Was driving about 40 mph when suddenly my engine stopped running and pushing on the accelerator didn't do anything. Came to a stop and my car would not start.

Battery works
I hear a clicking sound when I try to crank it

I may have answered my own question but I no longer hear the fuel pump when I turn the key. I tried changing the relay and that didn't help at all.

before I go out and spend a bunch of money and have to do some work...is it possible that something else could be the problem? Is there any electrical junk I should consider with a fuel pump?

edit: actually just realized I haven't checked my fuses....so if its not a fuse then I'm pretty sure its a bad fuel pump then...Gotta find out where this fuse is located now.

 

The fuse is in the fuse box by the drivers door. It'll say F. pump by it. Try that then let us know if it was the problem!

 

Checked fuse and it looked fine. Was not the issue. Hopefully I fix the pump today.

 

Okay I changed the fuel pump and that still didn't fix my problem

Having no car sucks too...

Anyhow I still do not hear the fuel pump when I turn the key.

So...

-Can't be relay . I tried changing this before the fuel pump
-Put in a new fuel pump and still nothing

what could it be? please help

 

You could possibly have a bad fuel pump even though it is new! This is not all that rare!! Try hooking 12v straight to the pump wires and see if it comes on then. If it doesn't then you know the pump was bad, if it does come on then you either have a bad relay, or a bad wire somewhere.

 

I'm starting to think that I may have a short somewhere....

 

did you drop the tank or cut a door? You should have checked voltage at the pump before you replaced it. Have you checked for fuel pressure? Spark?

Spark and fuel are the first things i check for. Dont start throwing parts at it.

 

I dropped the tank. It was a real PITA. And I found out my fuel pump isn't even inside the tank. It was mounted behind it so I ended up having to order an aftermarket fuel pump external.

Sorry I'm kind of a noob and I just went straight for the part replacement...now I'm starting to think that the fuel pump may not have even been the problem and it could be something electrical.

I'll take it as a learning experience though- I know how to change out a fuel pump and I have a backup fuel pump now if it never went out to begin with.

Is this scenario possible?

When my car broke down the alternator went out and then my battery didn't have enough juice to crank it back up and prime the relay?

 

ummmm.... ok so would the car not crank over when you pulled over and tryed to start it?

 

Yes it would not crank over and I had to get towed. My car would click click click click and the fuel pump would not prime.

 

Have you checked wires from the distributor? I know on mine I had a cracked connector going to my coil so it would wiggle itself loose every so often and do exactly what your car did. Like Brando said, check various things out before dumping money on parts. Ive learned that the hard way too.

 

Ok when it goes click click click it means the battery is dead the the solenoid on the starter is clicking from the low voltage, this has nothing to do with the fuel pump. Have you charged the battery and tryed to start it? The fuel pump wont prime if you dont have voltage. Fuelpump is not on the top of the list right now on diagnosin this thing.

 

I have not charged the battery and did not know that fuel pump needed 12volts.

Unfortunately I have my car sitting behind closed gates at a hobby shop right now (I'm military living on base) and they're not open till Monday so I will have to wait till Tuesday to get this thing charged and looked it. At the same time my headlights started going, subwoofers, and my fan stopped working around the same time...so maybe I'm just not getting enough volts everywhere?

My alternator must be going bad then if my battery keeps dieing or won't stay charged.

Thanks for you alls post you guys have been real helpful. I guess I'll report back Tuesday or Wednesday.

 

I will check this as well. Thanks.

 

Sounds like your alternator died. These cars have no dummy light or warning indicator. If you would have noticed your volt gauge when it was last running, I bet it was showing a low charge, i.e. 9 volts or less. Once you get down there, it'll just shut off.

 

Sounds like the alternator to me. I just went through the same thing but it was at night and I was trying to make to the airport. almost made it...

 

Yea, it all points to alternator. My friend had the same thing happen while driving his mustang. Car just completed died going down the road. Alternator died and after the battery was out of juice ,he was going no where. Although mustangs do that all the time anyway,

 

Im guessing your pretty new to this. Go buy you a chilton manual for your car and read the whole thing, you will learn a lot from it and it will help you with your car.

 

Just joined 3rd gen, my 1st thread. Hope someone can help,I just purchased a 90 IROC V8 TPI, 5 speed. Car has been sitting for the last 5 yrs., I installed a new battery, tryed turning it over , but nothing. No fuel pump noise, lights do come on in the dash, when I do short the starter it will turn over and I sprayed carb cleaner in the manifold it does start for a moment. I checked all the fuses under the dash, they are all good, before I put a new fuel pump in, can someone tell me where the relay is and if there is any thing else I should check. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

If you start your own thread there are lots of people that are willing to help. Welcome to Thirdgen.org.

 

Happened on my dads Caprice in the middle of January 100 miles from nowhere in Northern Minnesota. Longest walk of my life to the nearest house about 3 miles up the road from us. Driving along just fine and the headlights started getting dimmer, and dimmer...then the car just shut off. lol

 

Okay so I took my alternator and battery in to autozone today.

My alternator passed; they said it was good. Umm
My battery was at 69% charged and I got it charged.

However...when I was unhooking the alternator I noticed that the plug to the alternator was blown.

Won't be able to hook it up till Wednesday argh I'm real antsy now.

 

Okay put the battery and alternator back in.

No cigar.

however, I figured something out. I jacked my car up took a old battery and hooked up the fuel pump to it directly.

The fuel pump turns on so I know it works...

decided to check my fuse box again and what I find is a random wire that's not hooked up under the dashboard. :/ and there is a slot on "ignition" that has nothing in it.

I put the wire in and hook up the ground. She works

However, my car is still not turning on. There is not enough fuel pressure building up...and there is a gas leak now.

So I guess I just got to fix that leak (maybe thats what is causing lack of pressure) and then see what next. Hopefully my gas tank isn't squishing any of the lines when I hooked it back up. gotta check that too.

 

So the 2 wire plug on the back of the alt. was bad? Did you replace it? When you say no cigar do you mean it wont start? Does it turn over? When you hooked this wire to the fuse box what did that do? what works now?

 

Replaced them. They work.
Fuel pump primes up but doesn't seem to be pushing any gas? Is it possible my fuel pump could turn up but be faulty and not work?

However, I am not getting any fuel pressure. Today I tried switching the wires on the fuel pump (see if I had it hooked up wrong) and I still can't get to turn over. And I am getting spark from my plugs...

I decided to drop the tank again and take another look at the hoses that come from them and see if I hooked it up right :/

This sucks...but at least I know what needs to come off so it won't take as long.

 

Have you checked your fuel filter?

 

I replaced the fuel filter a few months ago...doubt its my problem but I guess it won't hurt to go ahead and replace that.

My security light is not on. Not sure if it even works I have never seen it on.

Picture of my fuel pump



Wanna add that my fuel pump is hanging vertical behind the tank. Where the wires are is the bottom and the outlet is on the top.

 

On a 85, there is a fp cutoff switch tied in with the oil pressure sending unit. It is located near the distributor shaft. Check to see if its plugged in. It can be by-passed for testing with a jumper wire.

 

Ok, the pump is working but not producing fuel pressure. You're measuring it at the engine? Can you measure it at/near the pump? If the pump is producing proper pressure there, there's a clog. If the pump itself isn't producing enough pressure, double check the fuel's path to the pump (clogged pickup, pinched line, etc...) and the voltage it's receiving (think auto zone or advanced auto will lend a Volt-meter for a deposit).

If the gas has a clear shot to the pump and you have proper voltage at the pump but it still isn't producing proper pressure, it's the pump. It's either faulty, incorrect (say if your IROC has TPI and the pump is for carb applications), or possibly it was installed backwards in a moment of haste (working in a back lot in poor weather without all the comforts and tools of a garage can do that).

 

Great post I will look into this.

 

and before I drop my tank and junk again....I'm gonna try flipping the fuel pump and see if its not backwards or something. Though my old fuel pump had the wires at the bottom this is a vastly different pump.

edit: actually just realized I think I have her in backwards. Vertical fuel pumps are suppose to be installed with the outlet up and if I'm not mistaken the outlet is where the wires are....and I have it at the bottom right now.

 

Here's hoping: not much better in the world than a simple fix to a frustrating problem

 

Always is a good feeling. I think I just had some flawed logic...

because see heres my old fuel pump



so I installed my new fuel pump with the wires at the bottom.... thinking that it was the inlet as well.

edit: now I know for sure I have it on backwards
this pump looks close to mine and the outlet is where the wires are at



doh hope this solves my problem. boy I miss driving my iroc.

 

Hold on.... Has this always been a TPI car? If so is there a pump in the tank still? Are you sure this is a high pressure fuel pump?

We need to clear a few things up here. When i say will the engine turn over i mean does the engine spin with the starter.

Are you checking Fuel pressure at the fuel rail?

Here is what you need to do. Im kinda confused on what is going on.

1st turn key on and check fuel pressure at the injector rail. If there is no fuel check fuel pump to see if it is running, if the fuel pump is working then there is a pinched line or a huge leak.

2nd If the engine will turn over and not start check for spark.

3rd If the engine wont turn over with the key check for voltage at the starter on the purple wire.

So is it turning over? Do you have spark? or is it turning over but no fuel?

 

The engine is turning over and I have spark. I'm just getting no fuel.

and ultimately I think it is because my fuel pump is installed upside down (which I can confirm now) . However before I proceed I think I'm just gonna hook my fuel pump on the battery and see if I can feel suction coming from the inlet and pressure coming from the outlet just to be sure...

 

Sounds like someone did a Mickey Mouse job on your car. There should be a filter screen on the original FP inside the tank. If its a TPI, There should be a return line in the tank that may be stopped up as well as the pickup line. Drop the fuel tank, clean it out and fix it with a correct in tank FP.

 

well guys I ****ed up. left the battery on by accident (because I had to put my car in neutral to push it into a shop) and when I was wiring the pump the ground hit the hot wire and caused a spark. Now the hotwire is dead...and I shocked myself.

:/

 

You need to just fix it right.

 

Well I got some pretty good progress today.

I took a test light to the ignition in the fuse box and realized it didn't come on so the hotwire didn't work (maybe the spark I created yesterday broke this?).

So instead I connected the wire to a open slot in the fuse box (where it says BAT I'm guessing Battery) Then I bleeded the lines and she fired right up.

However, I got some problems now. I went to a gas station to go fill up and she died and wouldn't turn over. A good samaritan came over and jumpstarted my car.

I proceeded to drive for about 6 minutes until she died again. This time I get no click when I turn the ignition and the battery is completely dead. Fuel pump still primes when I turn the key.

The RPM gauge, fuel gauge, and temperature gauge do not work either (probably from the battery being so low I'm guessing). and I am getting a big gas leak at the bottom of the fuel pump. I'm thinking just a faulty hose.

more updates later...

 

You probably killed a cell in the battery. Run it over to Auto Zone and have them check it. With a dead cell, probably enough to run a few accessories like your fuel pump, but not much else. i'd also check the wire from the alternator to the starter solenoid, that's how the battery charges, make sure it's not loose/fried. Might as well have the alternator checked as well since yhou're going to auto zone since it doesnt' take that much fo remove it.

 

Will do.

Also do you have any idea why FP/INJ 2 10 doesn't show up on my test light? Because right now I have it hooked up to BAT



Do you think running fuel pump hot wire to BAT is the reason my battery just blew a cell? Until then I don't know where else I can stick this hotwire too. I wanna put it back in FP/INJ because my car was running fine with it just the connection doesn't work anymore.

 

update:

took battery to autozone and my battery only is producing 3 volts...getting it charged. The guys at autozone think its because I have a short because when I put the negative battery cable in I get a spark.

 

I just read this. This is why every manual says "Disconnect the negative terminal" whenever you're dealing with power. lol Hope it wasn't too shocking of an experience for you! lol

Back to the issues at hand...

Can't answer for the fuse box. I just found a "hot with key" fuse spot and used that to run a wire for my Fuel pump relay. I don't remember off hand which it is. Check the wires by the starter. See if any of those are burned/broken. If any have bare wire, could be chafing and need to be replaced. So See what those look like. Then, when you put your battery back in, positive first, negative last. Also, even when charged, have them check the voltage across the battery.

And, as mentioned earlier, have them check your alternator, you'll have to take it into the store, but that will rule out any power/feedback issues with that.

 

Will do. My alternator passed a test at Autozone and they said it was good. However, my battery was only producing 3 volts so I'm getting that recharged and gonna hook my battery back in. Soon as I get my car going gotta take it straight to a hobby shop so I can fix the gas leak....its leaking everywhere.

 

Yes you'll want to get that fixed ASAP. Sparks and leaking gas do not bode well for the continued survival of your IROC.
It sounds like a bad battery or a wire in between.
What exactly is a "Hobby Shop"?

 

Hobby shops were places that sold model cars, planes, boats, trains, etc. They used to have them all over the place back when kids liked to do constructive things instead of play xbox all day. They've all but disappeared in the last 10-15 years.

 

Car fired right up but shop was closed again :/ (I'm in military on base so when exercises happen sometimes these things close down) so gotta wait till tomorrow to fix that gas leak.

Also gonna take a voltmeter to my battery when the car is on and make sure I'm getting between 13-14 volts...if not then I know my alternator isn't doing such a great job. I don't wanna do the "take negative cable off battery and see if car still runs" test because I read you can cause problems doing this.

 

Why are you going to a hobby shop to buy automotive fuel line? Fuel injection line at that.

 

I remember what kind of shop those were. After re=reading some of the posts, I think he may be talking about a shop on base (He's military) that you can go to work on your car or other project.

 

Yes.

Some more updates

-the leak is actually not coming from a fuel line. Its coming from my pump! the seals are defective....fml ordering a new one
-only good news is my alternator might not be bad at all. I could just have the wires at the top switched by accident.

seems I have a history of doing things backwards.