Sweet! Always glad to find a place that can specialize in my wife's sunfire. The motor is so good and such great shape as well as the body and she loves it. If it gets to old for her she will modify it I think lol.
Anyways, glad to be here.
You folks have a big rep from other sites. heres hoping.

OK, so. I have a 1999 Sunfire GT 2.4L that turns over but "at times" it will not start up.
I'm leaning towards the fuel pump and sender but at this point I don't want to do that.
I changed the relay. I checked the battery (12.7V), It's not the regulator (no leaks or diff when unplugged).
What does happen though is that it will stall "after" it has been running or bag tested for a long time. It will still have lots of power but it will stall.
When it wont fire up I hear nothing, Not the relay and not the pump.
When it stalls I hear the relay clicking closed as it dies.
Is that right? Is the relay supposed to make any sound when the fuel pump shuts down or dies? Is there some kind of relationship between the sender and the relay or the pump and the relay that could cause this?
As far as I know the oil pressure mechanism takes over after the relay starts the pump no? So I don't see why it should be making any noise at all when stalling. The new one does it too.
I will change the sender and pump if I have to. I changed it about a year and a half ago but a year later....this all started.
I live in Canada where the mark up is over 100% at times. Example: The FP kit to bought here will cost me more than $700.00 CAD, ( $1.00 CAD = $1.03 USD ) So I bought a third party pump new that cost me only $300.00 CAD....thought I got a sweet deal. Yup........ Anyways; Now that I have discovered gmdirect.com and they now ship to Canada (I hope) I see that to get an "actual" GM pump assembly delivered to my door will cost me around $300. USD.
That means the one I bought a year ago will only be worth $100. USD in the U.S of A..........so. I bought junk. Correct?
I appreciate any information you can give me. Thanks.

PS: Fraking great looking site by the way.

sounds like a fuel pump my buddies chrysler concord did the same thing. and from what I'm told fuel pumps are common issues on j bodies but personally I've never had a problem.

Got a quick question? If I haven't had the car running for a few days and I turn the key on for fuel but do not start it, I hear a fast multiple clicking from the fuel relay (brand new and replaced btw) and I hear a struggle in the fuel rail, a sort of hollow spray instead of the typical flow i hear, like its not getting all the fuel to the rail but if left alone it seems to balance itself out. I do it again after that and it's fine. I can hear a nice flow. I just don't understand the relay's involvement in this. If it's having trouble at all with fuel feed...should I hear the relay at all after the initial switch on? Clearly I am not understanding something here. Has anyone heard of injectors causing this?


A small profit is no loss.

Try changing the fuel filter, it may be clogged.

Much cheaper than a new pump.


"Oil Leak ? What oil Leak ? Oh, Thats Just The Sweat From All The HorsePower!!"

The only way to really know how the fuel pump and relay work together is through a wiring diagram. I believe the jbody haynes manual was uploaded here on the forum somewhere, which has the diagrams in the back of it.

There's a good chance the pump you got is going out on you. I haven't had any luck with aftermarket pumps on my J's either. Before you go replacing it though, check the circuit wiring. The fast clicking you hear is a good clue. I would check the 85 and 86 terminal circuits for good, solid, clean connections. The PCM may control the switching on our cars... I'm not 100% sure.

I doubt your fuel filter is your issue, though it is good practice to replace it along with any fuel pump job.

Hope this leads you in the right direction! Good Luck!

Well, if fthe relay clicks then the car dies, that's good indication ur fuel pump isn't the issue, rather something is telling the fuel pump relay to shut off when it isn't suppose too. I would find the manual on the forums and do a system check of the wiring. I almost want to say it might even be your ignition switch. When the car doesn't want to start, what does the dash do?? Does it stay lit up, does the lights just die as well as the cluster?? I ask since something is telling the relay to open up, and killing the car. If the fuel pump was bad the relay will still send a signal to the dead fuel pump reguardless if its working or not (the fuel pump itself). The relay is there to just take a small voltage and run a larger voltage so you don't have huge wires running through the car. I would check the scematic and connectors and fuses for the circuit. I also say this because me a partner of mine have a 98 Vette that's a customers car. Had fuel issues and the pumps were not working right. Relay was working fine, but pumps were not kicking. We were ready to condemn the pumps. Well just outta curiosity, we checked the main connector for both fuel pumps (vettes have a split tank system with two pumps), and sure enough voltage was on one side but not the other. Cut the connector out of there and hard wired it, and boom problem fixed. So check everything out and thurough. It will pay in the end. Goodluck!

All very good information. Even if non of this is the answer I have learned much more about this cart already.
The car never dies while starting. Sometimes, but not lately the pump won't prime and the car will turn over but not fire up. After that, while driving it tries to cut out on me at random times. when it does stall it still has all the electrical power. One time it even lit up the anti-theft light. turning the car off then waiting a sec before restarting it made it go away.
I will look through the wiring and see what I can find. Appreciate the help and I am always open to more if anyone has it.


A small profit is no loss.