Oldblue, maybe I shouldn't have said "bypass" just meant "disabled". I pulled the relay so it was just running on the canister. You said it's just a sock on the fuel pump. Is the regulator not built into the pump?

Pulpfriction, I'm sending the injectors back. You're right I don't need them and that's $200 i'll get back in my pocket. If it's not the fuel pump why did it run fine off the canister? As soon as i put the relay back in for the fuel pump and run that's when it runs like crap again. fresh gas too. Are you stating it's not the fuel pump because a bad pump can't cause a rich condition based on the fact the pump is bad? I've read very mixed threads on that topic. As you are aware everything on the scanner is abbreviated. I will have to look up the abbreviation for it. My scanner may not even support that. It's a cheap one but it does far more than I thought it would. I wanted it just to read codes so Autozone didn't get tired of seeing me, lol!

What should percentages be for ethanol? How does this get fixed if that does turn out to be the case?

 

"Put pressure guage on first thing this morning before even cranking and I got 53 psi but it dropped like 7 psi in under 2 mins"

This means bad fuel pump or leaky fuel line. Probably another.scenario I'm not thinking of.

 

RJ, i discovered my fuel pressure guage needs new o-rings so it was leaking a little which is why fuel pressure showed it was dropping. Put new o-ring in the fitting. Checked psi this morning before even cranking and it held steady at 53-54 psi.

Pulpfriction, thank you for that link. It was very helpful. Incidentally, I came across a youtube video last night from ScannerDanner with an 09 HHR doing this exact thing. He walked through the whole situation very similar to the link posted in this discussion. Now, if I could only find where the heck my scanner shows the alcohol % i'd be good. I have an Ancel ad310. Not the most expensive scanner but its my first one and i'm finding this thing to be amazing! It reads almost just about everything so not sure why it wouldnt read that. I can't find it anywhere thought and i've been up and down the menu's.

If this is the issue I don't understand why the computer doesn't change back to the right alc % after you refuel. Obvioulsy that's why there's a problem but just saying. I was primarily using E15 but i don't think I ever ran E85. I know in the past couple months i've put regular 87 in because there is only one station near me that has the E15. I don't wait till empty either but usually put gas in when i get to a quarter tank. then last week I used the fuel rail canister to clean injectors and used seafoam and gas 50/50 then put the other half in a quarter tank of gas. Maybe this computer is just confused, at least that's what i hope. You would think though that after putting fresh new gas in it would clear up

Car has become unreliable now though especially with colder night temps and first starts in the morning. The crank time is just unbelievable and it's a whole coaxing process. Once it's running a few minutes I can shut it off and it will start back up the rest of the day.

 

Regulator is part of the fuel pump assembly in the fuel tank. Pulling a relay to bypass the fuel filter?
Fuse #13 is the fuel pump, remove it and the fuel pump is shut off. Same as relay #19

https://fuse-box.info/chevrolet/chev...uses-and-relay

 

Likely your scan tool is reading the stored ethanol %, but it's typically in wierd place in the menus. You could search the scan tool's manual PDF or you could try the parts store scanner. Maybe it can even set the ethanol % to zero for you.

The ideal fix is to sample the fuel in the tank, determine the ethanol % in that sample, then use a capable scan tool to set the stored % at that value. Probably unnecessary, but knowing the actual % and store value are very helpful in diagnosis and determining best action.

It seems this condition sometimes gradually corrects itself.

If you have more questions, just ask.

 

yes, I pull both the relay and the fuse so the pump is off when i clean the injectors with the canister for the fuel rail. You are getting the fuel from the canister now and not the fuel pump, correct? Again, poor choice of wording on my behalf.

 

And, I believe the reason the car ran better on my last ditch effort of injector cleaning was because the gas mix in the canister was a 50/50 solution of gas and B12 so the alcohol level made the car very happy and satisfied it's call for the ethanol. Providing of course if i can confirm for sure the computer is seeing a high percentage but it's sounding more probable.

I could try putting E85 in, didn't think of that but I just kind of want to use up the half tank that's in there and get it emptied.

 

Please clarify what canister?

 

the through rail injector cleaner canister

 

Need pics. Don’t think that’s stock.

Adding emphasis to my suggestion to read the stored ethanol% AND test an actual sample of the fuel in the tank. Less guesswork.