Red wagon was running a couple days ago. Now it won't start, though apparently it's not the electrical supply to the fuel pump this time (which it seems to have been other times, since the pump was silent when it wouldn't start, then).

What I did since it last ran:

1) forgot to put the main coil wire back on, and even hooked up the little wires backwards; cranked it several times.

2) after disconnecting the battery, removed the two ground wires under the dash right beside the hood-release handle (to check if the broken-looking one was broken; it wasn't)

3) momentarily jumped Left side #4 to Right side #6 - something buzzed, but I may have touched another fuse in the process (all the fuses are still intact)

Now it cranks, does not "catch" at all, I smell gas slightly, the main fuel pump is buzzing nicely...

I really don't "get" electricity. Did I mess something up there? Just thought I would check to see if I somehow made a major boo-boo with those three things before I start trying to track down something else...

thanks
Joy

interesting...

Kept trying to start it over the next couple days; it eventually "caught" a few times, then a few more times, and finally started and ran. Been running fine since then.

Every time I clean / check / replace something, it runs long enough for me to think I finally found the defect this time....................... until it quits again.

A cousin of mine claims to have once put a ping pong ball in his buddy's gas tank, as a prank. The truck would run fine until the gas level got below a certain point, at which the fuel hose would suck up the ping pong ball, cutting the supply of fuel and killing the truck. After the ball fell out and floated away, it would start again, and repeat.

I do not know if this is true or just my cousin spinning tales, but the same could potentially happen if you have a good deal of debris in your gas tank being sucked up into the filter sock at the bottom of the in-tank pump. If it happens again, it might be worth a look inside your tank.

That would be a really baaaaad prank... not funny at all.

I'm going to go ahead and replace the pre-pump, since I'm sure it's 23 years old, like the main pump obviously was. The last time I checked, it didn't run at all when I jumped the fuses (I think; maybe my ears are just ringing too loudly to hear it).

More than once, I was assured by somebody-or-other that this intermittent stalling couldn't be caused by vapor-lock, since something-or-other in the way any '89 is built would prevent that. But in this latest bout of reading, vapor-lock came up more than once, in relation to a bad in-tank-pump.

Yeah, that little pump needs replacing, anyway.

It has what I think must be a good bright spark...

Could I have burned out some little thing when I clumsily touched my little bent paper clip to the fuses...?

I think everyone is cautious to reply because there is no telling what you may have done and not taken notice of. It is difficult to say if you screwed something up, but soley from the information you've posted, I'd say it is unlikely.

It sounds like you have visually confirmed spark (by pulling a plug wire, perhaps?) so you should look to a fuel problem, either too much or not enough.

I haven't followed your saga - what fuel pump problems have you had, and what have you done to solve them?

BTW, a paper clip is a terrible way to jumper anything. Not only is it likely to short things you don't intend (as you noticed), it is potentially dangerous. At a minimum, use an insulated piece of wire with the ends stripped.

Thanks for the reply. I thought maybe one of those would be obvious to the real mechanics :-)

Every once in awhile (or sometimes close together), it sputters or dies, in what seems like totally random conditions. At first I thought it was heat-related, but not now.

New relay, new main fuel pump and filter, took out #4 in-tank pump fuse, checked ground, new 25 amp fuse, unplugging and WD-40-ing several electrical connections, wiggling the wire bundle from the battery to the ECU. Someone mentioned a botched connection in there that seemed to make theirs die. I don't know what I'd be getting into if I cut away all that long wrap around those wires to have a look-see...

Finally figured out -- I *think* -- that the fuel pump either stops humming or only faintly splutters, when it dies or won't start (until this time...). Was hoping it was the actual fuel pump, but a new Bosch one did not change that.

Also, when it is running, the fuel pump sometimes runs at an almost-even pitch, and other times has a great variation in the pitch, or sounds like it's cutting out altogether for a second. I left the back seat and carpet up so I can hear what the pump is doing.

Water collects in the floorboard when it rains, so now I'm trying to figure out how it's getting in, trying to look for something like water collecting in electrical things...

Well, nothing jumps out at me, but maybe that info will help someone else make a diagnosis. Sounds like you are checking all the right things.

You say you took out the in-tank pump fuse - I assume to check its function? Did you hear the in-tank pump quit when the fuse was removed? Did the noise from the main pump increase? Does the problem happen most often when the gas tank is low, and/or does a full tank of gas help?

Your water problem could be seriously complicating diagnosis. The most common place for water to enter the cabin is at the windshield wiper motor where it passes through the firewall. The rubber washer there often crumbles or shrivels, allowing water to drip down on sensitive electronics. Look behind the glove box to see if the washer is in place.

Good luck! Car gremlins are nasty little SOBs.

I forgot to say the #4 fuse sometimes gets really hot, so I took it out just for the heck of it. Didn't change anything. I'll eventually put a new tank pump in. Maybe I should just leave that fuse out until I do ??

Also does all that when the gas tank is full.

Don't leave the fuse out. The in-tank pump is necessary to proper operation. Lack of the pump can lead to a failed main pump. Is it possible that your in-tank pump is already dead? Or heavily restricted by a clogged filter sock, which would lead it to draw more current and heat up the fuse?