help...s52 shut off while driving, will not fire back up

[undergroundhead]

I was driving home from work tonight and my s52 swapped e30 shut off while going about 50 mph. Slight stumble and immediately shut off, like I was getting no fuel. So I pulled over and tried to crank her back up but can't get it to crank. All electrical systems are working fine, starter is turning over strong but no fire. Battery is good, alternator is newish and seems to work fine. Just put 20 bucks in gas in the tank from empty today and drove about 20 miles, restarting the car fine with no issues several times. The car acts just as it would if it were out of gas.

Im thinking it is probably the fuel pump. I cant hear the fuel pump turn on with the key in theu aux position, but then again I normally don't hear it in this car like I do in many others I have driven or just haven't paid attention to it. Or maybe not getting spark for some reason? Any ideas on what could be causing me to lose spark?

A friend is taking it to my house in the morning on his flatbed so I can try and diagnose the problem. Planning on taking the back seat out and having somebody back there to try and listen for the fuel pump. Any other suggestions on what the culprit may be, or tests to diagnose the problem? Any help would be greatly appreciated

[lolcantturn]

Main relay or CPS.

[Ian Bowers]

Did you check the fuel pump fuse yet?

[undergroundhead]

yes

Fuse is good

[TopOfTheLine89]

crank position sensor? pull a COP and use a spare plug, ground the plug and ground the coil on plug mounting ground and test for spark.Check fuel pressure.

[undergroundhead]

thanks

I will try that tonight. Just got it back home and only had time to pull back seat and sound deadening to listen for fuel pump, still can't hear it. Thanks for the suggestions

[e30rapidic]

if you have spare relays....swap them in. Sounds like main relay to me.

[SwiftE30]

if you have spare relays....swap them in. Sounds like main relay to me.

^^this. SOunds like your fuel pump relay took a dump. try jumping the relay pins and see if your pump will work then.

[Wishno87]

I had the same problem and it was the fuseable link by the battery.

[SwiftE30]

I had the same problem and it was the fuseable link by the battery.

fuseable link? what do you mean?

[328ijunkie]

FP or main relay or Crank sensor.

[undergroundhead]

solved!

Thanks for all the suggestions guys, I got her back running this morning and it was the most simple and easy to fix problem possible: the female part of the connector that plugs into the fuel pump was making a bad connection. cleaned it out a little and pulled it in tight with a few strategically placed zip ties and it fired right back up! I feel kind of stupid for taking a couple hours to figure this out, but stoked that I dont have to buy a new fuel pump. If I hadnt bumped it just right and heard it prime itself after ruling out the relay, I would have been "sure" the pump was bad and bought a new one for no reason.

[SwiftE30]

glad you figured it out man. Don't feel stupid at all. I spent countless hours troubleshooting a problem only to find out that my main harness power wire (actually black and not red) was hooked to a ground, so none of my main components were getting power.

aka. new relays, fuel pump, fuel rail, FPR, spark plugs, rewiring harness, ripping up my back seat, etc. etc. ..... only to realize it was one stupid fricken wire that was colored wrong.

it happens to the best/worst of us.