Not even when being jumped.

First:, hi, I'm a noob, and not much of a wrencher, but trying to learn.

This started strangely: car would get stuck in park and not turn over, despite seeming to have plenty of battery. I thought fuel delivery, but it would start and run normally when jumped. It would also start normally on the first attempt each day, but not again after that. I read that low battery voltage was the likely problem, and my battery tested low, so I replaced it, but no change.

Now, the car won't start even when jumped, and even when the transmission is not stuck in park. Makes me go back to fuel delivery problem. Where should I start - the fuel pump relay?

Any replies greatly appreciated

 

the transmission is possibly getting stuck in part because the battery connection is bad so the solenoid isn't allowing the car to switch out of park, there should be a way to override the shifter by pushing in a pin on the shifter assembly after taking off the cover tab

how do the battery connections look ?

 

Thanks for the reply. I can manually override the shifter being stuck in park, but doing so still doesn't result in the car turning over.

I will check the battery connections and clean if needed. In the meantime, I pulled the fuel pump relay to check to see if any of the solders are bad.

 

Bought a new main relay, cleaned the terminals and connectors...no dice. Still won't turn over, even when being jumped. Either the fuel pump isn't getting power, or the pump itself is dead?

 

Have you check for fuel pressure?

 

Thanks for the reply. This may be a very dumb question, but the car has to be running to check fuel pressure, doesn't it?

 

No, turning the key a couple times builds up pressure in the fuel rail. If you have someone else turn the key back and forth. You maybe able to hear the pump prime if you put the back seats down.

 

Ah okay, thanks, I will try that.

 

I could not hear the pump prime when the key was turned. I checked the harness with a circuit tester, and power is getting to the pump. So would this point to the pump itself being dead?

 

By the way, this is what I found when I removed the cover to the fuel pump well (which is sealed with a gasket). I can only assume a squirrel found access from the undercarriage, because these acorns have clearly been gnawed on.

 

The wires don't looked like they were gnawed on. If you're getting 12v to the pump and not getting fuel then its the pump.

 

Thanks, seems like we're getting to the bottom of it. Going to replace pump today. I'd like to be able to check for pulse at the injectors, but nobody is around to crank it for me. But I'm hoping that since there is power at the pump, the relay is good.

 

Replaced the pump. Absolutely no difference.

 

Scan for codes. Check for spark. Check for fuel.

 

Thanks, I'm on that today.

 

The distributor turns/fires when car is cranked, and there is spark at the spark plugs. Also I can hear the fuel pump prime when the key is turned to on. I was interrupted by storms, but going to check for fuel pressure when they clear.