acting like it ran out of gas

[myidwastook]

I bet you guys have already answered a question like this, but I looked around for it and couldn't find an answer. But I'll appologize from the start if I'm a time waister.

Anyhoo about a week ago my 97 GTS just basically ran out of gas while I was driving it home. It has 3/4 of a tank so I figured fuel pump or relay (I checked fuel pressure with a gauge, showed zero) . Well I replaced the relay and still no luck. I just don't want to shell out 750 simoleans for a fuel pump and that not be the problem either. Although I'd happily pay for one to get my car back on the road if it was the fix. I have power to the relay, but none to the pump. If anybody has seen this before then I'd love to pick your brain!

 

[bluesrt]

well if you have no power to the pump, the pump is not the factor,get some power to the pump, do you have a check engine light, key on engine off?

 

[Martin]

So you're saying that you've got power to the relay, but none to the pump? In other words, you've got all hot leads active into the relay, and nothing coming out? Or, do you have power coming out of the relay but it doesn't make it to the pump? Have you tracked the whole electrical line from fuse box to pump to see where the break is?

This sounds like something simple to me. You probably already know this, but a relay just simply separates a high-load power source from a low-load 'activation' source. So, you could see power coming into the relay - but if it's the wrong power, your fuel pump won't work. In other words, you might get power to the relay from the low-load (coil circuit) side, but if the high load side (the side that powers your fuel pump) isn't energized, the relay can't do anything. It could very well be a blown fuse...

To check to see if the relay is working, pull out an ohm-meter and connect it across the high-load pins. Then, energize the coil circuit pins on the relay with 12V. You should see the ohms go from infinite to nearly zero - that tells you that the relay is doing what it is supposed to do. At that point, after figuring out what all the pins are on the relay, it's going to be easy to see if you've got the proper voltage to the relay that should be powering your fuel pump. If there's no voltage to the high-load side of the relay, then you've either got a blown fuse, a busted wire, or a bad connection somewhere upstream.

Hope this helps...

 

[myidwastook]

I sure do appreciate all the information gents! I had a couple of minutes so I pulled the fuses and checked them, they were ok. I also checked that engine light as suggested by bluesrt, it was off. I will jump on the ohm readings tomorrow and see how that goes. If everything is ok there then I'm thinking I may need to pull the fuel pump and check the sensors on it. At least I think there is sensors on it (I have a diagram that shows them on there anyway). But men I can't thank you enough for offering your knowledge, it is much much much appreciated!