850 GLT Fuel Pump Problem ?

Post by **csteer** » 06 Sep 2010, 19:51

Hello
My 1997 850 GLT (160,000 miles) has been running smoothly for ages, and then yesterday it began to stall when taking off from a stoplight. The car would restart immediately, then stutter and stall. After repeating this 2-3 times the car worked as normal. Today I drove the car around the neighborhood and on the freeway - it drove fine. However, later in the day the car stalled after stopping at a stoplight and would not restart. The engine turns over just fine, but will not start. The car was towed and is sitting my garage patiently waiting to be diagnosed.

the troubleshooting I have performing included:
1. Check for codes - no codes
2. disconnecting the MAF and attempting to start - no success
3. Checking for spark - used my timing gun showed a spark is reaching the leads
4. Removed the fuel pump relay and jumped pins 15 and 87 - attempt to start engine - no success
5. remove the access hatch over the fuel pump. jump the fuel pump relay and turn ignition on. could not hear any noise from the fuel pump

How loud should the fuel pump be when running ? Is it worth buying a fuel pressure tester or is there a shade-tree mechanic method to check fuel pressure ?

Given the cost of a replacement fuel pump I want to be confident this is the root cause of my problems.

Any ideas are appreciated

Thanks

Ceri

Post by **Pauloil** » 06 Sep 2010, 21:11

yep its the pump,esp. if you don't hear anything
you don't have to have a gauge: just push on it and see if fuel squirts out

Post by **jblackburn** » 06 Sep 2010, 21:50

Quick and easy test:

Remove that blue cap, press on the valve with a screwdriver.

The fuel pump isn't loud, but it's definitely audible if it's working. If you need a replacement, you can buy just the pump insert instead of the whole housing and save yourself quite a bit of $.

Post by **csteer** » 07 Sep 2010, 12:32

Thanks for the replies - will work in this tonight

cangrejo70 · Post by **cangrejo70** » 22 Nov 2010, 16:35

Question for jablackburn:

I have a similar problem with my 1997 850, where it sometimes, but not always, sputters and dies. It happens upon starting the car and it I don't hit the gas it corrects itself after about 15 seconds or so.

Anyway, I went away for a week and upon return the car wouldn't start. I saw your post below and removed the blue cap and them pressed the valve. A squirt of gas came out. I turned the key and the car started right up.

My question is, what does this tell me? Bad fuel pump?

Thanks in advance,
Matt

Post by **csteer** » 23 Nov 2010, 07:17

My experience with the pump failure was that after a couple of incidents of spluttering and failing was that the pump died completely. Have you tried removing the fuel pump relay and jumping the contacts ? When I did this and listened to the fuel pump it was evident that the fuel pump was not running and that it was the source of my problems.

Post by **jblackburn** » 23 Nov 2010, 07:25

I saw your post below and removed the blue cap and them pressed the valve. A squirt of gas came out. I turned the key and the car started right up.

That could just be a coincidence, but try turning the key to II for a few seconds, then back off again, and back to II for a few more seconds before starting. If it starts every time doing that, you have a bad check valve at the fuel pump housing.