Hello all,

I have been trying to figure out my fuel pump woes and have a quick question. I have a 1982 245 wagon with k-jet. I noticed that when i turn my key to the on position i cannot hear either of my pumps running but my car still starts and doesn't die or anything. Am i supposed to hear the pumps with the key on? I just replaced my in-tank pump yesterday and it still seems like its starving for fuel. I have also replaced my fuel filter. Could it be that my main pump was overworking for so long that its not working properly now? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Basically when my car is running , all i hear is this loud choppy whining sound coming from the pumps.

Matt

 

I would check your fuel pump relay under the dashboard. Try bypassing it and see if your fuel pumps work better. And if any of the f.p.r.'s wires have overheated, check your wiring harness.

 

I bypassed it and the intermittent sound was alot less but it was still there a bit but not as much. Maybe ill try a new relay before i change out the main pump.

 

I'm not really a big Volvo expert, but I've done quite a bit of work on my 242, and I think I recognize the symptoms you are having.

If the pumps ran better when you bypassed the f.p.r., but not as well as they should have, it sounds like you definitely have a f.p.r. problem, but maybe you have a wiring harness problem, too. A bad wiring harness will take out a f.p.r. The low supply voltage from the bad harness makes the relay coil and the armatures of the fuel pumps try to draw more current. This overheats the f.p.r. contacts and the wiring harness even more. When copper gets overheated, it forms copper oxide, which is not a good conductor. This lowers the supply voltage, making everything try to draw even more current. As you can see, the problem is an ever-worsening one.

Why don't you try measuring the supply voltage at the f.p.r. with the pumps running? It should be close to battery voltage. Maybe try running a wire directly from the battery to the supply voltage terminal on the f.p.r. and see if the pumps run better.

If you do need to construct yourself a new wiring harness, you can clean the intake plenum at the same time (since you have to remove it to replace the harness) and make a nice little project out of it.