Integra fuel pump revival (1990)

Car has been sitting for 5 yrs, I started it up every few months but last

2 times I had to tap the pump access cover to get it to pressure up, now no amount of tapping will get the pump to startup. Tank has always been almost empty so I assume it has dried up inside. Will rehydrating it with gas revive it or is it finished?

mark wrote in news:jth0nl$iks$ snipped-for-privacy@dont-email.me:

The '90 Integra has no access cover. The one you're probably tapping is the access cover for the fuel-gauge sending unit. Removal of the fuel pump is only possible by dropping the tank out of the car.

This generation of Honda products has issues besides the pump that can cause the pump not to function all the time. Feed battery power directly to the pump (through its electrical connector) and see if that makes it work reliably.

Try it and see. What kind of fuel stabilizer did you use? Have you checked the filter?

--scott

The first thing to consider is it might be out of gas, I think. -----

- gpsman

gpsman wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@f30g2000vbz.googlegroups.com:

Even if it were out of gas the pump woiuld run.

The Main Relay is a famous reason for failure of the fuel pump to run. There's a specific procedure for checking for that.

Good idea, he probably should check that after replacing the fuel pump and fuel filter.

dude, don't just replace stuff without a diagnosis. and read back in the thread.

pretty much /all/ hondas of this era have this exact problem. and those that "don't" are almost certainly misdiagnosed.

snipped-for-privacy@f30g2000vbz.googlegroups.com:

I suppose so, a fail-safe wouldn't make any more sense than not putting the fuel pump on top of the tank.

Oh, I'm sure. I didn't mean to suggest otherwise, just that if it might be empty it might be empty. -----

- gpsman

innews: snipped-for-privacy@q2g2000vbv.googlegroups.com:

no it's not. it's attached at the top of the tank, but it's located about as deep inside as it's possible to get and still remain vertical.

no, diagnosis of pumps is pretty easy as a general rule. on the hondas, it's particularly so because failure rate is so low, and main relay failure rate is so high - pretty much 100%. always check the relay first and that will almost certainly fix the problem.

normally, you'd say that placement is a function of expected failure rate. with the pump, honda did their homework and got it right. with other things like the main relay, they clearly expected it to never fail based on location, but either got it wrong or were badly let down by their supplier. other examples include the dash light dimmer on pre-89 civics, and the automatic gear position sensor on pre-95 civics and accords.

for the integra, it's only the fuse cover - it just lifts out.

not without confirmatory diagnosis he shouldn't.

hopefully this "sense of humor" is the context for your other comments too.

Great info, Thanks I will check it out.

gpsman wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@q2g2000vbv.googlegroups.com:

The pump IS at the top of the tank. It's just that there's no access hole for it in the body. Access holes for the Integra didn't come until 1994, when Honda finally wised up.

The pump will run whenever it receives current through the Main Relay. If you run the pump with the tank dry, the pump can (will) suffer damage, but it will run for an awfully long time even when sucking air.

In any case, it's easy to troubleshoot the pump without removing it (or the tank) from the vehicle.

snipped-for-privacy@q2g2000vbv.googlegroups.com:

That was kinda my point.

But ridiculously more involved to R/R, in my mind, to what it "usta and should still be".

I think understand the advantages of placement to pumping, but jeez. -----

- gpsman

My mistake. You're absolutely right, first he should remove the bottom part of the dash and then check out that relay. If that's OK, he should change out the fuel pump and the fuel filters. I would also change out the fuel lines for good measure. If all that don't work, he should then make sure there's gas in the tank. :-)

I had a fuel pump relay that would sometimes not relay in a Ford Taurus. On some models, they'd stick the relay in the interior. In my case, it was by the hood latch. My fix was to hit the relay with a hammer if it was stuck. After a while I replaced it with an eBay recycled part. It was a sealed metal box that contained many relays and was really a cheap fix. Thanks eBay!

I re-soldered a couple of potentially dry solder joints on the relay PCB but still no pump sound with ignition on - can hear the relay kick in. I remember tapping the pump cover a few mos ago to get it going so I really think it is a dried out pump. I'll try filling the tank (if I can get it back out somehow) and see if that gets it going.

ok, you're supposed to hear it click on when you turn the key, and then click off two seconds later. now you need to check the circuit at the pump end or the injector end. the latter is more accessible and on the same relay output wire. if it goes live for two seconds and then off, the relay should be working. if not, the relay's still out.

when repairing these relays, it's best to de-solder, then start afresh - oxides build up inside the cracks of dry joints and interfere with repair attempts if not removed.

A neighbor is going through this (I forget the make and model) His enthusiastic mech who makes house calls was sure about the need to drop the tank, and assumed that bad fuel was clogging things. I'm sorry the owner doesn't read here, since there are lots of ideas. Just because I don't like the idea of having to drop the tank, I proposed draining the fuel and letting alcohol soak in and thin it.

Just a random guess, does it sound reasonable?

Nils K. Hammer