoping to do that in the spring when it was nice outside.

You might be able to borrow a test gage for the fuel pump from Autozone or another store. Pretty easy to do, a quick search will let you know the pressures you need and how to do it. If jiggling the relay you mentioned does't work, of course after replacing the battery, test your fuel pressure before dropping the tank and replacing the pump.

Update: I got home this evening and before I touched the car I grabbed the remote, I hit the start button and it started up and ran fine. I had it in my unheated but 38 degree garage on a battery charger since last night around 8:00 PM so it cranked just fine. The battery had a September 2005 date on it so I did replace the battery with a 720 CC amp battery for $79.99 for some peace of mind. The car is my 16 year old daughters so I dont want the old battery quitting on her and being stranded somewhere.

I'm hoping there was a lot of moisture in the tank somehow and that was the culprit. It went from 40 degrees and rainy to 3 degrees and snowing in about 24 hours so I guess anything is possible. It only had about 4 gallons of gas in it. Anyway I put some "heat" in the tank and filled it up. It's in the single digits here tonight so I'll let you know if it starts tomorrow.

Thank you all for your input.

When this happened was the truck really low on fuel? I dropped my car off at the mechanics once with barely any gas in the tank. It got to 2 degrees that night and in the morning, the mechanic said my car wouldn't start.

I trust my mechanic, so unless I was ripped off, he said there was enough water in the gas tank to have been inside the fuel pump and have frozen and cracked the plastic pipes in it. That was an expensive would-have-been-oil change.

I know your ride is good, but maybe that will shed some more light on a similar problem :)

Okay at 5:00 AM this morning it was 1 degree outside and the truck fired right up and all was good.

Hopefully it was just a freak frozen line or something and not an intermittent issue of some sort.

I'll keep you posted if the issue rears it's ugly head again.

Thanks agian for your responses.