My 96 Protege won't start

[lhuser]

This is for all you car lovers out there.

On New Year's day (talk about a day to fail), my car decided to stall in my driveway, and it would not fire at all. I checked with a buddy of mine, who does mechanics, and we came down to the conclusion of being the fuel pump, as everything else worked normally, as we shot fuel in the air intake (I think it's called like that).

Today, I gave it a shot, as someone wanted me to prove it wouldn't start (Don't know what's his problem), but the car actually started, but stalled right away. Now, it won't start, but fires a little. I managed to get it running for 5 secs at maximum.

The fuel pump was working on New Year's day, and today, but I was told it might not put out enough pressure. I tried shooting fuel in the air intake, but like a frakin' idiot, I forgot to open the throttle, and I've decided to wait for tommorow.


What the heck is going on?

 

[FlightSimBoy]

If it starts when you put fuel directly in the air intake, then yes, I'd be 99.99 percent sure it's the fuel pump. I just had to replace the one on my truck not too long ago.

My truck did the exact same thing, I'd either use a rag damp with gas or starting fluid, and it would start right up but wouldn't run for more than a few seconds. It actually gave me about 20 miles worth of driving time at first, what I did was beat on the gas tank with a rubber mallet, and bump started it with another truck. Then it wouldn't run at all.

 

[detox1]

fuel pump, or the fuel pump relay

 

[Cabbs]

Maybe even a clogged fuel filter? Although I doubt it since it just happened overnight.

 

[lhuser]

As it turns out, the fuel pump is still the cause. It barely gives the pressure to start, but then, the pressure is too low. Well, at least, they're easy to change on these cars!