Oldsfan

Can someone here tell me which relay is the one for the fuel pump on a 1995ish Olds 98? Bonnevilles/LeSabres/Park Aves are the same, I'm sure. There is an underhood electrical center along the firewall. Removing the lid is supposed to reveal a schematic telling you what is where. My schematic is not there. GM parts catalog and shop manual seem to be no help. I would really like to check the relay before I go to the trouble and expense of replacing the pump. Looking online is not turning up what I need to know.

Thanks.

Olds64

It's worth a Google.

Oldsfan

I tried that. That is not what my relay center looks like. When I Googled I was getting crap for stuff from Buick Centurys to Bentleys. I found one image that looked like what I had and did didn't call out the fuel pump relay.

Olds64

Does your car run? If so, the fuel pump relay is working because it energizes the fuel pump. You should hear the fuel pump energize when you turn the key to the run position.

Oldsfan

Crank - no start. Pump cannot be heard when the key is turned to run. Tech tried beating on the tank while cranking. Still no start. Before I drop the tank and spend the money (and most likely break other stuff) to replace the pump, I would like to make sure that I don't have a relay (or a fuse) problem.

Olds64

Well, remove a known good relay and swap it into each relay position one at a time until you hear the pump energize. If your blower motor energizes with the key in the run position I would use that one. Most of the time the relays are all the same. You can double check by removing the good relay and comparing the spade connectors with each one you pull.

Oldsfan

...and if the pump is dead, I will have gone through all that switching around for naught. At least I'll know for sure the pump is dead, but I'd rather find the correct relay position and go right to it. It's a little bit like one-goes-out-they-all-go-out Christmas lights...

Allan R

what is 1995 ish?? The relay center can vary from year to year and from brand to brand. You need to know what model year you have. That's easy to do if you look up your VIN

Oldsfan

It is a 1995. I said "ish" because I figured it would probably be the same a year or two up or down the line. As it turns out, this "power distribution fuse block" was used on:

'91 to '99 98s and 88s
'91 to '05 Electras, Park Avenues and LeSabres
'92 to '99 Bonnevilles
and various '91 to '02 Cadillac models.

That, of course, does not mean that the the fuel pump relay is located at the same spot on all of these models, but they probably are give or take a year or two.

I just thought someone might own one of these, with the schematic intact, and be able to enlighten me as to where the fuel pump relay might be located.

Allan R

Used to own a 95 Regency Elite with every option on the list. I still have the owners Manual but it's no help. Do you have a local boneyard with any of those cars in stock? If so that might yield quicker results, short of buying a service manual - which is always a good idea for troubleshooting these cars.

Oldsfan

You are correct - the owners manual is no help. I work for a dealership and absconded with a service manual from the archives. This electrical center is listed in the index. When you go to the indicated page there is nothing there that has anything to do with this electrical center. I think when you look up the pump relay in the index it refers to the electrical center. I'm foggy - it's been a month since I looked it. I got disgusted and threw it in the trunk...

I don't know how the techs work on these things. Nowadays manuals are online through GM Global Connect - and they aren't any better...

jcdynamic88

this is located in the right kick panel,not under the hood. also,a very common problem on that vintage/model is the ground distribution in the drivers sill area.usually the power windows don't work at the same time the pump doesn't run.jc

Allan R

I remember having to replace the auto dim resistor and ac programmer. I took the car into a dealer. They spent 2 hours tech time researching the auto headlight resistor which is basically the photocell on the dash by the sun load sensor. 2 hours and they couldn't figure it out. Found the answer here on this site and got a replacement part at the boneyard, plus found out how the dash comes out without damaging my OEM. Cost? Zero. Boneyard staff looked at the resistor and said "have a nice day".
On more complex electrical like the programmer compensator unit, I found that I needed year specific parts to talk with the cars electronics. My car had the digital dash and automatic AC, so different year programmers would rest to the base year of manufacturing. That was a nice car, but sometimes a PITA to troubleshoot.
I still think your best bet is to check the boneyard so and go look under a load center lid for the schematic.

Oldsfan

One of my co-workers has verified that it needs a pump. He found the correct relay, swapped it with another one. Both relays click when turned to run, but pump no run. He also verified current through the fuse, naturally, because the relays click.

Car starts with starting fluid.

So, a pump it is...

Allan R

At least you'll have a lift so you can get under the car to drop the tank. I don't remember if that year has an anti siphon check ball in the filler spout tube to tank. Hopefully it doesn't have a lot of fuel in it. Normal procedure is to disconnect the fuel filter and jumper the fuel pump to drain the tank. Remember to replace the fuel filter when the new pump goes in.

Oldsfan

I have now seen the error of my ways.

Had I gone to the index in the GM service manual (Book 2 for electrical diagnosis) and looked under "relay" I would have been directed to Section 8A - Subsection 11. There I would have seen the diagram (provided for me above) showing the fuel pump relay in position N, but no indication of where the relay center was located, other than that 8A-11 deals with I/P fuse block/relay center details. Obviously implying I/P relay center.

Had I for some reason turned back a few pages to Section 8A - Subsection 10 (power distribution), page 9, then I would have found a component locator (not shown in the index). This component locator would have directed me to an illustration of the relay center in Section 8A-201, figure #63.

I would have then known I needed to go up in the passenger side of the dash for this relay. I thought that was just another fuse block. And you've got to unscrew some fasteners to get to it, not open a door like on the driver side.

Somehow I got twisted around into thinking that the relay was in the power distribution block under the hood. I might have gotten that impression from the owners manual.

What was I thinking???