So when I married my wife many years ago, she came with an 87 Firebird, heh. I was drooling until I opened the hood and saw the little 2.8L V6.

Okay, so you can't have everything still, she's been very dependable over the years (the car....and the wife), and I love the way it hugs the road and handles the curves.

Several years ago, we had to put the lady up and let her sit (the car again, not the wife). She's suffered little issues over the years, but not really anything major (things like the head light flip motors stripping out, the electrical hatch back latch not working anymore, and exhaust leak, etc). We moved on to SUV and other cars as we live out here in the country now.

I've turned my eyes back on this 23 year old car (so has my 20 year old son, heh), and we want to get her back up and running.

But we've run into an issue: no fuel getting to the engine.

About a year or so ago, I had to move her, and she started right up and roared to life....I only needed to move her 100 feet, but instead took her down the drive on to our country road, zipping around. I got her back and parked her in the new spot. My wife called me an "idiot" for doing that as there was no tags, and no work done on her in several years. I just grinned like the idiot she just called me because driving her again was just too fun!

Point is: she started up and ran just fine then, and has not been touched since. I know that she's not getting fuel as I can remember hearing the fuel pump hum when I turned the key just before cranking.
Opening up the supply line and sure enough, when you turn the key, no fuel.

So we hit the Haynes manual. And then the internet. So much confusion as to what fuse is located where, and where the fuel relay is.

The book showed a 20 amp in line fuse located on the driver side between the battery and windshield fluid tank. No such luck.
BUT, there are 2 20 amp fuses located on the PASSENGER side of the front fender. Both look and read good with a ohm meter.
There is NO fuse in the fuse box under the dash that is marked in any way, shape or form for the fuel pump (even though the Haynes manual insists there is). No fuse marked "FP" or "F/Pump" or anything like that.

There are 3 relays bolted to the fire wall in the engine compartment. One controls the cooling fan (it works). I can also hear the other relays click on after 2 seconds if I turn my key to on. One of them is the fuel relay.

So it seems everything is pointing to the fuel pump in the gas tank and as you can imagine, my son and I are not too happy about that. Especially since it seems to just gone bad from sitting there.

Any advice? I've read here and there about putting a inline fuel pump in (a great idea!) but I've not done a lot of research on it yet. Can I do that with the old pump still in the tank? Wouldn't doing that interfere with the fuel flow?

Any advice, tips and "Make Sure You DO NOT's" would really be appriciated.

 

Welcome aboard thirdgen.org.

Sounds like your fuel pump relay is getting power, at least. Shouldn't be too hard to disconnect the harness back by the tank and verify you're getting power back there when the ignition is turned on. Wish I could tell you which wires they are - I thought I took a pic, but now remember I wrote it down on a piece of cardboard that was handy at the time - and which I have since thrown away.

Advice - if you verify the pump is getting power, take the time to drop the tank and replace it with a quality unit. In-lines can't pull through a dead pump, so you're going to drop the tank, anyway. And, if you have to drop the tank 24 years from now (hey, the 2011 models are out now) to replace the pump again, does that really bother you? (If a 55 year old {me} can drop the tank, a 44 year old should be able to.)

 

Nah, being 44 and dropping the tank doesn't bother me......just all the work that it will be! hahaha

We'll get the rear jacked up and crawl under there and check the wire harness out. I do have a lot of cats running around here.

If putting voltage directly to it still gives us no joy, then yah we'll go ahead and drop the tank. I'll put in a quality pump and replace the screen, as that only makes sense.

I found another thread on here where the poster gives step by step instructions and tips on doing this, so I've printed it out.

Now it's just a matter of laying in the dirt (we don't have any pavement out here in the country) and hoping I have all the right sized metric tools. heheh.

 

we are having the same exact problem with the same exact make and model.
My 16 yr. old son just bought it from an elderly gentleman that told him the fuel pump was just changed. However, All the car will do is turn over, It will crank if you spray a little starter fluid in the throtle body, But wont stay running. It has a full tank of gas, although, I dont know how old it is or the quality of the gas.
The gentleman that sold it to him told him his mechanic told him maybe it is a bad fuel relay. I don't think it is as I can hear it after a few seconds.
I have researched every where, I can't find a haynes manual yet locally, So I am going to get one ordered.
If you find the problem and get a fix for it, I hope you will post it here, please?
The vacume lines need replacing on ours, they are in very bad shape, I don't know if that will hinder it running or not, I assume it will just make it run rough.
I guess we are going to drop the tank and check the fuel pump that it was installed properly, if at all. Drain the fuel and refill with fresh.
We live in the country too, no pavement :-)
So as soon as my son,and his old mom ( me ) can get to it, We will.
Good luck on yours, I hope you get it going soon :-)
Untill we get ours running, I guess it's the Honda Accord for my 16 year old :-)

 

We did a final check today after lifting the back of the car up and putting it on jack stands. We got under the car and disconnected the wire harness and put 12 VDC to the pump (there are 3 wires: Black - negative or ground, Pink - which sends voltage to the gas gage, and Tan - which is the hot 12 VDC wire going to the pump.).

When the pump energizes (when you first turn the key to "On" but just before you actually crank) you can hear the fuel pump, it's a faint, but distinct humming sound, and you will normally only hear it for about 2 seconds.

When we applied our voltage: no hum, but the 12 VDC test light I had in parallel dimmed quite a bit.
Being a electrical and electronics tech, I could tell right away that the fuel pump is bad, most likely seized up, as it's trying to draw quite a bit of current, but not doing anything.

So we will be returning tomorrow to drop the fuel tank.

Cracked and dry rotted vacuum lines can make the engine run VERY rough, or stall out, or not stay cranked at all. Cost of new hose is not too bad, and is easy to replace. Just make sure he does so one hose at a time, heh, so as to not get things mis-routed.

If you and your son end up having to do this also, please be very careful. Make sure you get some flat cement blocks to rest the jack stands on (as they'll sink in the dirt if you don't), and when you go to lower the rear axle. It's very heavy and the only thing holding it up after you've raised the rear end, are the shocks. Make sure you use a floor jack under the axle to lower it very slowly.

My biggest problem is going to be all the rust on the exhaust pipes, and all the tar and dirt under there, heh.

 

I think we will replace the vacume lines, one at a time, Then start dropping the tank. My older son, that is not too accesibke because of college, work and wife, Knows electronics and how to use all the meters and such, maybe he can explain to me how to test the harness. As far as the exhaust, the elderly gentleman that owned it had it cut off when the new pump was installed, So that wont be a problem, The straps are very rusted too, That may be a problem too. Goodluck with yours. I hope it goes well