Here recently my 2002 Pontiac Sunfire started blowing the fuel pump fuse, it was an intermittent problem so I had no idea where to start. I was working on my daughters VW when I went to the part store to get a part for her car so I used that opportunity to talk to a PARTS SALES guy and asked him for some direction... below is basically how our conversation went
ME: I am not going to start off by buying a $250.00, you have got to be crazy...
HIM: well that's what I think it is, it's a bad fuel pump
ME: So you're trying to convince me that it can only be the fuel pump and not a wire that has a bare spot touching metal shorting out and popping the fuse or that it couldn't be a relay? You want me to buy a $250 dollar part right off the bat instead of checking a few things... what if I buy the fuel pump and replace it and I still have the problem, would you take the fuel pump back and refund my money?
HIM: No we can't take it back one it's installed or even if it's connected to power...
ME: Then I'll start with looking for a bare wire and checking the relays....
HIM: But this fuel pump comes as a complete assembly and it has a limited lifetime warranty, good for as long as you own the car...
WHAT THE!!
Well I got in contact with a guy who was a mechanic for 30 years, recently retired and he does small mechanical jobs for a little side money (not that he needs it)... he laughed at what the guy said and told me he'd be over to take a look...
He started by checking the wires and didn't see any bare which would be causing shorts... then he removed my Fuel Pump relay and used the A/C Relay, this solved the problem... I went to the same part store hoping the guy was there (this was two days later) he wasn't there, I ended up buying a $23.00 relay... I though that was a bit pricey... oh well my car is fixed
HAhahaha. Yeah I never ask parts guys opinions. Even tho I work as a Asst. Store Manager for a major parts outlet in Chicago, And I know how some of the AZ, Pepboys, and Advanced guys are. They think they know what there talking about. Sometimes, one in a million actually do, but most of the time they dont. I do love when they try and tell me whats wrong with my car, either A when im already done fixing it, or while im working on it, and its nothing even near the idea they gave me lol. Congrats on the fix!!
so, im having the same kind of issue, i blow the fuel pump/ injector fuse. not sure if thats the same fuse or not. but, just to better understand this, why would replacing the fuel pump relay with the a/c relay fix this?
adam pellegrini wrote:so, im having the same kind of issue, i blow the fuel pump/ injector fuse. not sure if thats the same fuse or not. but, just to better understand this, why would replacing the fuel pump relay with the a/c relay fix this?
Shoddy contacts causing higher resistance or shorting inside relay could cause that.
alright.. so im still having problems with my fuel pump and fuel injector fuse. at first it would blow the fuse every half hour of driving or so.then i started peeling tape off the harness to find any bad wires, and i found one spot that was a possible problem. so i cut the sections out that couldve been bad, and buttspliced them together.i also bought a new fuel pump relay and swapped it with the old one. it ran for a few days like this, and now it seems to be worse. i turn the key to the on position and its fine, but the initial start up breaks it everytime now. ive been reading around on the org. but i havent really found anything that sounds exactly the same. i see that it could still be a bar wire some where i havent seen, a possible bad harness, a bad fuel pump, or bad injectors.. that sounds like a lot of money to just replace anything. and i could if i had the money but, to get money i need the car... so i was just hoping some one could send me on the right path to get this bastard figured out. that would be awesome.. thanks fellas.
adam pellegrini wrote:alright.. so im still having problems with my fuel pump and fuel injector fuse. at first it would blow the fuse every half hour of driving or so.then i started peeling tape off the harness to find any bad wires, and i found one spot that was a possible problem. so i cut the sections out that couldve been bad, and buttspliced them together.i also bought a new fuel pump relay and swapped it with the old one. it ran for a few days like this, and now it seems to be worse. i turn the key to the on position and its fine, but the initial start up breaks it everytime now. ive been reading around on the org. but i havent really found anything that sounds exactly the same. i see that it could still be a bar wire some where i havent seen, a possible bad harness, a bad fuel pump, or bad injectors.. that sounds like a lot of money to just replace anything. and i could if i had the money but, to get money i need the car... so i was just hoping some one could send me on the right path to get this bastard figured out. that would be awesome.. thanks fellas.
make sure you used the correct gauge of wire. If you use a smaller one then it will generate more heat and cause you more problems then you started off with.also i would solder and heat shrink tube rather than a butt joint
the damaged area was only about an inch so the wire still reached to butt splice it..
so tonight, my car was parked at my work. which is where it was stranded last night, so i got a battery powered soldering iron, and soldered the bad wires. i got it half way home and had to push it the rest of the way, so that obviously isnt the problem.. i let it sit there and warm up for ten minutes and it didnt blow the fuse. sounds like a short, could this be a bad connector? what else could this be? its so frustrating.. any help would be appreciated..
I wouldnt permanently replace a fuse with a relay, if a fuse is blowing your resistance is higher then it should be and running ti without a fuse could cause a wire to melt if your unlucky.
As for your problem, you probably just have a short, break in a wire, or corrosion somewhere, ya just have to find it is all.
Unless someone can think of a reason that could cause the injectors to pull enough juice to blow a fuse, but ive never seen even the dirtiest fuel systems cause that, the car should run crappy first.
What would a relay do different then a fuse?
Is that just a fancy way of bypassing the fuse?
What all is on this fuel injector/ fuel pump fuse?
Just the fuel pump and injectors? That would definitely help narrow out the amount of wire im looking for..
I took the whole harness apart and found zero bare wires..
Although I found a spot that was bent pretty good so I'm gonna solder that and hopefully that will help, it goes to an injector.
Now that the harness is apart I can turn the car on and it will stay running. I've wiggled the wire harness going to the pump and the injectors but nothing seems to be popping the fuse?? Even when I wiggle and bend the piece I'm going to solder. This almost leads me to believe its something else? But who knows what that is? Not me. So any other ideas would be awesome!
ok 1) dont bypass fuzes please your playing with wire there, injector/pump fuze is the Injectors, fuel pump and ECM (depending on the years or all can't remember, need more coffee), you must have said something wrong there, if harness is apart not possible to start a car with no harness lol, there are few things that can cause that fuse to die, your grounding, corrosion on a wire, water(rare), there is a ground wire on the pump that CAN cause problems, Im not sure how many have dealt with that, we had 4 at the shop in 6 years, the injectors (and the connector), and the harness, there is a wire at the ECM but Im to lazy to remember which color it was. worst comes to worst take it to someone that actually knows what they are doing, seems like that list is getting shorter and shorter lol
"As I lay rubber down the street, I pray for traction I can keep, but if I spin and begin to slide, please dear God protect my ride." -Amen
Sorry I should have said pump not injectors, sometimes when I read all the stuff in a post I get thrown off one what the original problem is.
As for the relay... if the system shorts out to the point where a fuse is needed, a relay wont break the connection and you could burn a wire or start a fire. either start tracing wires or take it to a shop.
Good luck
