Fuel Pump Relay Jumper Wire | FerrariChat
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Fuel Pump Relay Jumper Wire

Discussion in '308/328' started by Hotzos, Apr 6, 2014.

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  1. Hotzos

    Hotzos Formula 3
    Owner Silver Subscribed

    Oct 19, 2004
    1,060
    Parker, Colorado
    Full Name:
    Mark Gomez
    #1 Hotzos, Apr 6, 2014
    I was driving home from Cars+Coffee in Boulder yesterday and saw some smoke coming from the fuse box area. I pulled the fuse box cover and the smoke was coming from where a fuel pump relay used to be? - 12 gauge wire between the center and left relay terminal.

    Is the jumper standard or did someone do a mod here? I can't find anything in the old invoices saying a mod was done.

    Looks like the strands had broken and a few strands were carrying all the current -- hence the melt down started happening.

    Fortunately, there was a hardware store close by when it happened. I made a new jumper with new eyelet ends and drove home -- 30+miles. All is fine. I drove a little more later in the day -- no issues and the area where the wire started melting is not even hot.

    Anyone can shed some light here?

    (By the way, i have Birdman's fuse box and that area looks like a new as when i replaced it a couple years back.)

    thanks
    hotzos
     
  2. singletrack

    singletrack F1 Veteran

    Mar 16, 2011
    5,769
    Pittsburgh, PA
    #2 singletrack, Apr 7, 2014
    I have no jumpers in my relays...take a pic. Sounds like someone maybe did a quick fix in the past? All the relays are available still online. Should be plenty of info here via search.
     
  3. Hotzos

    Hotzos Formula 3
    Owner Silver Subscribed

    Oct 19, 2004
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    Parker, Colorado
    Full Name:
    Mark Gomez
    #3 Hotzos, Apr 7, 2014
    Mine is an 83 QV -- wonder if there was a difference in that configuration.
     
  4. singletrack

    singletrack F1 Veteran

    Mar 16, 2011
    5,769
    Pittsburgh, PA
    #4 singletrack, Apr 7, 2014
    Do you have the manual? My 78 has a fold-out wiring diagram which shows everything. The diagrams, in an awesome format, are also available here: Paul Bennett

    I checked for you on the 83 QV US. Looks like the Fuel Pump Relay has the following connections:

    1. Yellow with red stripes - connects to starter relay
    2. Orange - connects to fuel pump
    3. Orange - warm up regulator
    4. Black - Ground
    5. Orange - "C" fuse which I believe is the third from the left when staring at the fuses

    Hope that helps!
     
  5. Wilson308

    Wilson308 Formula Junior

    Apr 27, 2012
    635
    Arkansas, USA
    Full Name:
    Wilson
    #5 Wilson308, Apr 7, 2014
    Definitely supposed to be a relay there. People often jumper'ed the fuse because it would melt or blow out from the high current and poor connections. I wouldn't be surprised if the same sometimes happened for the relay.
     
  6. Ehamilton

    Ehamilton F1 Rookie
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    Jun 13, 2010
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    Durham, NC; USA
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    Eric Hamilton
    #6 Ehamilton, Apr 8, 2014
    Does your fuel pump run when the ignition key is the run position but the engine is not running? One of the more important things that the fuel pump relay does is make it so that the fuel pump is only pumping fuel when the motor is either running or cranking to start - but not when the ignition is on and the motor isn't running because a fuel line has ruptured and the car is on fire.
     
  7. Hotzos

    Hotzos Formula 3
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    Oct 19, 2004
    1,060
    Parker, Colorado
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    Mark Gomez
    #7 Hotzos, Apr 18, 2014
    Thanks for all the help guys. I finally ordered the relay. Installed it and things are running as expected. So, i am guessing one of the previous owners installed the jumper wire when the relay went bad on him?

    Regardless, wondering if should just replace all the relays at this point as a preventive measure?

    thanks
     
  8. Ehamilton

    Ehamilton F1 Rookie
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    Jun 13, 2010
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    Eric Hamilton
    #8 Ehamilton, Apr 18, 2014
    The other relays don't generally see the same current levels that the fuel pump relay sees, and they're also fairly simple and fairly tough little creatures.... so no particular reason to replace them if they're working. Probably the best thing you can do for them is to thoroughly clean the pins and add a bit of dielectric grease - corrosion means resistance means heat, and heat kills stuff. Cleaning up the grounds is also a good thing, and there's a lot to be said for one of Birdman's fuse panel updates.

    There's no Ferrari red magic in the relays, they're the same as in just about every single car of that era, available anywhere and dirt cheap.
     

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