My name is Justin Swinehart of Middlebury Indiana and I drive a 1991 Volkswagen Corrado G60. Automatic unfortunetly. I bought the car for 1,200.00 and it drove fine for about a week. It smoked when the motor was cold but when it warmed up a bit this wasnt much of a problem. About a week ago it started to not want to run when it was in park at an idle or in gear idleing at stop lights and what not. then all the sudden it just wouldnt start the other day. It would turn over but not fire up so I changed the spark plugs and nothing. after some testing on the starter coil and the distributor i found out it wasnt a problem of no spark but no gas. we tested the fuel pump in the tank and its building the right pressure and working fine but somehow no fuel is getting to the pistons. i guess the next step would be to check fuel lines and injectors but not sure. does anyone know what the answer is to my fuel and/or my smoke problem. so far the best advice ive gotten is see which junkyard has the best scrap prices but this car is unique and to me, worth saving. Thanks for any help I can get.
It sounds like you are young and just above the stage of being penniless. Normally, a good idea is to go to the mechanic review/recommend section of cartalk, and have a good mechanic look at it. It sounds like you don’t have much money left. Correct?
Then, you will need to get books or dig into the Internet and find out how to troubleshoot a fuel problem. In some cars, I am not familiar with that car, a computer runs the fuel injectors etc. So, it can be a lot of things, not just fuel lines, and hard to troubleshoot via the Web. Hope you get some help that you need.
It could be something simple…like a dirty fuel filter. Click on this link for a picture: http://www.autozone.com/R,APP697597/vehicleId,1618801/initialAction,partProductDetail/store,1140/partType,00540/shopping/partProductDetail.htm It should be easy to change, in the engine compartment.
You can check to see if the fuel injectors are getting signals to spray with a test light called a 'noid light. It’s about $5 at an auto parts store.
Disconnect a wiring connector at the fuel injector. Plug the 'noid test light into the electrical connector. Crank the engine and watch for the 'noid light to flash each time the fuel injector gets a signal to spray. One 'noid test light would flash at, about, once per three seconds, at engine cranking speed.
You could see if the problem really is lack of fuel into the cylinders by using a spray Starting Fluid. Spray for two seconds into the intake tube. Crank the engine. If it starts and runs a few seconds, the problem is lack of fuel. Then, you’ll need to find out why the fuel injectors aren’t getting signals to spray.
Check your local public library for technical repair data. They have online resources, also.