Car won't start - Fuel Pump not priming

[jkichline]

My fuel pump is not priming and I just had it towed home. I looked for fuses and relays and didn't find any. Looks like I'll be putting a new one in this weekend. Any advice? How hard is it to do? Luckily, I happen to have a spare fuel pump in my garage. It doesn't look to hard but I don't know how hard it is to get to.

 

[dpsutphin]

If you hear the pump run at all when you turn on the key, replace the fuel filter first. It may or may not fix it, but it is a $10 part, and very easy to do. And if you are going to change the fuel pump, you will want to change the filter anyway.

There are fuses and relays that contol everything electrical on the car. I just don't know exactly where the ones for the fuel pump would be. There is a good sticky thread here on wiring diagrams that might help you locate them.

As for the ease of replacing the pump itself, it depends on whether or not someone has done the access door modification which allows you to access the pump by removing the back seat. Otherwise you have to drop the fuel tank, and that's not any fun, not to mention a bit dangerous if you don't have the proper equipement to do it.

There used to be a thread on here about how to make an access door. You should be able to find it by searching.

Good luck.

 

[Frank]

An easy thing to check is the fuel cutoff switch on the left side of the trunk. It may have tripped. Stick your finger in the access hole in the trunk liner and push down on the red button. If it goes down, then it was tripped.

Frank Whittle
'95 ATX

 

[NWGRN94MTX]

Check the ICRM box on top of the radiator also.

 

[HotRodKid]

on somedudes car we had the same prob after the intake swap

turns out that a ground wire to the rear of the intake came apart, and thats all it took to disable the fuel pump

 

[jkichline]

I checked out the ICRM and the ground strap. I didn't do anything other than wiggle them a little bit. Got back in the car and it fired right up. I came out about 1 hour later and the pump primed, it started and died right away. Then the pump wouldn't prime anymore. I tried wiggling wires again and got nothing. So I replaced the fuel pump via my new access door under the back seat. Drove it in this morning with no issues.

 

[Silver Bullet]

Same exact thing happened to me a few weeks ago! There's an in line fuse for the fuel pump just above the fuse panel in my SHO. It was tricky to find it, and I believe it's a 30amp. Mine was "OK", and the fuel pump being replaced solved my problem....... Good luck!!

 

[jkichline]

Still going strong after about 100 miles. I'm going to recover my new access door and consider it fixed.

 

[thecrew2999]

i never seen the point of an access panel if you think about it you should olny replace the pump once.
so why would you need back in?
also its good to drop the tank to assess any problems like rusted straps etc.

 

[jkichline]

i never seen the point of an access panel if you think about it you should olny replace the pump once.
so why would you need back in?
also its good to drop the tank to assess any problems like rusted straps etc.

Interesting. I never understood why ford didn't put a door there in the first place. In my opinion, its rediculous to put a serviceable part in a place that has no access unless you drop the gas tank. Like I said, I had a full tank of gas. Am I supposed to drop a full gas tank or go through the trouble of syphoning it out to be able to drop it? I replaced the pump once hear at 100,000 miles. I put in a used pump. even if it lasts me another 100,000 miles, I'll have to replace it again. And, I can see pretty much (like rusted straps) without dropping the tank.

For me and what I have for tools, the access door was a much better option. Dropping the tank may not be a big deal if your tank is empty but I didn't want to mess with it (especially with it being full).

This is all about a matter of preference. All I know is, I paid $0 to turn a dead car into a running car. A shop would have ***** me!