Fuel pump issues, no power to pump Options

[Tab914]

Jim,

Wow, nice post. Thanks for the pics and the info. I will definately check all of that and use your info for refference. I did try two other ECUs and to no avail. But I will check all that and I will let you know what comes of it.

Cheers, (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beer.gif)

Steve,

I did check and recheck the fuses and their good but I didn't check the fuse connector itself. Something to do for sure.
I might take you up on borrowing your relay board though as I do not have a spare. I will try and fix this sometime on the weekend though and If I keep getting nowhere I will get in touch with you.

Thanks, I appreciate the offer. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beer.gif)

[swl]

Hey Dominic, I just went over your other post about your fuel pump surging and noticed that your pump has been relocated to the front. That means that your wiring has been hacked. Probably a pretty good hack since the pump is still using the proper fuel pump power from the relay board. I'm willing to bet that your problem is somewhere in that wiring hack and the problem you are seeing now is just the surge problem getting worse. Before you do anything else with the relay board you should find the join between the original wiring and the 'extension cord' up to the front. I'll bet if you stress that joint a bit it will fall apart - just making marginal contact and as you do your troubleshooting you are moving the wires enough that the contact returns. The original wire comes out of the harness up in the front right corner of the engine compartment then passes down through a grommet to the original location. This is pretty much right under the ecu. Your joint is probably right there.

[Tab914]

Hey Steve,

Going out to the garage now to try and get her started. Checking that wiring is the first thing I'll do.

Thanks for the BD wish. Maybe the fairies will help. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[Tab914]

Well after being at it all day I finally got the car running again...... hopefully for a bit longer this time.

After going through alot of the motions again I was finally able to nail the problem. While checking the wiring from the egine bay to the front at the relocation spot, I found the connections to be okay but I touched them up while I was at it none the less.

Doing this allowed me to find out that it was actually the pump that was faulting. When turning the key to the "on" position the pump would sometimes buzz and sometimes not. When it wouldn't after lightly tapping it with a ratchet handle it would buzz. Sometimes it would buzz but not for the full 1.5 sec. and it sounded like it was struggling. Then eventually there was just nothing.

Every time before that I checked it with direct power to it, it would run. But it was in fact the pump that was running intermitently. Unfortunately it took a while for it to fault when I applied direct power to it so it made things confusing. Now the pump would not run at all and I was sure that it was burnt or finished.

Anyway next thing was to empty the fuel tank and remove the pump. With nothing to lose, once the pump was out, I opened it up and seperated the pump part from the motor part. While inspecting the motor I found that the two carbon (I think they are carbon) brushes or post were sticking and not making contact with the middle shaft. They are pushed towards the middle shaft by a small spring each. I removed the two post, cleaned the interior of the small slots the slide in and put everything back together. Now the springs were able to push the post forward and against the middle shaft. Probably a varnish build up from the fuel sitting in the pump all winter. Tested the pump off of the car with direct power and made it pump fuel into a jar. Pump twirled right away and was pumping fine. I was worried the pump might leak once put back together but there are no leaks and pump is running strong for now.

Now the pump is back on the car and does what it should everytime the key is positioned to "on". I just hope it last for a while.

Thanks again to all who helped. Hope this post will help others.

Dominic. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

[ericread]

Great job at finally correcting this buggar! So did you get it out and on the road? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/driving.gif)

[Tab914]

Just took it out for a short ride last night after getting done but will get it out for a few longer rides this week. Hope nothing else goes wrong.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif)

[swl]

Wow! Great catch Dominic! I can see why you were thrown off the path by the direct power working. Tough to analyse that one, perhaps the brushes were making minimal contact and the extra volt or two you get with the direct power was enough to get it spinning. Glad you found the problem - now get out there and drive!

Hope nothing else goes wrong.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/av-943.gif)

oh - sorry were you serious? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/happy11.gif)

[Tab914]

Steve,

Wishfull thinking I know. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

Yeah the intermitent pump threw me off a few times. Glad to have finally nailed it. The pump is in a better location at the front then in the engine bay but it makes it a hell of a lot more work jacking the car up and down over and over again.

Steve, any pics of your car or projects? Would be fun to go up there for a ride. What do you think of a Sunday cruise or something? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/driving.gif)

[iamchappy]

Im glad you you solved it, i was going to suggest it was a bad temp sensor in the head
it cuts the fuel pump as well.

[swl]

It will be a while before I'm cruising. The Ohio car is not even registered yet. I was just about ready to make a pass at inspection when the kids (young adults) talked me into re doing the deck. "We'll do it for you dad!" Turned into the backyard equivalent of a hell hole repair! frame was shot, foundation behind it had sagged. Not to code - no drainage field, footings not deep enough, ...
Its been a long haul and will be another couple of weekends before I get back to the car.

Once it is running and proven a get together would be cool. There are a few more in the area. LongArm on this board has a sweet orange 1.7 -> 2.0 litre that he drives by regularly to remind me to get to work. Freezing914 is out of Brockville. Haven't met him face to face but he does some awesome rust repair work. Theres also a guy out of Ottawa - don't remember his name but he had a really cool avatar. Maybe sometime this summer we can all converge somewhere.

Does AX appeal to you? http://www.stlac.ca/Events.htm

[Tab914]

Excellent,

That sounds good. Would be fun to get everyone together. There is also Stephane out of Cantley up above Ottawa. Real nice guy. We should try and plan something for this summer.

Will keep in touch. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/driving.gif)

If any of the other guys above mentioned read this post please chime in.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/poke.gif)