Fuel pump or relay?

Please tell me whether the fuel pump or the relay or something else is most likely my problem, and how you would go about solving it.

When I try to start my DX (carb), the engine cranks but won't fire.

When I turn the key to the II position, there's a click and the check engine light comes on. There's no second click, however, and the light doesn't go off. (When my car was still running, the lights would go off a second or two after it started.) The pump is silent and no fuel comes out of the tank.

Someone said on another thread that the second click is supposed to turn the pump off after the rail is pressurized. Since my rail is not pressurized, it makes sense that I don't get the second click, right?

The new fuel pump that I bought appears to be big. The current wires won't fit on it, so I haven't tested whether it works. I don't know how to hardwire the old pump to the battery to test it.

Now my fear is that if the problem turns out not to be the pump (i.e. the new pump doesn't work, either) then I won't know what to do. I'm new to autorepairs and have neither expertise nor equipment to diagnose electrical problems. Thanks.

well first things first....

does the car have gas?

how old are the fuel filters?

did you buy the right fuel pump? (i'm not saying you bought the wrong one but the people at kragen have giving the wrong part a couple of times)

have you tried giving it some gas when you start it?

but don't give it too much or you will flood the engine

2nd thing how is the check engine light coming on in your dx? carb cars HAVE NO CHECK ENGINE LIGHT. they don't have one of those,they don't have diagnostics,they don't have trouble codes, it's a dumb computer it can't tell you whats wrong.

Well you need 3 things most basic for a gas motor to run

1. Fuel

2. Spark

3. All at the correct time

So you can check that the spark plugs have a spark or you can take a small amount of gas and dump it down the carb and see if it will fire that way.

Timing(not running) you can make sure your timing belt is not broken the distributor rotor must turn.


wp

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by fijisac

well first things first....

does the car have gas?

how old are the fuel filters?

did you buy the right fuel pump? (i'm not saying you bought the wrong one but the people at kragen have giving the wrong part a couple of times)

have you tried giving it some gas when you start it?

but don't give it too much or you will flood the engine

---

The car has a full tank of gas.

I don't know how old the filters are, but they're not the culprit since no gas comes out from under the access panel, which is upstream from the filters. In any case, I'm replacing the filters, too.

I'm not sure I bought the right fuel pump. It seems too big (and at $160, expensive, too), which is why I haven't tested it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by lostforawhile

2nd thing how is the check engine light coming on in your dx? carb cars HAVE NO CHECK ENGINE LIGHT. they don't have one of those,they don't have diagnostics,they don't have trouble codes, it's a dumb computer it can't tell you whats wrong.

---

Okay, it's the oil pressure and charging system lights, which always come on briefly when I start. Now they stay on. (I said check engine light because I was repeating what a lot of other people were saying without thinking about it.)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by bongbang

The car has a full tank of gas.

I don't know how old the filters are, but they're not the culprit since no gas comes out from under the access panel, which is upstream from the filters. In any case, I'm replacing the filters, too.

I'm not sure I bought the right fuel pump. It seems too big (and at $160, expensive, too), which is why I haven't tested it.



Okay, it's the fuel pressure and charging system lights, which always come on briefly when I start. Now they stay on. (I said check engine light because I was repeating what a lot of other people were saying without thinking about it.)

---

fuel pressure light?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by lostforawhile

fuel pressure light?

---

Oil pressure light. I stand corrected.