Fuel pump bad?

[def328]

Car won't start at all. Suspected fuel so I jumped the fuel pump relay. I can hear the pump running but no fuel pressure. Can the pump impeller not be picking up fuel or something?

Didn't want buy a pump if there something else I should check.

Any help would be great. Thanks

[jlevie]

Before replacing the pump you should check rail fuel pressure (the FPR could be bad), check for an obstructed line, check for a plugged filter, and make sure there is plenty of fuel in the tank.

Understand that early cars (before 9/87) have two fuel pumps. If you have an early car, just hearing pump sounds doesn't mean that both pumps are running.

[def328]

It is a 89 so it should have the one pump.

To check for obstructions, I connected a piece of fuel line directly to outlet line from the pump and ran that to a bucket. Not a drop of fuel pumped out. So I guess the pump is spinning away but not pumping fuel.

There was about 4-6 inches of fuel in the bottom of the tank, I would think that would be enough. The fuel pump and fuel sending unit are both sitting in fuel.

Thanks for the help!

[jlevie]

In that case, I'd say the pump is dead.

[def328]

Thanks for the help!