Ok, so I drove about 50 miles into a 150 mile road trip to show off our new ride and it conked out at 70 mph on the freeway. I suspect the fuel pump. I have not yet gotten a manual. Can anyone tell me the location of the fuel pump on my 1990 xj40? If it's not the pump should I check other items like a fuel filter? And where is it? Please don't tell me the pump is inside the tank. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

 

OK no problem, won't tell you.
The techs are going to need more info before coming up with possible cause.

 

I hope I can furnish more info but I don't know where to start. I just bought the car with 88k miles and bopped around for about 300 miles at slow and freeway speeds without a hint of trouble. Started up instantly and ran flawlessly. Then at 70 mph it began to slow and be non responsive to the gas pedal. Finally it quit altogether as I coasted to a stop. Then the dash lit up when the engine stopped. No warning lights before that. It felt gas starved. Suggestions?

 

Hi, I appreciate that you are at a bit of a loss, what I meant by more info was describe the symptoms in more detail. Which you have started to do.

Your problem could be fuel, electrical, mechanical, or a combination of all three. By trying to accurately describe how the car conked out and any sounds it made, will help narrow the problem down.

For instance there is likely to be a message on the VCM together with a fault code. This will immediately help narrow things down. The message may be something like "Check Engine, followed by Fuel Fail.

Could you restart the car after a while, or not?

This type of information should help you to get some replies that will help you in the right direction, assuming that you have checked the obvious, such as all fuses, not run out of fuel, did not accidentally turn the car off etc. etc.

Hope you get some useful replies (more useful than this one).

One thing though, with the car switched off, when you turn the ignition switch on, so that the dash lights are all on, you should hear the fuel pump come on for a couple of seconds. You might want to have someone listen for this in the trunk/boot because the fuel pump is where you don't want it to be, and there is a well documented connector link failure point between the pump and the evap loss flange. Search the forum under "Fuel Pump", you will see what I mean.

Good luck,

 

Ok, so I read everything I could on the subject on the forum and I am still stymied. I did not get a code on the VCM after the problem but I might have accidentally cleared it. I do remember a "fuel fail" code when I first played with the buttons trying to reset the trip info when I first bought the car. It doesn't come up now though.
According to what I read from posts by jagtechohio my fuel pump is not where I don't want it to be, that is it is not IN the tank. From the various photos of the 2 wire harness connector and the evaporative loss flange and pump link lead nothing looks like the photos.
My set up looks different. My tank has a small white plastic round piece about the size of a silver dollar (a little bigger) in the middle of the tank about half way up with two connectors that I guess is the sending unit for the fuel level.
The car starts up and runs and I was able to turn it around to get onto the driveway cement. It will stay running but I am rather hesitant to take it anywhere until I know it will not crap out on me again. I do not hear the pump running but I know it is working because the car continues to run until I shut it off. Where else should I look?

 

You got me. You say that your tank is not the same as this one in the photo, because if it is the same, then the Fuel Pump is IN the tank under the large white evap loss flange on the top. What you may have found outside the tank under the car is just a fuel filter. Unless you have some sort of custom set up caused by previous owners having this typical problem.

 

I took my tank out on my 1990 a few weeks ago and the pump was not in the tank. My haynes service manual says it may be in or out of the tank...

Note 1: on Early models (1988 -1990) the fuel pump is located on the chassis next to the fuel tank. On later models (1991-1994) is is attached inside the fuel tank.
Note 2: On 1988 through 1990 models, the fuel pump may chatter excessively and the engine may stall frequently during hot weather. if stalling occurs, the engine will restart after cool down period. Dual fuel pumps can be installed to remedy this...

 

Nice one Gunnerman. For some reason I had 1994 on the brain. (DOH)

 

Here are a few shots of my tank. I can't find the evaporative loss flange unless it's located in the front behind the seat back. I believe I have located the filter under the car just ahead of the rear driver's side axle (US car). It's a little difficult to see without putting the car up on a lift. I guess I will have to find a mechanic with a lift and trust he isn't a butcher. That may be harder to do than find the pump.

 

The pump looked fairly easy to find from the photos I have. I will try and post a pic if I can find some batteries for the camera.

 

Sorry for being thick. Hope this helps.

Jack up the rear left hand side. Put the car on axle stands. Remove the left hand rear wheel.

You should be able to follow fuel line back to the fuel filter (just forward of the wheel arch) and then to the fuel pump which is behind wheel arch, (before the rear silencer/muffler).

One thing though, you might just have a faulty fuel pump relay, which on your 1990 can be found in the engine bay, left side, attached to the brake pedal hanger.

If you do decide to remove the fuel pump after all, then depressurise the fuel system first. Now is not the time for a quick ciggie in celebration of having found the thing!!

Remove fuel filler cap, disconnect the fuel pump relay, start engine and wait for it to stall. Turn off ignition, then disconnect battery.

Take all the usual precautions before disconnecting fuel lines, rags, container to catch spilt fuel etc.

 

Yes have some sort of plug handy for the fuel lines...I had to take my tank out and could not start a siphon out of the filler neck(but I did get high as a kite) so the gallon or two had to stay in while I unhooked fuel lines from tank. I was covered in gasolene before I could get a bucket to catch it.

 

Sorry if I'm not supposed to reply to such an old thread, but this one is so close to answering my questions that I've just gotta try.

I have located the fuel pump which is external, just behind the wheel arch. What I still can't find is the fuel pump relay. Could you give me a little more information about where it is located? Do I need to look from the top of the engine compartment or go at it from underneath? What else is it near? I was told for my model it should be in the trunk on the passenger side but that bank of relays is for the arial (one up, one down) the ride leveling system, and one other thing that didn't seem like it could possibly be a fuel pump relay. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Ed

 

On my 90 the relay was on the passengerside of trunk, toward the rear near the tail light assembly (take the upholsrerd cover off). You might want to get a haynes manual (hard to understand some of the text, but tells where everything is)

 

I have torn my trunk apart and I do not believe it's in there. I found, on the passenger side, forward and near the deck, a bank of four relays: HRW (Black), Aerial Up (Green), Aerial Down (Green), and Ride Level (Yellow). On either side of the trunk near the rear and on the sides, the tail light relays. That's it for relays in my trunk. I am quite sure of it.

What color is the fuel relay you found in the trunk? I left my notes about it at work.

 

Pull RH dash scuttle.

 

I have to admit I had no idea what a scuttle was, but I do now! There are a bunch of relays under there. Do you what color the fuel pump relay is? It's getting dark here but I may go poke around and try swapping some of the same color to see if that works.

Thank you very much.

 

So, I removed the right hand dash scuttle and tried all of the relays by switching them out one by one with a known good one. Still no luck. I was battling a low battery much of the time, but it sounded like there was enough juice to start it as I had it jumped to my wife's 535. I also sprayed a little starter fluid into the air intake and it started for just a few seconds. I also listened for the fuel pump earlier and I believe I heard it trying to work.

Now I have some lovely photos from under the dash. Would anyone be able to tell me which of these would be the fuel pump relay? The first shot is of 8 relays from directly below the glove box. The second shot is of 2 relays from farther under the dash, behind the #1 fuse box.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

I'm currently battling the same "treasure hunt".
Not much good to say about a Haynes repair manual re: the location of these relays.
Best I can figure out using info from several sources, the two relays you're interested in are the two closest to the firewall. They are the lower ones in your photo, one with yellow socket, the other with red socket.

On the metal plate that covers that area, they are identified as "PI MAIN" and "PI PUMP" ... don't ask me why, I'm not British.
They do, however, have the correct wiring color codes (as per the Haynes manual, no promises there either!)

Here is a rather crappy image.
(And BTW, I wish I had your camera and your steady hands, and you had a doo-whacka-doo.)



Both relays checked OK for power on my car, but I'm still not getting anything to the pump.

 

That's the label you need, shows you a black relay in a yellow socket.

Get under the car and test for power and ground at the pump. There is also a link kead connection underneath the rear seat.

One car I worked on many years ago was fitted with a capacitor plate under the rear seat. It was factory, only one I have seen of 100 cars. If you don't have power at the pump, and you have power coming from the pump relay (I think it's the blue/ red wire, with the key on for 2 seconds), pull the seat.