Rage81

Hello, I thought I might take a chance and post this little issue on here in hopes for a bit of guidance.

First a bit about the car...

My soon to be wife and I are the recently new proud owners of a 1981 Honda Accord LX Hatchback which we purchased for $350 dollars from a man who had it stored in a barn for the last 10 years. Cosmetically the paint needs redone of course and the is "some" damage to the driver's side rear but nothing that wouldn't be too hard to repair. Some surface rust here and there but no place is actually rusted through at all. Not even the rockers or fender wells, they are all perfect. The trunk floor still looks brand new, paint and all if that says anything. The under body was coated at some point. I do not know if that was factory ordered or not but it looks beautiful down there. Interior is incredible aside from needing a serious reupholster job on the seats. The dash is perfect. The door trim and headliner intact...

Honda really knew what they were doing when they built these. It's been enough to make me a fan! It's fun to drive, Great on gas and believe it or not we've had many people ask us about this car! Some offered to buy it, one chased us through town to ask if he could check it out because it was the second car he'd ever owned, even the very same year! We had even had a local police officer stop to ask us about the car while we were filling up at the gas station last week! It definitely gets attention!

Until now, we've had it running nearly perfect without a problem for well over 1,000 miles with the exception of needing a rebuilt carb. (idles a bit high and takes a bit extra to start)

Today out of the blue we started popping the Regulator / Fuel Pump fuse repeatedly! First time at 60 miles per hour on the highway...second while cruising 5 - 10 through a parking lot. Third while reversing to leave a parking lot. Fourth while reversing into OUR home parking spot. LOL

Now, just a bit ago I went out and tested something. I started the car, pulled it forward gently and then backed into the parking spot again like I would do normally and sure enough the fuse blew again.

I replaced the fuse then turned the key to the on position and it blew that time immediately!

I then disconnected the voltage regulator and turned the key to on...blew again.

Next I reconnected the voltage regulator and disconnected the fuel pump. Turned the key and this time the fuse held. It did NOT blow.

Reconnected the fuel pump, actually started the car....cautiously pulled it forward and it popped while parking in reverse again as I would do normally.

Couple things to note....

I HAVE noticed the last two weeks or so the fuel pump seems to have gotten louder with it's ticking sound AND has been ticking much faster as well upon start up. It has also been taking longer for that sound to quiet down and slower itself after being started as well.

Another point to mention. The last few days between running 60 and 65, a few minutes into that speed and the engine started to bog down badly. I initially assumed it was more trouble from the carb but now not so sure. Once we slowed a bit, the engine ran fine as before.

Opinions anyone?

Sound like the fuel pump is the culprit here? Just confusing me because normally if they go bad they just quit rather than mislead in this fashion.

Advice would be appreciated as I do not want to order a part that is going to take days to get here just to find out it's the wrong one. LOL

Thank You In Advance

realred96

Bypass the the fuel cut relay (look at the Haynes manual, it is in the fuse box) and see if that solves the problem. You may also have a loose or bare wire around the fuel pump that is shorting intermittently. You are correct, the pumps either work or they don't.

Try that and report back. I have the manual on that model but I am really tired and don;t feel like walking over to get it!

Rage81

I will do that tomorrow. I can say as it stands at the moment, I have yet to find any wiring issues on this car amazingly. Everything in that regard seems to be in pretty good shape. The wiring to the fuel pump in particular (as I checked it over when I disconnected it) looked excellent. Most of the wiring on this car is even still flexible. Not rotted out, cracking and falling apart like you would normally expect to find.
I am however still debating right now on that pump. Considering it's sat for 10 years with old fuel.....pretty sure it's not tip top either way.
Again though, I will attempt that recommendation tomorrow.

Rage81

Oh also, forgot to mention, I did pop the cover off the regulator and it looks absolutely brand new in there. No dirt, no burn marks, no rust, nothing. This car only had 51,000 original miles on it when we got it.

Rage81

Ok I jumped the relay as suggested (per instruction in the manual) and POP. As soon as the key was turned on it blew. I've rechecked the wiring to the pump and all looks good.

realred96

Oh man, bummer. Ok, see if you have a direct short in pump. Get and ohmmeter and check the pump for continuity to ground.

Rockauto.com has those pumps pretty cheap.

Sounds like are really nice car. I'm glad nobody had butchered up the wiring.

You may also see if there is power to to pump on the lead at the pump. If there is consistent power then you may well have a bad pump. I guess 30 years is a good run.

GrumpyOne

Since the mechanics/electrics of these cars are "old school," I would consider the possibility of plugged gas lines from the old fuel. Even gas from ten years ago was better than the stuff you're forced to buy these days, ten years of storage can take its toll.

You could temporarily connect a separate switched wire to operate the fuel pump manually for a couple of days. If it works that way, you have a wiring issue. If it doesn't, it's probably the fuel pump.

One separate concern... The brake flex lines should be changed as they go bad mostly due to age and an '81 vehicle is old and is overdue for replacement of these items. They usually don't fail outright but swell up thus cutting off the flow of brake fluid.

HTH

GrumpyOne

Looks to me that the fuel pump is kaput. Probably due to a clogged fuel filter from the car's long sleep. Get a new pump as they are relatively cheap and be sure to change ALL fuel filters. Electric pumps virtually require a filter between it and the fuel tank plus replace the fuel filter under the hood..

Dex3121

Did you ever find the solution to this problem?

I've got a 81 honda accord sedan and every time I crank the engine, the fuel pump fuse pops.

The relay looks good, no burn marks. I've changed the filter and fuel pump. Tried shorting the fuel pump with relay removed, the fuse still pops.

Thinking I have a short in the wiring somewhere but don't know where to begin looking.