Tercel cranks, but won't start.

[My1985Tercel]

I am grateful in advance for any help.

Vehicle: 1986 Tercel wagon, automatic, 2wd. Vehicle sat for three years.

-Cranks. Will run for a few seconds with starter fluid. Then dies.
-I added a few gallons of fresh gas.

What should my next step be?
Is the fuel pump mechanical or electric? Where is it located?
If it's electric, are there relays I can check?

Thanks

[Petros]

the fuel pump is located on the right side of the engine (as seen from the drivers seat), near the back of the head, behind the carburator. it has fuel lines going to it from the firewall, and hoses going to the carburator.

often when cars sit the rubber hoses get dried out and crack and than it sucks air into the line, rather than supplying fuel.

you need to diagnos it first, before you try and fix it. get a length of fuel line and than attach it to the "in" side of the fuel pump and put the other end of the line in a gas can full of freash gasoline. if it runs off the fuel can, the fuel pump is good. if not, than likely it is the fuel pump.

if it runs off the fuel can, than likely something up stream of the fuel pump is the problem.
This can be a crack/leaky fuel line, there are several sections of rubber/flex fuel line between the fuel pump and the fuel tank, follow it and carefully inspect each one for cracks. it could also be a plugged fuel filter (on the lower fender well on the left side of the engine compartment...follow the fuel line from the pump to the filter).

it could also be a plugged up pick up screen in the fuel tank, but that is less common. if you can not find any other issue with the fuel system, you can inspect the fuel pick up screen by removing the small hatch under the rear carpet, that exposes the top of the fuel tank and sender. you remove it and than inspect inside the tank with a flashlight.

good luck.

[My1985Tercel]

Thank you Petros. I very much appreciate the detail. Breaking the fuel delivery into sections like that make sense to me.

When I go to the autoparts store is there a specific size fuel line I need? I can eyeball the size, just want to make sure I don't leave with something of the wrong diameter.