i just got a 1990 and the guy i bought it off told me the fuel pump went out one day. well for some reason the key wouldnt turn the starter over too. i read somewhere something about the vats system and the resister having something to do with the starter i dont realy know alot about the vats system but would it be a reason why the fuel pump wouldnt be on. i tried putting a in line fuel pump but it wouldnt prime, is the old pump preventing it from priming?

 

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i put the key in the ignition and when i turned it to the run position the sercurity light came on for a second then went off then when i put it in the crank position the temperature gauge climbed but the light stayed off. then when the key was back to the run position the light was still off

 

dont sound like your vats. think the light stays on when it is active.

will the pump prime? you should hear a buzzing in the rear.
have you check for power on my 91 there is a fuse for the pump on pass fender near battery. this was my cause for no gas.

 

the pump in the tank doesnt turn on, i couldnt find the fuse either. i put a eletric in line fuel pump on and am getting gas now but i dont think i have enough psi cause the tbi injectors are like dripping instead of spraying it wont sputter.. it sputters when i turn it over and put a little gas down the carb

 

Check the small lead wire that comes off you positive battery cable. If it's corroded through or disconnected, you won't get power to the pump in the tank. That wire powers the whole fuel pump circuit, and it won't even prime for 2 seconds without it. There's also a fuel pump relay up by the brake booster that's rectangular shaped, but those rarely go bad. If these two areas check out ok, then you probably have to face the inevitable fact that the tank will need to be dropped to replace the pump. Inline pumps are too much of a hassle to mess with unless you need one for a race motor. The last time I thought my pump had died, I spent a whole day checking things and discovered that lead wire on the positive cable had corroded and fell out of the cable. I was just about to drop the tank to replace the pump, and I'm so glad I found that before I went any further. Another problem with an inline pump is you really need to remove the original pump in the tank since it'll be trying to suck the fuel through that dead pump, so you have to modify your pickup system with a piece of hose and a strainer sock in place of the original pump.

 

thanks alot im gonna check those wires and relays later im hopin thats just teh problem. i heard that u can cut out above the gas tank to take it out easier.

 

Oh no, don't even go there with the "cutting an access door idea". Trust me, just drop the tank. The problem with an access hole is the fuel lines are solid metal and go all the way to the side of the gas tank on the driver's side and then turn 90 degrees before they meet up with the rubber lines. So you'd have to cut the metal lines without igniting any fuel, then figure out how to splice them back together good enough to handle the pressure from the pump. If you don't cut the lines there's no way to pull the sending unit out of the tank and through the access hole to be able to replace the pump. I've dropped my tank a couple of times, and it's not that bad overall, just time consuming. The biggest hurdle is getting the exhaust taken apart and out of the way. The last time I put a new catback exhaust system on mine, I used high-temp. copper anti-seize on the pipe joints, and used band type clamps instead of traditional u-bolt style clamps, so my exhaust comes apart easily now whenever I have to remove it. You have to jack the rear of the car up really high and swing the rearend down quite far to get the tank out. I undo the lower part of the shocks, remove both coil springs since they'll drop out anyways, and undo the brake line bracket where it attaches to the underside of the body. This will allow the rear to drop down far enough without putting too much strain on the rubber brake hose. Just figured I'd give you a few tips if you end up dropping the tank.

 

alright thanks alot ill just take the time to drop the tank instead of doin the half *** way. i was just hopin to find a easy way to get around it lol. thanks alot for the help

 

Glad to help! Yeah, the whole access door idea to get to the fuel pump has had some HUGE message threads devoted to it on the boards here, with an equal amount of guys arguing for or against it. My own personal stance on it is if it wasn't for the problem of the metal fuel lines having to be cut, it might be worth it. But even then, I have too much respect, or love of my own 3rd gen to want to hack it up unnecessarily. I totally dreaded the prospect of doing it the first time going into it, but once I got it finished, I was like wow, that wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be. Like I said earlier, the exhaust is usually the worst part if it hasn't been disturbed for years, because it won't come apart without having to cut the pipes. But even that just requires a quick trip to the exhaust shop to get it welded back up, and you can wake up the neighbors on your way there.