bad fuel pump? relay? HELP

[Maxximillion]

hey i just put a new timming belt in my car and went throught the whole procedure without a mistake. triple checked my timming and my cam gear marks, oil pump marks, balancer shaft marks and my crank is at top dead centre. all timming marks line up but it wont start. i figure out my fuel pump isn't turning on with the key ON or on starting. but i can hear the pump turn on for 2 seconds after i bring the key back to the ON position from attempting to start it. whats going on??? i would appreciate ANY information you have. THANKS.

 

[Mitchel63]

When I put on my timing belt, I put the crank angle sensor on backwards! It's got to be something you messed with....retrace your steps.

 

[DaveT]

Just a test for the fuel pump. I am not sure how this is for a non turbo 1G but the turbo has a fuel pump test connector next to the battery. With the car off, you can connect this pin to +12V from the battery. This will tell you whether the fuel pump is working properly. Here is a link that might help you out.

http://members.shaw.ca/dsm.1000q/Engineprimer/1G/fuelpumptestconn.htm

DaveT
92GSX

 

[Maxximillion]

hey thanks for the reply but i did do the fuel pump test by using that harness and jumping a 12 volt source. the fuel pump is fine, and i also checked the ignition control relay thats near the ecu and it checks out according to the tests the book told me to do. i'm finding a common theme among people with this similar problem and i'm wondering if my ECM caps maybe leaked. but i do have spark and i can hear that relay click on with the key. the only thing i'm missing is that whirr of the pump when the key is on or on cranking. the funny thing is that i can hear the pump turn on for 2 seconds after attempting to start it. hears the sequence of events:

1. key to the ON position - i can hear the fuel injectors clicking for one second but no fuel pump whiirrr like usual

2. key to START position - car just cranks over, i can hear injectors and i definatly have spark, but no fuel pump at all. i took off the fuel return line and no fuel when key ON or cranking

3. key back to ON position from START - as soon as i stop cranking i can hear the pump run for 2 seconds as well as feel pressure from the return line with fuel

PLEASE HELP!!!! not a clue now

 

[DaveT]

Do you hear the MPI relay clicking ON and OFF when you turn the key ON and OFF? This relay is located to the next to the ECU (just under and to the right of the radio). Is this the same relay you called the ignition control relay in your last post?

DaveT
92GSX

 

[Maxximillion]

yes thats the one in the same. i have the crappy haynes book and it called it the "electronic fuel injection relay" from what i can see other people call it the MPI, it provides power to the fuel pump, fuel injectors, and the ECM. and yes when i turn the key to ON i can hear and feel it click on, as well i turned the key to ON with the relay out and all that came on were my lights, i plugged it back in and put the key to ON and now i could hear my injectors clicking for a second but still no fuel pump whirr. only when i bring the key back to ON from attemting to start it does the fuel pump do anything. thank you for looking into this. anybody with any info would be a life saver.

 

[steve]

If you have a 5 speed are you remembering to push the clutch in while your turning the key to start? The fuel pump doesn't run with the ignition just turned to run unless the engine is running. The starter circuit won't power the fuel pump unless the clutch is in or the car is in park/neutral on an automatic.

Steve

 

[skinnypimp]

this is how i check my fuelpump: take the line that goes to the fuel rail. have someone turn the key if you see fuel then you know it's working ta lon

 

[Maxximillion]

yeah i had the clutch in whenever i try to start it and we allready established that my fuel pump works if i bypass the relay and starter circuit and thank you for the reply's

 

[DaveT]

You've got me on this one. Have you ever replaced the fuel pump before? I had a problem after I replaced mine (pump was also rewired). When I would drive, the pump would just shut off. Found that the 30A fuse was blowing. I tried everything to fix it. Found a problem with the wiring of the pump in the fuel tank (fault on my installation). Fixed it and have had no problems.

But your saying that it turns on sometimes?

DaveT
92GSX

 

[Maxximillion]

hey dave, yeah it turns on only when i bring the key back to the ON position from cranking for like 2- 3 seconds. would you happen to know how i would find a complete schematic for the ignition system to find out what i'm missing?

i went to a wrecker today and i bought a new fuel injection relay and plugged that in although i haven't cranked the car over yet, (have the timing belt off to check the timing once again) the fuel pump didn't turn turn on for the 2-3 seconds like the book says when i turned the key to ON but i did hear my injectors clicking and the relay definatly did click to so i believe the problem does not lie in the relay and maybe not even in the ECU since the injecotrs were working proving signal is coming from the ECU to the relay to activate them. what am i missing? have you ever heard of a car being out of timing so bad it wouldn't even want to try to run even though all of the timing marks line up? could there be a problem with a sensor or something that the ECU caught and wont let the fuel pump run? i did have the battery disconnected while working on it so any code stored before i started would have been lost. i tried anyway i all i get is the steady heartbeat of a working ECU? thank you for you replies.

Jason.

 

[herm1357]

i had your problem before, i had a bad ecu

 

[Maxximillion]

hey man. did you replace the whole ECU or did you try to fix it by replacing the caps?

 

[KDM823]

Did you ever figure out the problem? I replaced timing belts and car ran great for a few miles then wouldn't start. Relay clicks, fuel pump doesn't run but will when you jump it in the engine compartment.
Second Eclipse ran great after replacing timing belts but had no oil pressure so tore it apart......turned out I just knocked the wire off the sensor but the car wouldn't start after that.
So have two 1990 1.8L cars that turn over but won't start. Your description sounded exactly like what I'm experiencing so wondered if you ever got yours fixed and how?
Thanks