Ran out of Fuel

Been paranoid about fuel pumps ever since they put them in the fuel tank, several GM vehicles would crank all day if the fuel pump pressure is even a couple of psi low, and the only cooling they get is by constantly recirculating the fuel, so been treating a quarter full tank as an empty one.

But kids were always running out of gas, with no fuel, no load on the pump, would draw very little current. With fuel injection, having a fuel pressure tester is a necessity if you don't want to get robbed blind by a dealer. Cruze pump runs at 45 psi, has a fitting on the injector manifold to hook up a tester to.

View attachment 189618

In the underhood fuse/relay box, fuse #20 is for the fuel pump, relay # 8 is the fuel pump relay, about the first thing to check. Also switching from accessory to run with the ignition switch, fuel pump should run for two seconds, Cruze is quiet, so would have to remove the fuel cap to hear it with another person switching on the key.

Starting off with a dry tank, in many cases running the pump for just two seconds isn't enough, so what you can do is switch from accessory to run, count to two, switch it off and back on instantly, can do this ten times in a roll. Older GM vehicles used a real heavy duty relay, could pop off the cover and hold the relay contacts closed with your fingers. Have to put the Cruze fuel pump relay in the joke you got to be kidding class. But knowing the contacts of the relay, can make a jumper with a couple of 1/8th inch spade terminals to constantly run the pump.

If you already did a lot of cranking, should put on a battery charger or will have even more problems.

Hate in tank fuel pumps, reason why they stick them in there, made so cheap, need that gas for proper cooling, would have fun burning up a pump operating it dry on my work bench. Also with the Cruze, have to drop the tank to replace it, never a fun job, in particular if you just filled the tank with gas. With several vehicles, had to use an external pump to drain it finding the fuel pump line under the hood with several five gallon cans. This may take a couple of hours.

This is what the Cruze fuel pump looks like.

View attachment 189626

Comes with both the fuel sender a fuel pressure regulator. Can you believe your dealer want 340 bucks for this piece of plastic? But 190 bucks is a more reasonable price and another reason why I refuse to use ethanol in my vehicles. One spring around five years ago, had to replace four in a roll, should learn how to control my language. Most shops want over a thousand bucks for this job and do very sloppy work. Seen enough of this over the years.

This is what the shop manual circuit looks like for the Cruze fuel pump circuitry.

View attachment 189634

Having problems with this, doesn't seem to match what is in the car.

Another thing I do not know, many of the new fuel pumps have gone to a brushless motor, have superior to the old brush types, in operation, fuel pumps have to run continuously and brushes wear out or even break off.

1985 Honda Accord SEI came with an external pump that was very easy to replace. But because of this, it never went bad. But this sure changed with later years, just as bad as everyone else.

I would be very happy to pay two bucks more for a fuel pump access plate. They claim that fuel pump module is the top part of the fuel pump.

Cruze still has that return line, except they moved the fuel regulator back to inside the fuel tank, so its quite a bit shorter. Main function is you have to have a continuous flow of cooling gas to keep the fuel pump from burning up. Only reason why brush sparks don't cause a fire, no oxygen in that pump.

Not sure about the newer GM SUV's and Pickups, in the 90's these vehicles were using the same fuel pump as you would find in a car. Only difference is the typical car ran at 35 psi instead of 56 psi, this also tended to increase the draw current from about 3.5 amps to slightly over 8 amps, meaning that little tiny pump was expected to dissipate over twice the power.

Last time I used starting fluid was over 60 years ago, and got a free hair cut in the process, it did grow back. Never again.

If you don't want to pay a shop, get a fuel pressure tester, what the hail is a rag for? If you are not hitting 45 psi, can crank all day without the thing starting. You have to know what the problem is.

jblackburn said:

What he said. There's probably fuel up to the regulator and you need to purge the air out of the fuel lines from there on up.

Click to expand...

I can agree with this, mounting the fuel regulator in the fuel tank, that is one heck of a long line. While its safer to use a fuel pressure tester, has a long drain hose that can go into a contain with a side release valve, good get by with a rag. Just keep it away from any electrical or flames.

But you will still need an assistant in the vehicle to switch the ignition from accessory to run, hold in run for two seconds, switch back to accessory then back to run. Only way to get that fuel pump working unless you know how to bypass it. Keep on reaping this switch sequence until you get a steady flow.

Don't know about the rest of you, find this unleaded gas to burn my skin like acid. Never had this problem with leaded, use to use it all the time for cleaning parts, cheapest stuff you could buy for cleaning. Should wear protective gloves.