Car died while driving...now won't start...

I was coming home from hanging out with some friends this evening...I got on it once, was at about 40mph (car is a 98 TA A4 with 2.73's) and the car didn't feel like it downshifted and didn't feel like it pulled too hard at all...stayed into it and then let off right around 6ish....car didn't upshift, just coasted back down to normal RPMs....pulled over, said bye to my friend...

Get back on the road, at about 5mph I smack it down and the car starts to pull then just dies out...car starts to sputter. Hit the gas and it barely wants to go anywhere...throw it into neutral and coast to a parking lot. From there I turn the car off quickly, wait 2 minutes, then start it back up. It cranks and almost fired up, and the car shuddered and idled below 500rpm, then died. Proceeded to try to start it a few more times, same story.

I think great...out of gas (car was a low, but when I turn it off the gauge returned to 1/4...started it, went right to E) :sillyme:

Grabbed a ride and got some gas, 4 gallons later the car still won't start...gauge shows 1/4 tank when the car's on and just a little over when the car's off. It just cranks and chugs. Now I can't even get it to half ass start and idle below 500 for second, just turns and chugs and it's out. Got a tow home and thought I would post up to see if anyone had any ideas about what it could be. Checked near the fuel rail, removed the cap and got some fuel to spew out. Did I run out of gas and lose a relay/fuse at the same time? :cry:

Hmmm. Not too sure. Could be so many things. Try and eliminate all the possibilities. Make sure the air filter assembly is on properly and that its not an air leak anywhere. Battery and Alternator dont seem to sound like an issue here....

Hopefully you didnt pump the gas while trying to start it. That could make things worse. How does the cranking sound? Is it strong or does it struggle. How is your Oil Pressure, Battery Voltage, etc when it was running? This is a tough one because there arent too many facts here to come to a conclusion. Thats how alot of problems are I guess. When you try to explain the problem you can sometimes give too much information and confuse someone that is trying to help. From what you wrote its sounding like transmission problems but at the same time why would a transmission problem prevent your car from starting. See if you can check out the basics and repost after eliminating some of the easy stuff.

Check your fuel pump relay and also when you turn your key to run befor you crank it, can you hear your pump prime? Should be low tone humming coming from the rear? If not then you probly fried your pump.
Check your fuel pressure at the rail.
Is your battery low or still fully charged?
J

Definitely check the relay and fuel pressure first like sunset said...that sounds like your problem. Also a 40mph punch is a deadspot for autos...it was with my 3.23's anyway. So that's normal and doesn't sound related to your starting probs. A higher stall will fix it though:drivin:

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Originally Posted by 2000TransAm400HP

Hmmm. Not too sure. Could be so many things. Try and eliminate all the possibilities. Make sure the air filter assembly is on properly and that its not an air leak anywhere. Battery and Alternator dont seem to sound like an issue here....

Hopefully you didnt pump the gas while trying to start it. That could make things worse. How does the cranking sound? Is it strong or does it struggle. How is your Oil Pressure, Battery Voltage, etc when it was running? This is a tough one because there arent too many facts here to come to a conclusion. Thats how alot of problems are I guess. When you try to explain the problem you can sometimes give too much information and confuse someone that is trying to help. From what you wrote its sounding like transmission problems but at the same time why would a transmission problem prevent your car from starting. See if you can check out the basics and repost after eliminating some of the easy stuff.

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LOL I know exactly what you mean when telling too much of what happened...was just trying to recount the events. Everything was normal before it died...

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Originally Posted by sunsetorangess

Check your fuel pump relay and also when you turn your key to run befor you crank it, can you hear your pump prime? Should be low tone humming coming from the rear? If not then you probly fried your pump.
Check your fuel pressure at the rail.
Is your battery low or still fully charged?
J

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I can't hear it prime. I swapped the relay from the AC into the fuel pump and it didn't make a difference. Swapped the fuse with the fuel pump to the horn, the horn then did not work (fuel pump fuse IS bad) but it didn't make a difference in trying to start the car. I think it may be the fuel pump...how do I check for fuel pressure? Just upcap the plug on the rail and see?

It doesn't even struggle to start, doesn't fire, just won't start at all now.

EDIT: uncapped the rail and couldn't get any fuel to come out, did so last night and had a little fuel come out though...after trying to start it 15+ times, now there's no fuel. So would it be my pump gone bad?

Sounds like the pump died on ya.

Yeah, I think it is.

Going to go ahead and pick this up

http://www.racetronix.com/RX-F98-FPKG-2.html

Install isn't too hard is it? 98's are different than 99+

I'm going to say it's your fuel pump. I was driving with about a quarter tank and it didn't want to accelerate on me and I was forced to pull over. Luckily I was on my road and my mom was about 15 minutes behind me(I had no idea) and drove by as I was about 5 feet from my car starting to walk home. It didn't want to even start, so I figured maybe it was out of gas and just didn't want to show it. So I got home, took my other car to get gas and went back to the car. Filled it up and it did the same thing, and wouldn't start. I had to get it pulled home, had to call for it to get towed to a shop and it was the fuel pump that had to be replaced.

EDIT: It was about $460 for my pump and to have it installed.