fbarnhill

Hi guys, been a long time since i posted. I had planned on going to Sharks in the mountains this year and decided to do the fuse panel cleanup using SharkSkin's excellent write up. Well after putting everything back together, i had no lights and every since my fuel pump will intermittently quit working. I have been very sick and was on my way to the doctor the other day and it just quit in mid stream. I had forgotten my cell and for the first time in years, this thing left me walking. I have proven that the fuel pump is good and the relay is good. My question is: Can someone tell me which plug on the bottom of the panel does the fuel pump wires go to? I pulled the panel out today and checked that all the wires were tight, put all the plugs back in and pushed each pin on all the plugs to ensure they were making contact. It started right up and ran beautifully. Well, after putting it all back to gether, cover, carpet etc.... Same problem. I am hoping that someone can point me at the right plug so i don't have to keep dealing with all of them. I don't have a wiring diagram or i would look myself.

Thanks,
Frank B.
Raleigh NC

Mrmerlin

Frank If you will take another look at the connectors along the bottom of the CE panel. Inspect them to see if any of the individual pushed in connectors might not be fully seated.
What happens is that if the plastic portion of the connector isnt held in a certain way when its connected to the CE panel, then the male pins on the CE panel can slide along the back side of the connectors and unseat them.
To fix you will need to pull off the plastic connector from the CE panel and slide out the metal connector and rebend the locking tab and insert it back into the plastic.
Mark the wire position before you remove the connectors.
Next remove every fuse and clean the ends of them with an eraser.
Then go to the hot post and inspect/clean it as well as the 14 pin connector, make sure to have a hot post cover fitted, a cover for an 88S4 will fit and you will have to modify the hot post stud so a newer style screw on stud cap will fit, do this by drilling a hole in the end of the stud and JB weld a bolt into the end so the new cap can be screwed onto it

fbarnhill

Hi Mrmerlin,
I pushed every one of those wires in the plugs below in with a screwdriiver and/or needle nose pliers. It worked at first and just quit again. What i am hoping for is that someone can tell me which connector at the bottom is used for the fuel pump so that i don't have to do them all. I have already done the fuse panel cleanup/r&r. I spent 2 days cleaning it up. Looks like I made more of a mess than i fixed. However, i did have a couple of fuses that were too large and had started burning the fusebox so i am glad to get them fixed. Thanks again for your reply.

Mrmerlin

Frank this is what i am suggesting to you.
You need a drop light and to look carefully at all of the connectors along the bottom of the CE panel.
It is quite possible that one or more has been mis connected and no amount of pushing is going to make the connector fit on the pin.
Note, each connector housing has about 6 wires in each housing, and if they are not correctly fitted the CE pins will push them to the side of their housing slot and then you wont have a solid connection
Follow the above instructions

fbarnhill

Thank you. That will be my agenda for tomorrow. I will bet that is the issue.
I will let you know.

fbarnhill

Thank you. That will be my agenda for tomorrow. I will bet that is the issue.
I will let you know.

fbarnhill

MrMerlin,

Well i tried your suggestions and out of all the connectors, i found about 5 wires that just fell out of the connectors. I bent back the retainers and pushed them all the way back in. After finishing, i was so excited. I tried to start the car and no go. Well i removed the relay and jumpered pin 15 to 87 and it worked beautifully. The car now starts almost as fast as you grab the key. Also, it has never run any smoother. For a 30 year old car with plugs that have over 30k miles on it, this car runs so well i can't even find a reason to change the plugs.

Thanks again for your prompt and exact help

Alan

Frank,
Not so fast.... I know you don't want to hear this... but

That the jumper makes the car run tells you something about the problem - but it is not a long term solution you should use... It defeats the safety system that shuts off the fuel pump if the engine stops, and it also removes all fusing from the fuel pump circuit - it is not smart to leave it like this... from what I recall the wiring and relay terminal size for terminal 15 is not sufficient for the fuel pump loading either (meaning it won't last even if its works now...).

So - Does your tachometer work? if no then that fault is the cause of this, if yes you should be able to restore operation by replacing the fuel pump relay or by checking the wiring to the fuel pump relay terminal 31b.

How did you check that the relay was good? (its really not easy with this one...)

To your original question the fuel pump connects to terminal T5.

The tachometer & F-P relay 31b connects to Z4 & O7 this should be a pulsed signal related to engine rpm (switching to gnd). If the tacho works this signal exists, if Z4 connects solidly to 31b on the relay socket - I'd venture you need a new FP relay.

Alan.

Mrmerlin

Frank make sure that all of the metal connector look the same from the back when you have the Plastic portion of the connectors attached to the CE panel.

fbarnhill

Hi guys,
I ensured all the contacts were connected this time. And yes, the tach works fine. Everything works on the car except the headlights still won't go up on their own. I need to check the relay on that one also. I have a sneaky feeling that the fp relay has been going bad for a while. I had several occurrences where the car wouldn't start but after wiggling the fp relay, it started up and worked. However, it was kind of suspicious that all this crap started after the fuse panel r&r. I cleaned everything and checked everything i could think of.

Thanks for your help

Alan

In that case a new relay is probably a wise investment. Whatever you do don't keep running it like this....

Alan

fbarnhill

Thanks Alan, This is just limp by mode. I will get the relays soon. I appreciate your good advice as well as that of the others.

Have a great weekend, me and my shark are heading for the beach