Fuel pump gone bad?

[FestYboy]

One other thing you can do, and this is just for verification, but it's easy and free: remove the coil lead from the dizzy cap and rest it near bare metal. With the key in the "ON" position, remove the negative wire on the coil. If all is well, you will see a spark every time you break the connection at the negative post on the coil. If you do not see spark, the coil is bad regardless of what the DVOM says. This procedure bypasses the dizzy and ICM control, and YOU become the ICM. This also assumes that the ground to the coil is good. You can test that with the DVOM as well by a continuity test, or simply test for voltage at using only the coil posts, not the battery. It is also possible that the new dizzy is faulty (seen that many times), but let's verify what we can before condemning any other parts.

[FestYboy]

A healthy pump with clear lines should easily be able to prime within a few cranks. The only thing that could stop that is a blockage in the feed line either in the tank or at the bend at the firewall where the line slips between it and the crossmember. If you have access to either compressed air or a vacuum hand pump, you can verify the condition of that line. Also, if you have a clear fuel vessel, you can test the pump by placing some fuel in The vessel and attaching short test lines to the feed and return ports of the pump. that way you can watch what happens easily.

Btw, I'm assuming that the cam rotates when the engine is turning... If it doesn't, then that's the first and biggest problem.

[Click_It]

Quick reply, yes the cam rotates. Though foolishly I never visually checked this earlier so I'm glad we can rule that one out!

I'll investigate the other leads you've given and report back later.

[Click_It]

Okay as far as I can tell, no spark following your directions. But just to be sure I'm doing the right thing please look at the image below. There is no "+ & -" markings but I'm guessing the wire that goes to the dizzy is the negative. I did everything you said, lead near metal, disconnected/reconnected that wire. No spark. I have no reason to believe anything is bad with the grounding.

But in case I'm doing it wrong this pic might help. (I left the grounds connected during this)

[Click_It]

Oh by the way, no problem with the fuel lines. I found my vacuum pump and it came up effortlessly. So that would indicate bad fuel pump now possibly in addition to bad ignition coil ?

For a car where nothing really ever went wrong since we bought it in 1997, seems like the years have suddenly caught up with her

[FestYboy]

The picture is correct. Please verify ground through that blue wire first. If there is no ground, the coil cannot "charge", and then induce current into the secondary winding. You could remove that wire and supply a temporary alternate ground just to be sure.

Ok so we've verified the lines are clear, can we verify pump output?

[Click_It]

I will retry the coil with a temporary ground in the morning (night time here)

My fuel pressure gauge was in transit and now lost so that hasn't arrived. I did vacuum test the fuel lines though, no obstruction anywhere and easily refilled the filter. Cranking the motor fails to prime whatsoever.

I was even pondering manually filling the pump just to see if it could start the car that way, albeit likely briefly but didn't try that yet.

[Click_It]

Okay so despite the ignition coil testing fine on the DVOM, I'm not getting any spark from the coil doing that test, even with a temporarily ground being used.

The fuel pump doesn't do anything. Any more tests I can try or is it time to start buying more parts?

[FestYboy]

I want to verify that the coil had power during the testing. If so, we've isolated the coil as faulty, they are cheap and easy to replace. I recommend the Accel Super Coil if it's available over yonder.
For the fuel pump, the only other thing I could think to test would be the cam lobe that drives it, but the likely hood that the lobe has failed is almost impossible. It just sucks that both failed so close to each other.

I would start with the new coil and test with the old dizzy, then the new one, both being unattached to the head. You can spin the dizzy by hand from the back side.

[Click_It]

Yeah it's so strange that two 24 year old parts die together like that.

I can get Accel Super Coil's here, but not cheap in the land of expensive ($84). Are they going to be the quality choice over the Fuelmiser coil? ($49)

[Click_It]

Parts have been ordered. I'll report back once installed. I'm confident this will get the ol' girl going again.

[FestYboy]

Yeah it's so strange that two 24 year old parts die together like that.

I can get Accel Super Coil's here, but not cheap in the land of expensive ($84). Are they going to be the quality choice over the Fuelmiser coil? ($49)

I'm sorry I don't have any experience with that brand, that's gonna have to be your judgement call.

[Click_It]

That's okay, I only asked because everything else in my festiva is Fuelmiser manufactured. Maybe it's what the Australian cars were fitted with.

I'll report back mid next week, should have everything installed by then. I'm quietly confident we've got this one answered now. Hopefully no more surprises.

[Click_It]

Okay I'm back. The (mechanical) fuel pump just arrived so I have some work to do again.

I have a problem though, not quite sure how to get this off. There are 2 obvious screws and possibly a 3rd one around the corner of the block. If I understand correctly, the back part of the pump that goes into the block connects to the camshaft right? So do I have to pull the rocker cover off next? I guess that's not such a bad thing as the car had developed an ever-so-slight oil leak there anyway.

Any tips on how to proceed would be welcomed.

I do have a Festiva workshop manual but have misplaced it in our recent move, it's in a box somewhere. That would really help me out right about now.

[Click_It]

Nevermind, a mild tap with my rubber mallet brought the pump loose. 24 years sealed, it wouldn't budge without that.