1986 SVO fuel pump issues

[duh09]

Obviously not a SN95 question but I figured we might have at least a couple people who have dealt with the ole 2.3 Turbos and might be able to help me out, not sure how similar the setup would be to a Fox 5.0L, but worth a shot.

My car recently stopped running. Got in it one morning and it just wouldn't fire up. Turned over but never cranked. Wasn't a big deal at the time, just hopped on my bike and went to work. Got home that afternoon, it started right up and I drove it up and down the road and it hasn't started since. Checked the inertia switch and no improvements.

I assumed almost immediately that it must be fuel pump. Turned the key and you can't hear any priming. Figured that with a nearly 30-year old car, it was probably shot. Ordered a Walbro 255lph and finally had time to install it today. Got it all together and nothing, still no priming. I bought a new fuel pump relay and still, nothing. Read online that you could ground out a specific wire (tan w green stripe) and it'll basically force the pump to prime so long as the key is in the on-position and even that did nothing (tried it at the relay and also at the self-test plug under the hood.)

I'm not sure where to go from here. By this point, 90% of the threads I read had been solved. I'm almost thinking it may be the computer but I don't want to throw that money away for nothing.

 

[RichV]

Early SVOs had a different pump setup, yours is like any 5.0. The relay is under the driver seat. Check the coil side of the relay for 12v when the key is turned, that will be the prime signal. Once it starts it should get a constant signal. You can probably feel the relay click if it works. Then you'll need to check the contact side for the 12v signal.

did you check fuses? What about the connector under the bumper, my buddy had a intermittent problem there due to some charred terminals. You can also check the inertia switch with a meter to make sure you have continuity.

 

[duh09]

Turned out to just be my inertia switch. Somehow it had popped up JUST enough to cut the power but not enough to be reset. I messed around with a few things and finally just took that switch off, shook it to get it to pop up and got it to click back down. And she lives! Frustrating but so glad it's running again.

 

[RichV]

Glad you got it.

i gotta swap a starter on my 85, then bolt on a race head, then a FMIC. Gonna start drag racing it when we start back up. Should make a solid 300rwhp. But we'll see what breaks after that, as usual.