Car trouble

[cccpman]

Installed a new fuel pump and it dosnt seem to be the problem after having a couple people tell me that was my problem

Car will sound like its turning over but wont start

Tried a few times now
Modified by cccpman at 6:10 PM 7/17/2006

[elwesso]

why didnt you check fuel pressure before oyu did any of that crap? Thats what you need to do!

[Jeff Williams]

I am ASSuming that you checked the fuses, changed the fuel filter, and put gas in the tank. Treat the car as if it is flooded. Hold the accleerator pedal all the way to the floor while trying to start it(DO NOT PUMP IT - this WILL flood the car).

You could have a fried fuel pump control unit (About $350 from Joe). It is a module right above the fuel tank. Do some searches on FPCU in the archives. There is a way to "hot wire" the biotch to work.

Of course, you could have fouled the plugs, too.

I take it, the car is in a parking lot at the airport? It might be cheaper to have it towed to your house soon. The daily charges for parking are probably high enough to cost you the price of the tow in about 3 days.

[cccpman]

Im not sure how 1 man can check the fuel pressure. I cant get the car to start... Of course im not 100% sure how to check it in the first place (take off that white bag thing which I think is the filter at the bottom and cover it up and feel for suction?)

[elwesso]

No you just hook a pressure gauge up after the fuel filter... If you wanted to check it when it was running youd just put a T fitting in there.....

[cccpman]

Fouled what plugs? The sparkplugs? (Hope not, basically brand new)

Is the FPCU the thing to the right of hte pump (if im in the trunk looking at the pump? Im assuming so). I didnt pull that to check to see if it was burned out because this had no warning, so I didnt push it at all to my knowledge... will check that tomorrow however

elwesso - I rechecked my work and removed the thing a second time (thats why it took so dang long) and the second time no fuel was dripping from the fuel lines, I would think its not getting pressure at all but I will be sure to check it anyways

As for the thing being towed... it will be in 2 days if I cant figure it out

If it really is just the FPCU and my luggage is found sooner rather then later (in ~40 hours) I could always pay for my own tow and order the FPCU when I get my creditcards x_x

Thanks so much for the help thus far

[elwesso]

Sounds like the fuel pump isnt coming on at all!!!

Ive seen this before.. could be a bad ground... Ground the fuel pump and see if it comes on.

[cccpman]

I always have music but I didnt hear a sound even on start up (and if it was o-ring it would be a lengthy pressurize right?)

how would I ground it... I save people not cars and as much as I would like to think they are simmilar.... lets just say I usually have better luck :P

[elwesso]

turn the music down and then we'll talk.

First make sure the relay is coming on... The FP relay is by the antenna on the passenger side... When you turn the key on, the relay will click on and then click back off about 5 seconds later.. Turn the key on and listen for the relay to click off about 5-10 seconds after.

if this doesnt work, then youll take a wire and ground the white wire on the fuel pump harness.

[maxnix]

I always have music but I didnt hear a sound even on start up

Was the music playing while the FPCU was frying?

In any case, if you move the car, flatbed only!, no towing.

Look in Infiniti Online Mechanic for the fuel pump posts and they will tell you how to find ground to bypass the FPCU, temporarily only.

[cccpman]

ok I have read over the document several times (section 12)However im more of a picture sort of guy at this point with the Q and am having a hard time understanding what exactly I should be doing (And it says there are digital photo's to every step but I've found this document in several places and none have pictures execpt one you can download has pictures to the butterfly clips, one had a picture of the fuel pump an o ring and the FPCU)

- Inspect the wiring everywhere; notice any charred or burned areas(my ground wire on the bottom right (terminal side, tab on top) of thewhite male fuel pump control unit connector was charred a bit.

Now I get this part (only because of the tab on top part) - however the only cable I was able to observe was one that split between the FP and FPCU (blue ends). Without a picture to circle im not sure if that's the one we are talking about or not

Anyways about grounding it, im going to grab an alligator clip cable and connect it from what exactly to what? Just shave off some of the cover on the white wire and clip that to any metal part of the FP? Or clip it to the cars frame for a ground? Maybe leave the cover off the FPCU and clip to the inside of it where the white wire leads? Too late for me not to sound like an idiot so I might as well be positive of what im doing long before I do it

Thanks again guys, at least there is always light at the end of the tunnel when you have access to NICO

[Raxephon]

One pic, per request.

[cccpman]

fantastic anlasak, thank you! Zoomed in and get it now, cant thank you enough

headed out now to give it a try
Modified by cccpman at 11:29 AM 7/18/2006

[elwesso]

Was the music playing while the FPCU was frying?

In any case, if you move the car, flatbed only!, no towing.

Look in Infiniti Online Mechanic for the fuel pump posts and they will tell you how to find ground to bypass the FPCU, temporarily only.

If you have a tow truck with dolleys for the rear wheels thats fine for a short distance (less than 5 miles)... Just as long as the rear wheels are fof the ground, but if your going more than a few miles or at higher speeds, youll want a flatbed.

[cccpman]

.79 cents in repair bills, the cost of one pair of alligator clips (yea, dark brown easy to see problem, didnt even have to remove the unit to tell)

The 'new' fuel pump sounds horrible, 10x worse then anything the old one did so im going to have to take a look at it later (But will try fuel pressure idea from elwesso;))

Car feels really good too now, im not a mile high and a new pump...

The only problem had is that the clip broke off a little bit of plastic from the connector but I doubt it will really matter as it will still fit tight

thanks again guys, saved the day for me. Took about 5 minutes to get everything done, im guessing 1 more hour before its back to normal (have to order a new O-ring, i suspect there is a small hole in the one in there so it cant pressurize all the way) and redo the FPCU. Both fuel float things are totally messed up but I can make a working one from the parts of the two - all in all a great day

Nico

[elwesso]

dont think youre done yet chief.. You cant leave it like that, because that forces the pump to stay on 100%, and its not designed to do that... You gotta figure out what caused the FPCU to fail or something else to go wrong...

you need to replace the pump with a new one....

[cccpman]

Already in the planning Wes, going to have to redoing the solder and add the suggested wire

Im going to replace the oring just to make sure its actually the pumps fault and not a leaky seal before I do anything about it, almost like the pressurize sound but lasts all the time.

I would reccomend to everyone however to buy a totally new pump, even if the one you have only has a few k miles on it... already wish I invested in a brand new one instead the first time. Cutting corners even a little always seems to bite back :P

Tomorrow I will post on how well the repair goes on the FPCU

[elwesso]

actualy it will be slightly louder when you ground it beause it is running at full speed...

To determine that the FPCU or ground is bad all you have to do is see if the pump comeson when you plug the FPCU back in.

[cccpman]

Fixed the FPCU with 3 small solder points and some wire as per other pictures on this site. Actually turned out really nice

The fuel pump sound issue is no longer an issue, even without rear seats/soundproofing the pump is very very quiet, it kind of clicks and there is a hum (but I was in the back wtih somebody else driving to hear)

Ive got a new problem though, none of my brake lights work now? Could this have been caused by the bypass or just from something random that happened while the car was sitting?

Im going to check the fuses tomorrow to see if its a small problem like that

Also have to fix one of the pump things to show how much gas I have... really cant tell right now :P But thats easy to do tonight

[maxnix]

Ive got a new problem though, none of my brake lights work now? Could this have been caused by the bypass or just from something random that happened while the car was sitting?

Looks like you need to read the brake light bulb posts in Infiniti Online Mechanic, where this post really should be. When I did mine, the passenger side CHMBL failed. Replaced both bulbs because I knew the other one would fail also.

Congratualtions on your persistence and fix. Now you may know why I always admonish the newbs to read the previous posts as this (and lots more) is all in there.
Modified by maxnix at 9:15 AM 7/20/2006

[cccpman]

well depending on how much of a noob somebody is you really cant tell what the problem is in the first place - I really just need pointing into the right direction so I dont lose hours (or in this case the car)

As for the post location - sorry my mistake. Bookmarked this forum the day I got my car, it contained a good ammount of technical information on its own. I will be sure to correct this in the future, im sure if a mod or admin feels it is important the thread can be moved into the mechanic section

Taking a look over those threads now for a solution, thanks maxnix

[elwesso]

I was going to move it to the online mechanic, but i wanted to leave it here until the mass posting was done.. Im moving it now......

[cccpman]

thanks elwesso

[goody90q45]

Ive got a new problem though, none of my brake lights work now? Could this have been caused by the bypass or just from something random that happened while the car was sitting?

If you haven't changed bulbs lately and aren't shorting out (melting) a brake light socket you may have just burned out a fuse. Anything else not working other than the brake lights? Headlamps stuck on high beam? Door switch lights not working? A few of us have lost the fuse in the illumination circuit. In the engine compartment fuse box check the 3rd or 4th fuse from the firewall in the middle row. Don't trust your eyesight, check for continuity with a volt meter. Good luck finding the gremlin.

[cccpman]

replaced fuses, no change. Im going to assume I probably lost the lights, im going to check to see if it melted when its daylight around here. My little thing on the bottom left that tells you your tripodomter thing is also out (light up but not saying anything) So I bet I have a fuse problem somewhere, any chance you know what thats called so I know to replace that first?

[cccpman]

Was on duty for a little bit there, anyways replaced the stop lights in the rear and its all working great back there (Lights were totally destroyed, all of them. Black char on the ends on every single bulb execpt the center one)

I still have some strange electrical issues however - first off the thing bottom left in the dash that tells you things like "Stop Lamp Inoperative" (when my cetner bulb died it said that) and "Door Open" has not worked since I bypassed the FPCU - it is still backlit but it has no text at all on it and I really dont know what fuse to check for that. What is the name of the fuse there? If it is non fuse related any ideas on what would cause this issue (related or not to the bypass). This is perhaps my most major concern - as it warns idiots like me about important things that I may be missing

Also reeks badly of gas, charcoal really didnt help too much. Baking powder0 worked great for 2 days but was then exhausted. The smell gets worse and worse at every fuel up - do you think this is just a loose seal or a major problem? (New O-Ring is to arrive in the next day or two)

If several people have had all of this trouble after doing the bypass could we possibly add a warning and a suggestion to it (like unplug your lights beforehand so you dont blow them?). Im not really sure how many others have had this problem, at least a couple so perhaps its very rare and does not require such a warning

Thanks ahead of time guys

[Q451990]

Electrical gremlins and strong fuel fumes... not a good combination!

I have never heard of associated electrical issues after bypassing the FPCU, but if you shorted something out - who knows?

Good luck!

Heath