Ford Escape fuel pump problem

My daughters 2005 Escape wouldn't start yesterday. I went to check it and I couldn't hear the fuel pump running. I pulled the lines off the filter and nothing came out key on or cranked. I checked the wires going to the pump and found 12V on key on and crank. I pulled the fuel pump relay and had nothing so I know I had the correct wires. I switched the relay with another and still no fuel.

I bought a new drop in pump ( ouch) and installed it. No start, no fuel coming out of the lines. I still have 12V,I also checked with a test light, triple checked the wiring with old one.

I guess my next step is too get another 12V line back there and try to connect to the connector without shorting to the sender. If nothing, then bad fuel pump? The new pump ohms out at 70. that seems high, the old one was at 3, that seems low but it didn't pop the fuse. I don't have time to try to get a Microsoft windows computer running to use the service manual.

I have it on a charger to make sure that isn't the problem. It is in a muddy driveway which makes it fun. I have to work so I can't answer any questions until tomorrow evening.

Is the fuel pump ground side controlled?

Edit: Just poked around the diagrams. Assumed 2wd/auto/2.3l. The fuel pump gets power and ground from the fuel pump control module, not the fuel pump relay. So it is in all probability ground side controlled since they are doing PWM on the pump.

Look for the control module, it's usually under the car in that vicinity, about smartphone-ish sized, six wires. Also aluminum and usually severely corroded where it is up against the body/frame. 90% of the time, a "bad fuel pump" on a Ford truck is this module corroded away.

Yeah. What he said.

Knurled wrote: Is the fuel pump ground side controlled? Edit: Just poked around the diagrams. Assumed 2wd/auto/2.3l. The fuel pump gets power and ground from the fuel pump control module, not the fuel pump relay. So it is in all probability ground side controlled since they are doing PWM on the pump. Look for the control module, it's usually under the car in that vicinity, about smartphone-ish sized, six wires. Also aluminum and usually severely corroded where it is up against the body/frame. 90% of the time, a "bad fuel pump" on a Ford truck is this module corroded away.

That is why I swore to never buy a Ford truck. I didn't know the cross over SUVs were the same way. I will be sticking to Ford cars only I guess.

It was a good idea, the bracket the module was bolted to was pretty corroded. I will be changing it soon, and it looks like I need to make a new bracket. Of course I forgot to post that it was 3.0 AWD.

The problem was the new fuel pump. It is wired backward so the pump wires go to the sender wires and vise versa. I will to return it tomorrow. If the replacement is backwards too, I might have to rewire the original which will probably wipe the warranty.

I have to remember to expect everything I buy to be wrong or broken. Two nights wasted on it so far. I really need a job with hours so I can get somewhere besides Advanced while they are open.

If it is any consolation, we got a wiring harness for an Explorer once that had the terminals for the alternator backwards. And we got the harness because of a charging system issue. Nothing says "self doubt" like a repair not working after you'd checked it out six ways from Sunday. And then you think, well, let's just make EXTRA SURE that it's pinned correctly.. and it's not.

NEW is an acronym. Never ever worked.

Confused... You had 12v at the pump and it wasn't working, right? It would have to be the pump then, right? Shouldn't be a relay or module....

Sounds like you've determined it is the pump but wondering why it could have been anything else having power at the pump

In reply to jfryjfry:

Fords made in the last 10-15 years depending on chassis will pulsewidth modulate the pump instead of using a regulator. They have a separate fuel pump control module that does the dirty work. This isn't just a truck thing, it's an everything thing, generally speaking if it's a returnless system/has a pressure sensor on the rail, there's a fuel pump control module. (And confusingly, on a scantool, the fuel pump percentage is half of actual, full pump activation is 45 or 49% or something, due to the way they run the data out from the PCM to the module)

The module controls power and ground, and you need both for anything to work. Ground is just the return side of power, after all.

Did you check the inertial cutoff switch? It is in the passenger side footwell. If I remember correctly, it disconnects the ground to the pump and sometimes trips randomly.

Should be a small panel for access and just press the reset button.

Bruce

Knurled wrote: Fords made in the last 10-15 years depending on chassis will pulsewidth modulate the pump instead of using a regulator. They have a separate fuel pump control module that does the dirty work. This isn't just a truck thing, it's an everything thing, generally speaking if it's a returnless system/has a pressure sensor on the rail, there's a fuel pump control module.

Yep, just had to replace the one on my 2001 Focus. Fortunately it is under the back seat and easy to get to.

It is finally running. The replacement carquest pump came in a different size box, and included the lock ring but had the same part number as the bad one. I had to pay extra for the lock ring the first time. The wiring was correct on the new one. I decided to run it outside the tank first, it ran and found it wasn't primed. That is why I didn't run the first one out of the tank. I thought they were all pre-primed.

Of course it didn't work the first time, the old pump killed the module. I couldn't get the screws holding the old one out, so I tie wired the new one onto the old one. I don't think it needs to ground to the bracket.

On the test drive my daughter remarked that it accelerated a lot faster now. I don't see how low fuel pressure didn't throw a code if it was limiting acceleration. I will have to look into that. Next time I will have her tow the car to my house. I have no idea why I didn't think of that before.

Thanks everyone for your help.