someone please help... 97 grand am

my wife has a 97 grand am. it ran fine and then all of a sudden to start it you had to crank and crank and crank and crank and then just when you'd about had it... it would just fire up. then after a few days it just wouldn't start anymore.

i pulled the fuel pump out and tested it and the fuel pump is fine. so i turned the key on and put my light pen onto the electrical wires that plug into the fuel pump and the light does come on but real dim, like it's maybe not getting enough juice???

the guy i have helping me (knows a whole lot more than i do about diagnosing problems) thinks that a relay or fusible link or something has kinda half blown but not all the way so it's not gettin enough power to the pump. the stupid chiltons manual doesn't say anything about a relay or fusible link or anything for the fuel pump on this model.

please, does anyone know if there is one for this model and where i might find it? or how i might figure out if/why it's not getting enough power? i'm gettin a lil desperate here... 8(

i'd be eternally grateful to anyone who could help.

peace to you and yours,

Tiny

Check the power control center under the hood. There should be a fuel pump relay there. The relay will cause the problem you are speaking of and is easy to replace. You may also want to check the oil pressure sensor. The system ties the oil pressure to the fuel pump so that if the oil pressure drops too low the engine will shut down. If the sensor is bad the pump won't work properly.

any idea where those might be? there is a fuse block that has really big and really small fuses in it under the hood. and another block mounted to the passenger side shock/strut (whatever it is) mount that has 4 lil square plastic boxes but they don't say anything on them except orion which i'm assuming is the manufacturer's name. are those lil square boxes (bout and inch or so square) the relays? and if so how would i know which one is the fuel relay?


Check the power control center under the hood. There should be a fuel pump relay there. The relay will cause the problem you are speaking of and is easy to replace. You may also want to check the oil pressure sensor. The system ties the oil pressure to the fuel pump so that if the oil pressure drops too low the engine will shut down. If the sensor is bad the pump won't work properly.

Look on the inside of the top of the cover. The square boxes with orion on them should be your relays. The inside of the cover should tell you which is the fuel pump relay.

ok cool, i found the four relays that say orion on them... but there wasn't a cover on them... 8( i had a friend test the continuity of them with a multimeter thingy and he said they have good continuity... we noticed that they have 4 leads on them but only show continuity across two of them, is that right?

ah well... i think my wife is fed up with this so we're gonna try to get it to a shop instead... thanks for your help friend.

blessed be,

Tiny


Look on the inside of the top of the cover. The square boxes with orion on them should be your relays. The inside of the cover should tell you which is the fuel pump relay.