And rock and roll will never die! Hey hey, my my.

 

I will check for that ground when weather here clears up.

BTW, car gave me a very long crank over last night before starting. I know exactly what that means. Low fuel pressure! put the gauge on this morning and the fuel pressure drops again! I'm done with Delphi!! This is the 3rd pump! and as far as I'm aware the pressure regulator is mechanical and would not be affected by voltage. The last Delphi was fuel pressure problem too! Summit said they will warranty but as far as replacement they don't have the Delco's anymore. Besides the Delphi, they have GMB, Agility and Carter. Only one i've heard of in that line up is Carter. What do I put in now?

 

Not a pressure regulator, is a check valve, not electrical.
Have you checked the EVAP purge valve (under the hood) it should be normally closed? If it is stuck open it makes for long starts.
Could also be a leaking EVAP purge/vapor tube.
I have NEVER heard of anyone else having this sort of trouble.

 

I checked the purge valve before but will check again. It was closed. The evap purge/vapor tube was replaced last year along with pressure line. I used the kit Oldblue had posted.

I didn't think the purge/vapor line could cause pressure loss on the pressure line.

Wouldn't a leak on the purge line throw an evap code?

 

Just spitballing.

How about leaking injector or injector seals

 

I checked for leaky injectors. Pulled the whole rail and pressured up but nothing dripping. I don't see anything wet around the seals. Actually, I'm going to try spraying some brake cleaner around each injector to make sure. I never smell gas, ever! I would think any kind of leak would present itself. Plus, the day I put the new pump in I checked the fuel pressure and it held SOLID. It doesn't hold solid anymore. went from 58 psi down to 32 psi in about a minute.

the 3rd brake light issue- I said "screw it" and put everything back together. I can't find anything wrong. The resistance traces straight to the bulbs when they are lit. Take the bulbs out and now you got battery voltage on the harness like it should. But all videos i've watched show battery voltage on the harness even with the bulbs lit. I don't know!

Donbrew or Oldblue or anyone, if you're bored and are curious, throw a meter on your 3rd brake light harness with it lit and tell me what voltage you get. I kind of feel like it's supposed to do what i'm seeing.

Summit found an AcDelco fuel pump for me. Going to try that now.

Donbrew, I used your link to the shop manual. Wow!! I sat there for over 2 hours looking through it. It's a bit cumbersome to navigate but incredibly helpful!

 

How was the ground connection for the third brake light?

 

It is fine. In fact, I ran a dedicated ground from the 3rd brake light to battery negative post and tested voltage and same thing.

 

The relay sends the hot to the CHMSL, so there should be no voltage showing on the lt blu wire unless the pedal is depressed. The black wire goes to ground, lt blu comes from the relay.
When the pedal is depressed the lt blu wire is energized and goes to the CHMSL and the ECM, the ECM reads the voltage after the lamps draw toe calculate if all 4 bulbs are working. So, there should be less than battery voltage on the lt blu because of the draw from 4 bulbs. Light bulbs are a resistive load.

 

And there it is! The answer I was looking for. And this is the way I was leaning since it all traced to the bulbs. Why doesn't the bulb lower the resistance on the lower brake lights (when lit) when I volt test them? This is what has me confused.

At any rate, I know my headlights don't flicker when 3rd light is unplugged. Those 4 little bulbs pull 2.0 volts when the light up. I think the draw is just pulling on the battery and it's taking a split second for the alternator to read it and catch up. That's why the headlights don't stay dim.

The fix is just live with it obviously since nothing is wrong with it or unplug the 3rd brake light until I get stopped or inspection time, at the expense of no cruise control of course. The AcDelco pump won't be here until October. It's back ordered. About $100 higher price at Advance Auto to get one in a few days. Going to take my chances and wait for the one through Summit. Hope I make it that long.

At this rate, I should've just gone with a Carter pump. Probably would have lasted longer than these Delphi's