Fuel Pump/Electrical Issue

[The Sick RS]

My girlfriend bought this 97 Eclipse and it's been having a fuel issue since day 1. On the way home from buying it actually, it wouldn't start back up after stopping at McDonalds. I called the guy I bought it from and he explained it was an alarm issue and he said he'd fix it. Well, it wasn't.

A week later, it started doing the same stuff. It would run, then randomly wouldn't start. After trying for a while, it would eventually start and if you let it run long enough the problem would go away. I treated the gas with Seafoam and dry gas. The problem was "solved" for a month and a half.

Then yesterday out of nowhere, it starts doing it again. This time, it won't start at all. Seafoam does nothing. So I bought a new fuel filter, and took it off and blew through it and it was perfect. While I had that off, I had someone turn the key on, and no gas was pumped out of the fuel line. So theoretically, this must be a pump issue.

I took a peak in the gas tank and the gas, along with the tank is perfectly clean. The relay looked pretty corroded so I used an air compressor on that to clean it, still no luck. I then used a circuit tester on the relay wires and and I've got no power there. I tested the relay that's on the top of the hatch that leads to the fuel pump. I assume that's the right thing to be testing, but I could be wrong. The ground was fine, as I tried about 4 different spots back there.

So I don't know where to go from where. Is there some electrical issue? I don't want to waste my time with a fuel pump when it isn't the issue. This car's electrical system was messed with a lot. An aftermarket alarm WAS installed and half-assed uninstalled. The killswitch is still hanging down under the dash, and a bracket with a few harnesses are still under the dash. I'm pretty sure that's fully disconnected though.

Any idea where to go from here? Will the fuel pump push gas out of that line if the key is on? Do I definitely have a power issue here? Am I a dumbass and testing the wrong wires?

 

[1998gstmaniac]

If you think it might be a electrical issue with no + power getting to the pump why dont you try and rewire the fuel pump and see if that works...if you have any questions on rewiring a fuel pump head over to the tech section on this site i believe theres a post about it or just PM me

 

[jastermerrel]

How did you test the relay?
Because it is intermittant, I'd use a known good relay and drive with it for awhile. I had the exact same type of problem in another car. The relay went out and it was after midnight and I was stranded. Luckily I have a small parts department in my car (joke) so I wired the fuel pump to a toggle switch. Worked like a charm.

 

[The Sick RS]

Thanks for the replies. I actually got it working last night with relative ease, although not a permanent fix. I snipped the relay off (because I suspected it was the problem anyway) and wired some speaker wire from the battery to the back of the car. I then touched the wire to the freshly snipped wire for the fuel pump and I heard the extremely pleasant whirring sound. As a temporary fix, I wrapped the wire around a fuse and neatly wired it under the door skirt paneling and into the back seat.

It's definitely not the relay, at least to my knowledge. I snipped the relay originally because I thought for sure it was the problem. When it wasn't, I spiced it back together. When I hooked up the speaker wire, I just tied it into the wiring of the relay. So it has to be good. If the relay was no good, then I wouldn't be able to power it with the speaker wire. I don't know what else the issue could be. I'll take a look around the tech section.