Having problems with my beater car.

[Nism0o3]

I know its not a Chevy Truck, but technically its GM and I really need some help / advice on this. I recently towed home a 97 Geo Prizm, which is essentially a GM bought and sold Toyota Corolla.


Got the Prizm. Details are the following:

There are 248,600 some odd miles on the car. It ran perfect and relatively trouble free before it sat. No major burning of oil, no major leaks, no raps and taps or knocking from engine. Was leaking fuel from spout and needed a blower motor in the dead of winter so we got my girlfriend a different car figuring it might be more involved then what meets the eye. The car then sat for a year in her parent’s driveway and was only started a few times soon after it sat. Then it was never started at all.

Problems:

When got to mess with it, the car would crank but not start. No fuel pump “noise”. Needed fuel spout replaced and breather tube replaced on gas tank. The car needs two struts for inspection. Needs brakes cleaned up.

What I purchased so far:

I took the liberty of getting a spout from a bone yard and two rear struts from a newer, less-miles-on-the-clock, Corolla. Purchased a new fuel pump and stocked up on maintenance items that were overdue for the car such as a timing belt, transmission filter, valve cover gasket, and fuel filter.

Recent Issue:

Replaced the spout, the breather and the fuel pump. Turn the ignition to the “On” position and no noise from the fuel pump. Pulled it out and tested the new pump directly, it worked fine. Tested the leads on the wire harness, nothing. SO I purchased a relay off the Internet (for cheap thank God) and replaced that as well. No noise from the fuel pump at all when the ignition was placed in the “On” position. Tested the wire harness on the relay. I used a wire schematic from the GM Shop Manual and found that there are two signals (or so its seems, not 100% on reading wire schematics) from the car that need to reach the relay; The starter and the ECU. Well the ECU signal is there for sure as I tested it with a test light. The starter signal is there too. I accidentally jumped the starter with a power lead on the relay and the starter cranked for a split second, so it verified the particular lead I was looking at was for the starter. Now here is where I am confused:

1. Does the starter need to be cranking before the fuel pump is engaged? If so I have never heard of this, I mean no prime until cranking. Maybe it’s a Toyota feature?
2. Am I possibly looking at the wrong relay? I can’t find the location of the starter relay, but the relay I am screwing with is definitely in the location the manual points out as the fuel pump relay location (or as the book calls it the “a circuit open relay”).
3. If I am wrong about the first two, now what should I look for? I was thinking I should top the oil off, hook the alternator back up, put the valve cover back on and try firing it up. Someone told me a fuel pump might not kick on without oil pressure. I just need it to prime, so I didn’t try this yet.

ANY HELP WOULD BE GREATLY APPRICIATED! THANKS!

[Nism0o3]

Ignore the first part, I copied and pasted it from my truck forum.