My neighbor has a 1988 - 92 Mustang convertible and he believes the fuel pump puked. The pump is inside the tank which has to be dropped to get to the pump. He pushed it into the garage about six years ago where it's been ever since.
Now that it's washed off and in the driveway, his trailer park step kids are sniffing around and offering advice. One suggested it was the rollover switch in the tank..... Neighbor doesn't recall the exact symptoms when it died.
He asked for my advice. So, what's a trusted, tested, methodical list of checks? Look at relays and fuses, check for power at the pump and then work down stream? I haven't popped the hood but believe it's a SBF automatic.
Any suggestions?
Thanks, Dan
There is an inertia switch in the back that can fail causing a no start/run condition. You can bypass it temporarily to see if it is bad. You can also double check the relays, one for the EEC, the other for the fuel pump, under the passenger seat too, they also can go bad. If all that checks out, you need a pump and not a parts store cheap POS one.
There is a short harness near the brake booster that you can use to send a direct line of 12v to the pump. It is a five sided plug with a few wires in it. You just ground the one for the fuel pump trigger.
Google fox mustang fuel pump test connector IIRC this bypasses the relay for fuel pump test.
Most old fuel injected cars have this feature, on the chevys it just one wire.
Have you offered to buy the car yet? When somebody pushes a car into a garage because of a fairly simple problem, they need to be relieved of said vehicle as quickly and cheaply as possible.
Not yet, don't care for automatics. It's white with tan top and interior.
I may look good next to my 92 GT...how much will you give me to haul it away.
After six years, the oxygenated fuel has become a corrosive sludge in the tank causing damage to pump, sending unit and tank. Remove the gas cap and smell. If it does not smell like fresh gasoline, before attempting to pump that through the fuel system drop the tank, clean and flush. Replace fuel filter and flush lines. The injectors may need cleaning.
Lay on the ground by the tank, have someone turn the key on to the run position, the pump should run for ~2 seconds and you should be able to hear it (even a stock pump). If you don't hear it, either pump is dead or something upstream is not sending power to it, and you should follow akylekoz's advice (about hauling it away for cheap ;)
Do the listen test to see if the pump runs when you turn the key on (not run). If you hear it run cool. If not check the inertia switch, in the trunk just to the drivers side on the tail light panel. Push the button on top of the switch and nif it clicks, try listening again. I would drop the tank and clean it out in any case. Not hard to remove or clean.
Bruce
If you can't hear the pump running then smack the tank with a mallet while its cranking. If the motor starts then it needs a pump. At least thats how it works when you don't have 6 year old skunk gas.
