turns out the pit was deeper than it looked or someone pulled the bottom of it out as i was going through it...but the trooper had water up to the seats. i don't think it took in any water through the carb. pulled it out, let it dry out, changed the oil, etc. it's turning over and getting fire but not getting gas to the carb. if i try to prime it, it kinda backfire's and then i have to put out a little fire under the hood. it's an '89 2.8 v6, t.b.i. also, i noticed that when the key is turned on my fuel gauge does not work now. is there a hidden relay or something i should be looking for? any ideas? thanks.

damn man that sucks..... my trooper did something simular when one of my injector wires were pinched and grouding out on the air lid. It was disabling the fuel pump.
I'd suspect its a fuel pump problem. Check the wiring behind the fuel tank, I've have to replace alot of my wiring back there, and from what I hear its a pretty common problem with first gens.

I too had that backfire-fire when my fuel pump wasn't working and I dumped some fuel in the tb.

First place I would look is at the ground under your back bumper.That ground is used for the fuel pump and the fuel gauge (actually the fuel sending unit).Mine was corroded pretty bad so I replaced it all when I put in my new tank and fuel system , haven't had any problems with it since.

ok, i've hard wired my fuel pump to see if it was pumping and it is getting fuel "to" the carb. (t.b.i.) but it is not going "through" the carb. also, my gas gauge is still not working. i've pretty much cleaned every plug connection and it's just not getting any gas in the motor. is there some easy relation between the gas gauge/fuel pump/t.b.i that is causing this not to work. i'm getting fire, just not gas. my tank is clean, does not appear to have any junk or clogged lines. any thoughts?

also, any thoughts on replacing the t.b.i. with a regular 2 barrell carb?

Carbs suck and are so '70s <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/evil.gif" alt="" />

GM TBIs are pretty simple, get better mpgs, power, work uphill / downhill, sideways and are reliable. Just fix the problem, don't go making new ones <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

IT'S ALIVE!!! took out my ecm, went to salvage yard and rummaged through a shelf of take outs. found a few with the same plug receptacals...the guy let me take the 3 that i found and said to just see if one would work and come back by to pay him if one did. one of them had marker writing on it "91 chevy 350". plugged it in and away we go!!!

Where exactly is this ground by the rear bumper? My fuel guage does not work either. Also, this ground wouldn't by any chance also affect the temp gauge? Because out of the 3 oil/fuel/temp, only the oil works.
Thanks.