Hello all - I could use some help trouble shooting my no start issue. My '84 245 (B23F) 5 speed with 310,000 miles will not start. The engine cranks and will just begin to fire, but immediately dies as if it is not getting enough fuel. It has about a third of a tank of gas at the moment. I have waded through the FAQ's and searched the archives as well and am still a little confused.

The back history is that I drove the car for a LONG time with the in-tank pre-pump not working. I replaced that two years ago. It has had hard cold starting issues for so long that it has become part of the "charm" of driving the car. No starting issues what-so-ever when warm. In addition, it will stumble severely for the first minute of driving, then all is good. Within the last year I have replaced the fuel pressure regulator and idle control valve, neither of which made any apparent difference. New spark plugs two weeks ago.

I have checked both relays and they seem to be working OK. Listening at the main fuel pump I can only hear it run for a second AFTER the starter is turned off - nothing before. In-tank pump appears to be functioning as well with the basic "listening" test.

I am afraid that I may have worn out the main pump and it is finally too weak to supply enough pressure. My question is, how is the best way to test this? The Bentley manual only indicates that you check the flow from the output of the fuel rail by measuring the amount over time? This seems pretty "hinckey" to me. There is no valve on my fuel rail to use a fuel pressure gauge. I am also suspecting the fuel check valve, but there seems to be no consensus from the discussions here on whether or not it will affect driveability. Could a severely dirty fuel filter also cause this? It is due for a change, but that seems to be a long shot.

Sorry so long, but wanted to be thorough. Thanks in advance,
Craig
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'84 245 5 speed, 310K / '93 245, auto, 155K