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My thoughts would be that it's not a dead engine since it wasn't running when it happened.

was hoping to update tonight, but parts store gave me wrong fuel pressure regulator. Got new UIM though, and plan on having it back together tomorrow night. Will post tomorrow night with good news hopefully!

How would one know if they have the faulty FPR still on their 98? I bought my car used and have no idea if they got it replaced.

freneticburn wrote:How would one know if they have the faulty FPR still on their 98? I bought my car used and have no idea if they got it replaced.

replace it then you can be sure lol

If you give your VIN to a dealer, they should be able to see if the recall work applied and was done to your car. Heck, GM may even pay for the repair if the recall wasn't done.

freneticburn wrote:How would one know if they have the faulty FPR still on their 98? I bought my car used and have no idea if they got it replaced.

They put a square adhesive patch on the radiator support and write the recall number and the date on the paper. Mine had it done.

The problem regulators were made by Delphi, so checking for the brand would be one way. Other brands can also fail. Those just had a higher rate than usual. Some more information is here:

http://www.automotix.net/autorepair/rec ... 50-recall/

WOW thanks for the recall link! That's exactly what happened!

GM isn't going to fix it, but IS going to give me $2500 for the value of the car. I just put it back together with a new intake plennum and fuel pressure regulator, started it, but it ran rough. Turned it off, and my fuel rail is leaking at one of the injectors, so now I need to try a different fuel rail. Who knows what else is wrong.. Ugh.. disappointing.

is the actually rail leaking or is it one of the injectors?

Yoshicoby wrote:GM isn't going to fix it, but IS going to give me $2500 for the value of the car.

Straight up, or if you get another car?

Not sure which actually. But the fuel rail was bent out of shape after the explosion, so i had to do a lot of bending to get it back to where it appeared to fit on the injectors.

$2500 straight up.

Yoshicoby wrote:$2500 straight up.

Sweet!!!

Nice of GM for that...i agree with others who have posted that once you Find and fix the damage caused by the explosion you should be ok. Like everything else, fire takes the path of least resistance..which was up and out. I also agree with Jwikoff that you should go ahead and take out the Lower intake manifold and make sure no plastic bits get into the guts of the motor. Plus its cheap insurance to replace the LIM gaskets while you have it apart this far. Our TECHINFO section makes the procedure pretty straightforward and if you run into any problems most of us are around pretty often to help.
Glad that you were unhurt in this...thats the important thing.

Well, I got it started this morning. After replacing the upper intake, fuel rail, fuel pressure regulator, and a couple injector washers, it started up. Ran rough for about three minutes, but I think some of the fire extinguisher powder may have gotten in there, because it ran progressively better. Now it runs about as good as it did before the big boom. Feelin great about it! Thanks!

glad you got it fixed up. mine wasn't driving when it exploded, it was upon start-up also. had to call the fire department, it was blazing. gm gave me 3500 for my piece of *shoot*, and really it wasn't their fault- my dad had ignored the recall letters (i was like 18, it was his car lol). i'm happy gm took good care of you too.

Is this a problem with SLE's or Se's also?

I would venture to guess all L36's of that era, since it's the same motor across all lines except the supercharged versions.

00Beast wrote:I would venture to guess all L36's of that era, since it's the same motor across all lines except the supercharged versions.

I would guess the same.