Cadillac Repair: fuel pump or not, 1990 cadillac seville, cadillac seville

Question
1990 cadillac seville 4-door...I had the engine replaced last Sept and was told that the fuel line had sugar in it...I was told that the car was flushed and filters, wires, tune up, fuel pump and all had been done. The gas tank had been dropped and cleaned and so on...My car ran somewhat better as it had been hesitating to accelerate. I never had a problem with it starting.

Through the coldest temps of as much as 30 below zero, my car still started without a problem and about 3 weeks ago I drove it on a Saturday to do errands and the next morning it wouldn t start. It has a strong sound as if it will start but just won t fire for some reason.

I m told that I may need a fuel pump. I was just told in Sept. that a new one had been installed...I know that I needed to have some work done on the car, such as: a tune-up, an oil change ( I had it changed last Sept by Jiffy Lube) and I am told that the oil in it now is very black.  I m also told that I need to have my entire exhaust system replaced.  

I m wondering if any of the work that needs to be done on the car is the reason for it not starting now...the lights come on, the horn blows, the stereo works the power windows, seats, etc..works...

I was wonder if the spark plugs would keep it from starting if the car needed a tune up very badly and would it cause it to just not start all of a sudden?

I don t have my own mechanic and not much money for repairs which is why those needed has been done...but I do need my car very badly...Can you give me some suggestions as to what may be wrong.

Thanks in advance for any and all help you can give me..

Answer
Hi Margaret, It is possible that the sparkplugs could act up all of a sudden and not allow the engine to start. An engine needs 3 things to run...compression, spark and fuel. You will need to test for spark and the correct fuel pressure to determine what is not working. If you had a can of carburator spray and took off the air filter housing from the throttlebody and gave a 3 second shot into it and then tried to start the engine. If it started or tried to start then the fuel system is at fault. If it didn't even sputter then it is probably lacking spark. Someone that knows what they are doing needs to test the systems because parts can get expensive in a hurry if just replacing them trial and error and there are lots of things that will cause a no start. Sorry I can't be more help. Bill