1992 grand am not getting power to fuel pump

[sweetlil_red2000]

I've put my 3rd fuel pump & new filters on since November. The relay, coil, and ignition module are fine. Before I put this last pump on, my car would run fine until the motor heated up, then it'd quit & I could wait about 30 mins, prime the pump and it'd crank and run til it got hot again. Since I put this last pump on, it's not getting power to the fuel pump at all. I had a friend tell me that it's a possible short in my ground wire going to my pump. Is he right? I'm a lady that can do anything that can possibly be done to a car so I'm not dumb when it comes to working on them. But this has me stumped. I just can't read the diagram for it & wanted to know if he is right & if he is, if anyone could give me a clue as to which is the ground.... I have 3 kids and can't afford to put it in the shop. Any help would be well appreciated.

[3100]

No problem just tell us the year and engine size of your GA.

it should be black for ground all the time and Grey is your positive for pump

did you check fuel pump and injector fuse (one 20A fuse)

also tell me how did you check for the power at the pump?

[sweetlil_red2000]

it's a '95, v6... I had a friend of mine test it, plus I knew b4 he checked because I never heard it come on when I turn the switch on. I also checked the fuse hoping it would be something that simple but it's good. Thanks so much for helpin' me out.

[3100]

First sorry for the punctuality mistakes or misspelling, I do not have much time to think about the grammar or spelling now since you need fast response and get that car up and running right?

I will try to help you with all my heart. But please follow my instructions carefully if you can not give it to someone who is handy with the test light or the DVOM.
While you conduct these tests keep notes where you were able to see the light and where not etc so I or somebody else can assist you more from that point.

- disconnect the fuel pump connector and connect the test light between the fuel pump connector terminals, (black and Grey wires) tell somebody to turn the key to the start position while you observe the light. If you do not see the light for 2-3 sec there is an open in the circuit somewhere or you have a bad ground (black wire not making good contact to ground)
- if you see the light then your fuel pump is bad

Now let’s start from the beginning following the diagram for your car.
- Disconnect the fuel pump relay, then concentrate on the wires that connect to the fuel pump relay terminals 86 and 85 while they are disconnected connect the test light (alligator clip to the green/white wire connector and the other side connect to the black/white wire connector, tell somebody to turn the ignition switch to the on position if the test light comes on that is good. (this will tell you that your ignition switch is ok, that your fuel pump relay is getting power and ground.

-then connect the alligator clip to a good ground (best to negative battery post if you can if not then any engine bolt) and touch the pink wire that connects to the terminal 87 of the relay (remember relay is still disconnected) tell somebody to turn the ignition key to the on position while you are observing the test light if the test light comes on that is good this will tell you that the fuse is good and that there is no open in the pink wire that is going from the 20 A fuse to your relay.


-find a good jumper wire now you will have to connect the red wire that goes to the relay’s terminal 87A to the battery positive (red clamp) now listen for the pump’s zzzzzzzzz sound. If you hear the pump then you are good you will need to replace the relay if not then it is either your pump or you have open somewhere.

- now borrow or if you have the dvom set it to the beep function that will beep if there is continuity in the wire touch the black and red lead of the dvom leads if you hear beep your dvom is good to proceed for the next test. Connect the black lead of the dvom to the connector of the Grey wire that connects to the fuel pump relay terminal 30, disconnect fuel pump connector and connect the other (red lead of the dvom) to the A1 terminal of the fuel pump connector (this is the other end of the grey wire and you are testing for an open in the grey wire that goes from fuel pump relay terminal 30 to your fuel pump, if you hear a beep then you are good up to the fuel pump (so far we have narrowed the problem to the fuel pump problem or bad fuel pump ground) write back with the results of your testing.... good luck.

also connect the alligator clip to the black wire at the fuel pump connector and the other side of the test light to battery positive if you do not see the light you have bad or open in the ground.

[sweetlil_red2000]

Ok, I got someone to bring a light to test it... My fuel pump's ok and the only weird thing that was happening is when we first put the test light on my relay & just turned the switch to on, it didn't light up.... hence no power to it or fuel pump... But when I spun the engine over, it lit up, showing I was getting power then & I could actually hear the fuel pump buzz.. But still not cranking.. It did this a few times, we did it over a few more times to see if it was just a fluke or something but it did the same thing over & over. What could it possibly be??

[xeroinfinity]

Welcome to AF sweetlil_red2000 !

On your fuel pump, check the wire harness under the car back close to the tank. These are known to crack and not work or short out completely.

Next I'd check that the wires to/from the relay, making sure they are not corroded/broke causing it not to make contact 100% of the time.

Now you said you "spun" the engine over and it worked.
Do you mean your spun(turned) it over with the key or by hand ??

And you also said it's "still not cranking", when you just said you spun it over. ...

Do you mean it wouldnt start when it turned over ??

And If you havnt replaced the relay, I'd try that as they dont last forever. Could just be a bad one even if its newer.

Hope that helps!

[sweetlil_red2000]

I meant that the engine turns over, but it will not start... It's firing. We put the test light on my fuel pump.. when I turned the ignition key to on position, it didn't light up, so the normal buzzing of the pump coming on didn't happen. We've tested my coil, it's fine. The wires to the relay are fine. The next thing we did was put the light on the relay. Same as with when we did the fuel pump, I turned the ignition to on position without trying to actually crank it... not only did the fuel pump kick on, the light didn't come on for the relay. He's a certified technition so he had everything he needed to test my car. We tried the light on the relay again, but I decided to try to crank the car, and as soon as the motor turned over, the light came on for the relay & the fuel pump did come on but all the engine would do is turn, never started. This is the 3rd fuel pump that's been put on since Nov.. the first went out so I had to replace it, they replaced that one with a faulty one, and just to be honest, I thought when this started with my car that it was my pump because it wasn't coming on. I put the last one on about 3 weeks ago. Could this really be a sign that the relay switch is going out? I really need to know. I've put money in this car that I didn't need to already, had the tech come out looking at it.. Things are knida tight around the homefront now, if ya know what I mean. Sorry if I rambled on and got all off the subject... Just need help, it's hard having 3 teenage boys with a tore up car.

[sweetlil_red2000]

I need to correct that it's a '95 grand am

[3100]

be more specific, I don't think you followed my instructions

[sweetlil_red2000]

(1) "- disconnect the fuel pump connector and connect the test light between the fuel pump connector terminals, (black and Grey wires) tell somebody to turn the key to the start position while you observe the light. If you do not see the light for 2-3 sec there is an open in the circuit somewhere or you have a bad ground (black wire not making good contact to ground)
- if you see the light then your fuel pump is bad"

The fuel pump is good...

2)"- Disconnect the fuel pump relay, then concentrate on the wires that connect to the fuel pump relay terminals 86 and 85 while they are disconnected connect the test light (alligator clip to the green/white wire connector and the other side connect to the black/white wire connector, tell somebody to turn the ignition switch to the on position if the test light comes on that is good. (this will tell you that your ignition switch is ok, that your fuel pump relay is getting power and ground.

-then connect the alligator clip to a good ground (best to negative battery post if you can if not then any engine bolt) and touch the pink wire that connects to the terminal 87 of the relay (remember relay is still disconnected) tell somebody to turn the ignition key to the on position while you are observing the test light if the test light comes on that is good this will tell you that the fuse is good and that there is no open in the pink wire that is going from the 20 A fuse to your relay.


-find a good jumper wire now you will have to connect the red wire that goes to the relay’s terminal 87A to the battery positive (red clamp) now listen for the pump’s zzzzzzzzz sound. If you hear the pump then you are good you will need to replace the relay if not then it is either your pump or you have open somewhere.

- now borrow or if you have the dvom set it to the beep function that will beep if there is continuity in the wire touch the black and red lead of the dvom leads if you hear beep your dvom is good to proceed for the next test. Connect the black lead of the dvom to the connector of the Grey wire that connects to the fuel pump relay terminal 30, disconnect fuel pump connector and connect the other (red lead of the dvom) to the A1 terminal of the fuel pump connector (this is the other end of the grey wire and you are testing for an open in the grey wire that goes from fuel pump relay terminal 30 to your fuel pump, if you hear a beep then you are good up to the fuel pump (so far we have narrowed the problem to the fuel pump problem or bad fuel pump ground) write back with the results of your testing.... good luck."


We followed this to a T, the guy that was doing this is a certified technition. Every time I would put the key in the on position, the light wouldn't come on signaling no power coming to the relay thus no power going out to the fuel pump. What I don't understand is why it didn't get power to it while it was simply in the on position but when I actually went to turn the engine over, it got power. It kicked the light on showing it was then getting power and heard the buzzing of the fuel pump. This should've happened with the key in the on position. Could it be that my relay is giong bad but not totally gone? Or more like the grounding? Am I making sense?

[xeroinfinity]

OK if the all those tests came back ok, and your fuses arent melting, then its possible your ignition switch is flaking out.
Might have that tested.

Btw did you ever replace the relay ?

[sweetlil_red2000]

I haven't replaced the relay yet. And I have considered the ignition switch also. How can I do that? The friend of mine told me that it's not the relay seeing that it got power after I turned the engine over. My point is that maybe it's going bad just not totally gone yet. But like I said $$$ is ridiculously tight in my household, I don't wanna end up getting parts that I don't need. It'd be easier if it were a part I could return.

[sweetlil_red2000]

When I say this, I want ya'll to know I mean it from the bottom of my heart: Thank you so so so much for your help!!! Ya'll were awesome!!
I found the problem! I had another tech friend that took the time to come by to run basically the same testing that my other friend had done, I guess hoping that he had missed something.. Well, I noticed that he was getting a small amount of voltage to the relay, but no where close to 12v.. He was stuck too, but I happened to get curious because it was atleast getting some. I followed my ground cable from my battery to my motor thinking that maybe it was loose.. Low-and-behold, there were 3 ground wires that were loose! It's crazy that it was something that simple. Ya'll had me in the perfect direction. Thanks again!!

[3100]

I am happy to hear that, good job. Any time you need something just ask us before you put any money in it. I suggest you get yourself dvom up to 20$ so we can work on the future problems if any.

[xeroinfinity]

Yeah a simple little ground wire sure can ruin your weekend. lol

Glad you got it fixed !!