shiloh51933

iTrader: (5)

Today my fuel pump fuse blew 2 minutes after she was started. As of lately she has been rough starting but I thought that was due to bad exhaust problems/bad O2 sensor. I just recieved all the parts finally 2 do the entire exhaust and now this fuuckin' shiit has 2 happen!!! I'm wondering if the FP is soo worn that the extra power it's trying to get 2 start is causing the fuses 2 pop. The FP relay is good and the wiring to the FP/ECU looks good. If anyone has any ideas/suggestions where I should look I'd appreciate the help.

shiloh51933

iTrader: (5)

I guess I can't get any feed back around here or nobody posseses the knowledge to give a helping hand. I can probably figure it out but I like a heads up if it's something common w/these Max's that goes wrong and causes the fuses to pop. I figure the pump is getting old/worn and this is causing the pump to pull more power to get going, then that causes the fuse to pop because of to much voltage. I put in a 20 amp fuse and it works but I don't want to run her with the wrong fuse(10 amp), appreciate any suggestions.

Greeny

iTrader: (43)

Look at the fuel pump harness connector and all surrounding wiring at the fuel pump...


http://forums.maxima.org/3rd-generat...p-problem.html

shiloh51933

iTrader: (5)

Thanks Greeny, I will look into the wiring by fuel pump harness connector and all it's surrounding wiring today. Yeah it's kinda weird but I've done this in the past w/other auto's, putting higher amp fuse in. This works but just to find the problem and repair, not 2 drive around with. I really don't like putting in the wrong fuse, you could really fuuuck things up!!!. Thanks again my dude.

Augustus Maximus

iTrader: (6)

I think I got a nice pump and sending unit sitting around somewhere.

ColombianMax

iTrader: (7)

Dude, you obviously see how dead the 3rd gen forum has become in the past year or two. You didnt even give the thread 13 hours (specially since it was overnight) before you're complaining that no one helps or knows.

I agree with what Greeny said btw

shiloh51933

iTrader: (5)

Yeah the 3rd gen forum is fuuckin' dead and yeah I'm fuuckin' inpatient!!! When i go on the 4th for my 4th gen I get quick answers and the Volvo forum I visit for my Volvo is light speed compared to the 3rd gen here.

shiloh51933

iTrader: (5)

Is it new and how much ? I can FP's starting at 20 bucks on ebay and for 49 all the components and free ship/handling, so if you can do better then maybe we can work something out.

Augustus Maximus

iTrader: (6)

I'll send you a pic...it ain't corroded.

chrome91

iTrader: (1)

because 4th gens have 50x the aftermarket of 3rd gens hence theyre more popular, 3rd gens you cant get new CF hoods or altezzas, 4th gens theres dozens of options.

ColombianMax

iTrader: (7)

fawk ya!!! altezzas!!! WOOOO I'm gonna go order some!!!!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

you guys think these will go with my rims and paint color?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/95-96...ht_5637wt_1165

stevesmax

Have you tried more than one fuse? Does the new fuse pop too? You dont mention this.

If you have tried multiple fuses that keep popping then there is an issue somewhere. If you havent, then fuses dont last forever, so maybe it was this particular fuses time to go to the big fuse heaven in the sky....lol

I have never heard of fuel pumps playing up, so as far as I know, there isnt a built in issue like the trans or clock display issue.

Hectic

iTrader: (20)

Either your FUEL pump, not "mule hump" (or whatever you said) is dead, and trying it's damnedest to pump FUEL. Opposed to "yule" (or whatever you said), and drawing too much current. Or you have a short somewhere in the circuit. Find FSM, look at correct specs and test. Or just try another FUEL pump and see if the same **** happens.

chrome91

iTrader: (1)

as fugly as they are, at least you can get them for 4th gens lol

didnt somebody make a batch of 3rd gen ones years ago? i thought someone did around 2003 or 2004

shiloh51933

iTrader: (5)

I thought I mentioned the 10 amp fuses keep popping but I put a 20 amp fuse and it held like I thought, I figure the FP is worn drawing more power to start her up, hence the 10 amp fuses popping. Havn't heard the FP's playing up is what I was looking 4, so either it's bad wiring, which it's not or like I don't want it to be, the FP is popping the fuses.

shiloh51933

iTrader: (5)

The fuel pump works fine w/20 amp fuse, when fuel pumps get old/worn sometimes they drain more power to start.

shiloh51933

iTrader: (5)

My 3rd gen is my biotch and wouldn't trade her for a 4th gen, I'm w/yah that since the 3rd's are older it's getting real hard to find shiit for them. My wife has a 4th gen SE and it's a good car cause it's a Nissan Maxima but I like the 3rd gen body better.

Hectic

iTrader: (20)

Exactly, but 10-20a is far too much draw. There's nothing else on that circuit, so if anything under a 20a fuse doesn't hold, you're probably going to want to fix the problem. Stock fuse ratings usually factor in a large buffer. The pump isn't supposed to draw 10a. I'm guessing a healthy pump should pull around a couple amps.

shiloh51933

iTrader: (5)

Yeah I'm ordering another pump in a minute, that's how I test to see if a FP is on it's way out, all the wiring/harness is good, fuse block good, relay good, so it's gotta be the FP. Good look with your knowledge.

bigmax90

comon maan!! We're classics...appreciate!

shiloh51933

iTrader: (5)

I think your misunderstanding my quote, I love my 3rd gen, the 3rd gen forum is shot, your 3rdgen is nice.

Porky

If I were you I would not fiddle around with those fuses for the fuel pump. Putting a bigger one in than the OEM could potentially explode your car, along with you in it.

Here's Why:

If you read the link provided, that was in fact the source of the short. The short occured directly on the cap of the fuel sender unit where those little plastic terminals are. Inside the plastic cap, the rubber grommet wore out and the wire was touching the metal of the sender unit cap, thus shorting.

After subsequent testing, I notice during one test the wire heated up so hot from the short that it actually de-soldered itself from the top of the sender unit. If you put in a bigger than factory fuse, you run the risk of the wire heating up so much (because the battery keeps supplying it even more) that it COULD potentially ignite the gas, if the short is exposed to the gas in the inside (not impossible). Someone told me the gas would probably not ignite because there is no open flame, however it's possible a short COULD maybe cause a spark, I don't know. I'm just guessing here, but the idea of it is something I wouldn't take a chance on.

My wire got smoking hot, smoke was coming out and it was hot enough to de-solder itself. It started smoking as soon as the key was put in ON position but not start. The fuel pump would turn on then the smoking started then the fuse would blow then the smoking calmed down. This happened when the short got so bad I think the wire was stuck on the sender unit. In the past it's possible it would just brush the metal causing the intermittent short...maybe due to moisture who knows.

That said, the short was one of those wires to the fuel pump, the RED wire, fixed the problem and car runs fine.

Be careful.

Porky

Not necessarily. You could be getting the same short as I got. My car lasted over a yr with the short, it progressively got worse. Sometimes the problem would go away for months, maybe half a yr.

A fuel pump in even old working condition would drain so much that it would blow a fuse? I find that hard to believe. With proper wiring hence a clean path, I can't see how the stock fuse couldn't handle any draw of a working pump. The amount of draw your talking about could be a smoking hot wire - or soon to be, not a weak pump. Check your codes too, it may show "FUEL PUMP CIRCUIT" like mine did.

One thing I'll say is don't **** around with the fuel tank. When I was working on it and doing all those tests the tank was open and full of gas. I thought about draining it, but I didn't have a pump to get it out, so I worked carefully around it. When you remove that sender unit be careful you don't create any sparks when the 'portal of death' is open to the air. I covered it with some glad cling wrap then a small square piece of wood to block it.

Augustus Maximus

iTrader: (6)

I looked at my fuel pump and sending unit. It looked old and corroded, so I threw it in the garbage. No point in waiting for it to (1) fail (2) blow up the car.

shiloh51933

iTrader: (5)

Installing the higher amp fuse was only 2 test a theory, I wasn't planning on keeping the wrong fuse in. I already installed a new FP and I'm doing my starter today. Hopefully this is it for a while, I've been replacing everything I can cause my Max just hit 150 thou and that's when a lot of the external motor components start to fail.
By the way thanks for all your advice but no worries though, I've done many fuel electronic fuel pumps/fuel tank removals. I worked in the automotive industry for some time b4 I got into the electrical industry but I'm always open to suggestions from others, that's why I come to this site. So far everything looks good since I installed the new FP.