Car almost left me stranded! Fuel pump/Starting/Idle problems

[MTU 50]

About 10 days ago I was coming home from a camping trip and had been driving on the highway for about 2 hours straight at 75MPH when I decided to stop for gas and something to drink. I take care of business come back to my car only to have it not start. WTF!? I try it again and notice when I turn the key the fuel pump is not coming on, so I immediately check the inertia switch in the trunk even though I know thats not the problem and sure enough its fine. For the next hour and a half I try starting the car from time to time and still the fuel pump is not priming, so I call for a ride home because I'm 2.5 hours away and prepare to leave the car at a service shop (nothing is open because its 4 o'clock on a Sunday).

Go back to my car and try to start it one more time and she fires up. I give some gas so it doesn't stall, call and cancel my ride and make it home without a problem.

I know this sounds like a fuel pump issue, however, since I had a new one put on a year and a half ago because of the same problem, I figure it should still be good. When I had the problem the first time a friend of my grandma who is a mechanic at a chevy dealer checked out the car. He borrowed a friends ignition module and tried that, but it was not the problem. He found a burnt wire under the dash and replaced the bad fuel pump with a new one. I don't think the module is bad now, because since I've had it home it has started although lately it takes a couple of tries in the morning.

Is this a fuel pump relay issue? NOTE: the car is not shutting off at highway speeds or anything? Once I get it going and it warms up it is fine.

So it was running okay for a few days until it did the dame thing when I was at my aunt's house. I couldn't hear the pump priming, so I tried disconnecting the battery for 15 minutes and then reconnecting it. After doing this it fired up. Then this past few days it has been hard starting in the morning. I have to try a few times.

A couple of side notes: ( I know this topic is long enough already)

For the past 2 weeks prior to the camping trip the car would start fine, however, when the idle dropped down after startup the RPM's would drop and it would stall, but fire back up again.

The fuel pump is 1.5 years old like I said earlier, and I replaced the starter 2 months ago.

I also replaced my fuel filter before I went on the trip, but I really don't think that would hurt anything. Yes, I installed it in the right direction and it is the right part number.

Is the newer fuel pump shot? Could another wire have heated up on the long trip and shorted out? Relay switch? Computer?

I would really like to have a car that starts reliably and won't leave me stranded so any help or ideas are welcomed. Thanks Jeff


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1991 GT, AOD, Moroso Cold Air, 3.73s, Pulleys, 3-chamber(the left one fell off-NO time+No Money=College), FMS c-springs, and KYBs

[Smokedawg]

Can you hear the fuel pump as you drive down the road..My car wouldnt start sometimes and I bought the relay for 10 bucks and that was the end of that problem..Good Luck

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347 Stroker Motor: Balanced, Cobra Transmission, Extrude Ported and Polished Upper and ported Lower, GT40 Milled Ported and Polished Heads, B303 Cam, BBK 1 5/8 Headers, 30lb Bosch Injectors, Holley AFPR, March Underdrive Pulleys, Perma-Cool Fan, 3-Core Radiator, Accel Performance Coil, Accel 300+ Racing Wires, Ram Air, K&N Filter, 73mm Vortech MAF, 70mm TB, FlowMaster Exhaust w/BBK Offroad H-Pipe, Hurst Shifter, 3:55 Gears, Ram Clutch, Cross Drilled Rotors, AC del, rear seat del.

[MTU 50]

No, I can't hear it over my exhaust, but I assume its running.

10 Bucks! Where did you buy it, because I called the dealer today and they wanted $24. I guess that is the normal dealer markup though. Do the regular auto part stores carry it, because if they do the relay probably is a good place to start.

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1991 GT, AOD, Moroso Cold Air, 3.73s, Pulleys, 3-chamber(the left one fell off-NO time+No Money=College), FMS c-springs, and KYBs

[QUIN]

i can almost guarantee you its the relay. im on my third fuel pump and mine finally went out. similar to yours. just wouldnt want to start sometimes in the morning. decided to try relay and its worked for the past 9 months fine. i thought it had a problem with my girlfriend because it only seemed to do it when she came to cincinnati from columbus to see me and i wanted to show off or something!
i was wrong though.
its the relay.
if i recall, most part stores should carry them.
much easier and cheaper than swapping that fuel pump again!
i think it will do the trick for ya.
good luck. let us know.
Q

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Quin, 87 GT,306,forged/cut pistons,edelbrock head\intake,steeda#18cam,1.7rr,MSD Blaster tfi coil,A9L,pro-m75mm,24#inj,accufab65mm,2.5"pipes,hooker headers,dynomax exhaust,3.73 gr,110 lph fp,moroso cold air,ASP pullies, weld rims

See my engine on user rides.

I see your shwartz is as big as mine, now lets see how well you handle it!

[MTU 50]

Yeah Murray's had a new relay for $8.99, so I put that in. Sure as hell beats $24 bucks just so I can have a little Ford emblem on it.

I guess only time will tell if this fixes it. Hopefully it will be alright so I can focus my time on putting in a new radiator and getting some better brakes. Thanks for your help.

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1991 GT, AOD, Moroso Cold Air, 3.73s, Pulleys, 3-chamber(the left one fell off-NO time+No Money=College), FMS c-springs, and KYBs

[flubiu2]

If you figure it out let me know at flubiu2.I am going through the same thing with my car.

[MTU 50]

Well it started 5 times yesterday without a problem, however, I had to crank it over 3 times this morning to get it started, but it did fire up. The fuel pump has always primed itself when I turn the key so maybe I have a different problem or maybe that fuel pump is just a piece of sh*t because this feels like a fuel problem to me with the way it hesitates to start.

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1991 GT, AOD, Moroso Cold Air, 3.73s, Pulleys, 3-chamber(the left one fell off-NO time+No Money=College), FMS c-springs, and KYBs

[QUIN]

if its (was) the relay than you wouldnt hear the pump prime. the relay cuts the power to the pump and when it goes bad that is exactly what it is doing,,,, just not when its supposed to.
if you always heard the pump prime than i take back what i said.
maybe you didnt though and just think you did??? (that sounds dumber each time i read it!)
anyway, give it a day and let us know whats up.
Q

[MTU 50]

It happened again where the fuel pump will not turn on after the car gets hot or I have been driving a long distance.

It started right up when it was cold this afternoon. By cold I don't mean temperature, rather I mean it had been sitting since last night and had not been started since. Anyway, I drive a 1/2 hour in 90 degree heat. Come back out to my car and the fuel pump is not coming on. I try my "disconnect the battery for 15 min." trick, but that did not work this time. I finally fooled with it for another 15 minutes and for some reason the fuel pump decided to come on and it fired up.

However that was the beginning of my problems. I was trying to make it home and my radiator gave out. I was in stop and go traffic for 25 minutes and had only gotten about 3 miles down the road. I had the heater on full blast in 90 heat just so the temp gage would go down, but it didn't. When the radiator finally gave way the temp gage shot up like a rocket just under the red mark. I pulled over as soon as I could into a bank parking lot. A lifted the hood and smelled oil burning and my heads were smoking. Not very bad, but they were still smoking and it scared the sh*t outta me. And coolant was leaking out of the bottom of the radiator at the same time. I finally got a hold of someone to pick me up and I decided to have the car towed, because I couldn't limp home with the radiator leaking and the damn fuel pump wouldn't come on again anyway because I think the car had been running for too long and got hot.

I say this, because I never have a problem on my 8 minute drive to work, because the car doesn't get very hot.

Right now I have to decide on what type of radiator to get and I am going to do a compression test in the next couple days to make sure the engine is okay. When I got the car home I filled the radiator with water and since the car had cooled down, it started, and the engine sounded fine but I'm still a little worried I might have damaged it.

This Sucks!!!!

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1991 GT, AOD, Moroso Cold Air, 3.73s, Pulleys, 3-chamber(the left one fell off-NO time+No Money=College), FMS c-springs, and KYBs

[PNYXPS66]

I also wanted to mension to check the radiator for an oil smell. If you smell oil, check the dip stick for a milk chocolate color; this indicates potential head damage with coolant leaking into the crankcase or cylinder and compression leaking into the cooling system. Needless to say, that's really not good news. I hope the best.

[MTU 50]

The oil is fine. Thats the first thing I checked when the car cooled down. I'm going to do the compression test and look at the plugs in a few days, then put in a new radiator and see how it runs.

I'm also going to try and have my old piece of garbage alarm removed to see if that might be shorting out the fuel pump or causing the problem.

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1991 GT, AOD, Moroso Cold Air, 3.73s, Pulleys, 3-chamber(the left one fell off-NO time+No Money=College), FMS c-springs, and KYBs