Sorry I forgot your MAF is a part of the tubing running to the airbox, mine was mounted directly in the throttle body, and it had a tip that could come lose, looks like your MAF sensor should not be able to have that problem.


Does the security light in the car come on and stay on, or come on and then shut off?

If changing the fuel filter does not help, I'd consider renting a NOID light, and testing to see if the fuel injectors are being pulsed.
Because if you have spark on all cylinders, and there is sufficient fuel pressure, the the next thing I'd check, would be whether or not the injectors are being pulsed.

Hi guys,

Well I changed the fuel filter which was a joy since the fuel line was rusted and snapped in front of the filter. I bought a new short section of line and spliced it into the remaining old line with a piece of neoprene tubing. I jumped in the car with high hopes that replacing the old (very old by the looks of it) fuel filter would give me enough pressure to get the old beast started. The guys at AutoZone confirmed tonight via their online reference system that this car needs between 33 and 48 pounds of pressure to work properly. As I turned the key I noticed that there was not the normal "whirrrrrr" sound of the fuel pump. I turned the key back, then forward again - still no fuel pump sound. I turned the engine over having reinstalled the fuel pressure gauge. No pressure... Are fuel pumps this flakey where they will work, then not, and possibly tomorrow morning will work again?

I'm really bummed cause if the fuel pump is toast then this car is likely headed to the bone yard.

Yes, they can be really weird when they fail. If you have a rubber mallet, you can have someone sit in the front seat while you lay underneath and give the middle of the tank towards the rear of the tank a good whack while the other person is cranking the engine. This usually bumps the pump good enough to get it to turn over.

Just looking online, I'm seeing sending units for around $158 and less.

Hi Mike,

If the kid'* car looked like yours I'd gladly pay the $158 for a new pump. His is really rough so this is probably a death sentance for the car.

As one last idea, is there a relay for the fuel pump that might be faulty?

OK, one more last idea. I can get a fuel tank (including the fuel pump) for this car from the local bone yard for $50. Given that I am trying to keep costs down as low as possible on this car, why wouldn't I do this? I am trying to get a few more months out of the car - that'* it. I would think I could check the pump for proper operation prior to installing the replacement tank???

always the chance used parts are going to be not much better than yours. if they give you everything, the lines make a junction in front of the tank if you can get yours loose and they dont just cut the lines of the other one, you might be able to make it work. personally i would rather pay the 150 and not deal with used junk

There is a relay for the fuel pump, not sure where yours is, but mine was in the same place the fuel injector fuse was, it is probably the fuel pump though, but it would not hurt to replace the relay if you have a few bucks, you may get lucky, my money is still on the pump.

its not the relay if it turns on and gives you 30psi

From his last post.

""As I turned the key I noticed that there was not the normal "whirrrrrr" sound of the fuel pump. I turned the key back, then forward again - still no fuel pump sound. I turned the engine over having reinstalled the fuel pressure gauge. No pressure...""

ok it could technically be the relay after it turned off completely. but those pumps draw a bunch more current when they go out so i imagine to pump is bad and it took out hopefully just a fuse but could have taken the relay too.