Need some help with Sable fuel pump.: Grassroots Motorsports forum: Grassroots Motorsports Magazine

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Jan. 9, 2012 3:48 p.m. 2.0dohc Reader

So SWMBO has a friend whose husband is deployed for a few more months, and of course his car wont run.

2000 Mercury Sable, she said she started it after a few months of not using it, pulled it into the driveway and let it run for awhile. She says it shut off by itself and wouldn't restart. Her father was visiting and got it to start with starting fluid, but not by itself.

I went over this weekend and took a look. I don't think the fuel pump is running(can't hear it prime and there is no pressure at the fuel rail). The fuse is good, the relay clicks. I checked the inertia switch, every fuse I could find...

Does anyone know where the power wire to the fuel pump runs? All I could find about the pump was you have to drop the tank to get at it, which will be fun in her driveway. If I can verify that the pump is getting power I will change it, but I don't want to waste money if its not that.

Any thoughts?
Jan. 9, 2012 5:30 p.m. iceracer SuperDork

Don't know about the Sable but many Fords had access to the fuel pump under the back seat.
Jan. 9, 2012 6:00 p.m. 2.0dohc Reader

No access panel, some people cut one, but it's not my car.
Jan. 9, 2012 6:21 p.m. DrBoost SuperDork

I'll see if I can help.
Power flows through Fuse 116 to the relay. Power flows from the relay on an 18 ga. pink/black wire through the inertia switch. That same wire continues, unbroken in my diagram to the fuel tank connector. It should be a round 8-pin connector. I'd expect it to be on the top or the tank, you might get lucky and it's near the tank. All Data is pretty much useless unless you want to know the sequence to tighten lug nuts so this might not be correct.
Jan. 9, 2012 6:28 p.m. integraguy SuperDork

Just anecdotal(sp?) but my folks have owned 3 Tauruses, all had in excess of 120K miles put on them, and they never (to my knowledge) ever needed to replace a fuel pump. Of course, they never had a car that "sat" for more than a day or two (my Mom MUST go grocery shopping at least 3 times a week).
Jan. 9, 2012 8:39 p.m. 2.0dohc Reader

DrBoost wrote:

I'll see if I can help.
Power flows through Fuse 116 to the relay. Power flows from the relay on an 18 ga. pink/black wire through the inertia switch. That same wire continues, unbroken in my diagram to the fuel tank connector. It should be a round 8-pin connector. I'd expect it to be on the top or the tank, you might get lucky and it's near the tank. All Data is pretty much useless unless you want to know the sequence to tighten lug nuts so this might not be correct.

I was hoping someone could ID a wire for me, and I must admit that it didn't occur to me to check for power at the inertia switch.
plan on going back over this week/weekend for more troubleshooting/hopefully fixin
Jan. 9, 2012 9:52 p.m. Streetwiseguy SuperDork

Get somebody to crank the engine while you beat on the bottom of the gas tank with a hammer. If it starts then, it needs a pump. If it doesn't, either the pump is really locked, or its something upstream.
Jan. 10, 2012 7:11 a.m. DrBoost SuperDork

2.0dohc wrote:

DrBoost wrote:

I'll see if I can help.
Power flows through Fuse 116 to the relay. Power flows from the relay on an 18 ga. pink/black wire through the inertia switch. That same wire continues, unbroken in my diagram to the fuel tank connector. It should be a round 8-pin connector. I'd expect it to be on the top or the tank, you might get lucky and it's near the tank. All Data is pretty much useless unless you want to know the sequence to tighten lug nuts so this might not be correct.

I was hoping someone could ID a wire for me, and I must admit that it didn't occur to me to check for power at the inertia switch.
plan on going back over this week/weekend for more troubleshooting/hopefully fixin

I was trying to get you a pin-out and location for the connector at the fuel pump but I couldn't. All Data is not reliable at all.
Jan. 10, 2012 9:15 a.m. Moving_Target New Reader

The Lt.Blue/Org wire goes to pin 80 on the PCM. The diagram is for a Taurus but it shouldn't matter.
Jan. 12, 2012 7:42 p.m. sergio New Reader

In reply to Streetwiseguy:

+1