'92 Lumina Euro fuel delivery problem?

Howdy,

I'm including here as much information as I have about the problem I'm having with this car. Apologies if this is too lengthy.

I've just purchased a 92 Lumina Euro (6cyl 3.1L EFI) with 217,000 miles for $150 (1/10th the sale price 12 months and 2000 miles ago). The car would not start when I bought it. After applying starting fluid to the air cleaner the car will run for a few minutes, until all the starting fluid has evaporated.

The belt and the alternator are new. I have not checked the spark plugs, and I do not know if the spark is weak or non-existent.

There is no pressure at the fuel rail, and I cannot hear the fuel pump at all (I listened with an ear on the bottom of the tank while a friend turned the key). The fuel pump relay does click when the key is turned, and it appears to be new. I have charged the battery, which is about 1 year old.

I checked the electrical connections to the pump. I connected a voltmeter to chassis ground and measured the voltage of each of the four wires when the ignition is turned on. Since this is a moving-needle type meter, it does not easily measure very brief signals, such as a one second pulse (two seconds would be noticeable). I read one wire as 0v, 2 as 8v and one as 9v. The battery voltage reads at 12v at this time.

The car has 217,000 miles on it, so a bad fuel pump did not seem unreasonable. I drained the fuel and pulled the tank. While doing this I notice that one of the screws for the filler tube is missing, the hose clamps are shiny-clean, and the black pads between the tank and the body show two imprints of the 3/4 inch holes in the body offset about half an inch. This leads me to believe that the tank has been removed before.

I pulled the fuel pump, and found that the fuel level float was disconnected and lying in the tank (I'd have had to pull the tank to fix this anyway, so no wasted effort yet). The pump itself shows absolutely no signs of wear (which may not be unusual, I don't know, I've never seen a fuel pump before), the metal disk between the pump and the in-tank filter bag is slightly bent (perhaps normal, but doesn't look like it to me), and the rubber bumper-thing between the top of the fuel pump and the thing-that-goes-above-the-fuel-pump (sorry, I have no clue what it is, about

2 inches tall, with a two-lobed cover on it, the fuel pump output tube slides into it) is not installed correctly. ( It seems obvious that whomever last worked on this was not only clueless, but incompetent as well. I also found what appears to be a fuel pump check valve ball in the passenger compartment. Could be something else of course, but I can imagine that a curious would-be mechanic might disassemble the old pump with a hacksaw and discover and keep the shiny bauble)

So, if this is in fact a new fuel pump, is there a way to test it in a reasonably safe manner? I know that the pumps use fuel for lubrication and cooling, and should never be run unless submerged, so I'm wondering if I should put it in a small container of fuel and power it to verify that it is operational. I have read that they can end up testing good once removed from the tank, but I'd at least like to verify that it turns.

The car has been in one and possibly two minor fender-bender accidents. The most obvious is some kind of impact just behind the driver-side front tire. The damage was enough to break the driver door door-handle and the front rail for the window (but not the window itself), but not bad enough to make any obvious marks in the paint. The denting covers a total area of less than one square foot. The top rear corner of the door does not fit up against the body as it should, evidently the bottom hinge has been shifted in perhaps an 1/8th to a 1/4 inch. Additionally the front license plate holder has been mashed just a bit, the top rail of the plastic grill is cracked, there is a dent in the leading edge of the hood, and the headlight is slightly cracked. I've also noticed that the left rear shock is damaged, when let down from a jack, it will catch and not compress for a moment before falling the rest of the way down. It also clunks if the car is shaken sideways. (I plan on fixing it before doing much driving of course).

I have read that most vehicles equipped with an electric fuel pump also include a fuel cutoff relay separate from the fuel pump relay under the hood. Evidently this cutoff is designed to disable the fuel pump in the event of a serious collision. I have not been able to find any more information about this cutoff, if such a thing exists in a 92 Lumina Euro. Does it have one, where would I find it, how can I tell if it is the problem, and how do I fix it?

Any other suggestions would be appreciated! Thanks! DK

-- if logic and reality disagree, reality wins.

Reply to
David Knaack
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I would just hook up a test light or something to the connector contacts that hook up to the fuel pump, and see if it lights when the key is turned on. It should get power for 2 seconds after the key is turned on. If not, then likely you have some kind of wiring problem. If it does come on, that's a pretty good indication the pump is bad.

Running the pump for a few seconds without fuel should not hurt it. Just make sure it doesn't have any gas still on/in it that could get lit up when you make an electrical connection :-)

There's no separate fuel shutoff device. Fords tend to have these (it's called an inertia switch) but I don't know of any other cars that do.

Reply to
Robert Hancock

I'll give that a try with a 12v bulb.

The pump shows open circuit on the power connector. I'll have to go track down a suitable power supply to power it up. But I suspect now that it must be the fuel pump. After bringing it inside under more normal light it doesn't look so new either.

Thanks! DK

Reply to
David Knaack

Sounds like your fuel pump was installed by an idiot. With that being said... I would not recommend running it outside of fluid for any amount of time. Also, you should realize that if the person who took the thing apart in the first place didn't know enough not to screw it up and leave parts in the glove box, then they probably ran the pump in open air and it's probably dead already. If not, then soon. (Do you want to actually go through all this trouble just to have it stop working next week!) You should get a new one regardless.

The pump can't be working right, if it is indeed getting 9v (which isn't the normal voltage I believe, check to be sure) then you should hear it "wwwrrrr" when you turn the key ahead. If not... plan the funeral, bury it (just kidding, that's pollution) and get another one.

Hope that helps...

Jason C.

disconnected

Reply to
Jason Cluett

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