xntryk1

New $10 fuel pump solved the problem. And the pretend mechanic gets the job done, once again - thanks to you guys helping me!

Thank you. Thought it sounded like hearsay. But at that point, I was grasping at straws. One last question, then I'll stop bugging you (for now). I've removed the old fuel pump from the bracket. Tomorrow, I'm going to try to connect it directly to my loose battery and see if it shows any life that way. If it still doesn't at that point, would it be safe to assume that it's dead?

Ha! Well, my old one's not that bad. Now that I've got it off the bracket, I'm going to try the direct battery connection test on it tomorrow just to see if there's difference. If it's still dead at that point, I've gotta believe it's most sincerely dead.

Is it true that pumps can die faster if you run the gas tank close to empty a lot (like I do)? I read that somewhere, which is another reason I suspected the pump.

Ha! Yeah, I'm pretty much committed to replacing the pump at this point. Just my luck, that won't be the problem. But I'm hoping it is, since I didn't get any life out of it with the direct connection to the battery. Anyway, thanks again for the response. I think I can deal with that.

I'm noticing that none of the generic pumps seems to have the thick rubber seat for the bottom of the pump that fits into the metal bracket. And the generic pumps don't seem like they will fit into the rubber seat that I've got. How to get around that?

Ha-ha! jonathan909! And thank you, GD! That's exactly what I'll do. I don't have much choice but to always go the cheapest possible route. And joila! It's out.

Definitely USPS. My mailbox is only a 1/4 mile away. I can walk that. Even though it's mostly uphill going, it is mostly downhill coming back.

That's what I was wondering, if it was safe to use WD-40. I'll try that (and the skinny screwdriver and pushing) after lunch. Thanks, again. EDIT: Oh, and that's another problem. I can't get anything delivered by UPS. They had a hard enough time negotiating my driveway when there wasn't a car blocking the turn-around spot. Now, it would be impossible for them and their big truck.

Ha! No such luck on the local parts source. But I will shop around for the best deal online and then wait impatiently until it gets here. That's IF I can even get this beast out of the gas tank! Any tips/tricks on removing a stubborn rubber fuel line? I've got everything else disconnected, but can't get the main (middle) fuel line off. I've twisted it with pliers and it does turn. But it's not wanting to pull off. And as you know, there's not much room to work with there. I'm just trying not to damage it and make matters worse...

Alrightee-then. Next step: yank the fuel pump and sending unit assembly and verify exactly what kind/size of new fuel pump I need. From what I've been reading/seeing, there are at least 2-3 possibilities. A couple different sizes and one with a plug connection and another with 2 post connections. Once I see which type/size I've got, I'll get that ordered and hopefully that will solve the problem. Then, I'll just wait around for the next old part to die. Thank you jonathan909 for your invaluable assistance!

Absolutely no sound from the fuel pump. Had good solid connections at both the battery and plug. And I verified that the new battery did in fact have a good charge (it did). So correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't that indicate a dead fuel pump in need of replacement?

Ha-ha! Look what I discovered in my little box of misc. electrical connectors. So back down I go...

Yeah, my problem is, I'm stuck at home - way out in the country - by myself. So I'm desperately trying to make do with what I've got on hand. Shopping for things isn't an option at the moment. Anyway, while I was pondering what to do about testing the fuel pump plug, I decided to go ahead and see if I could find the relay switch under the dash. OMG! Could they make that thing any more difficult to get at?? After removing the cover under the steering wheel. I finally found the green plug, tucked way up under the dash, behind all kinds of thick bundles of wiring. It's practically on the inner side of the left front wheel well!That's going to be whole 'nother challenge, if I have to end up replacing that.

Since it's a station wagon, the bottom of the back seat actually comes out fairly easy (after I get all the crap off it). As for yanking the entire fuel pump and sending unit assembly, I've already watched several videos about that and it does seem fairly easy (albeit messy). I'll probably have to resort to that if no other ideas are forthcoming. Here's a picture showing my attempt at attaching the smallest alligator clips I have to the plug. Managed to squeeze in the ground clip - flying blind. But there's simply not enough room to squeeze in the other one.

OK, finally got a chance to dive into this. First, the good news. I was able to verify that there is indeed a blue/yellow and black wire running into the plug. So those must be the ones that power the pump (on the left-hand side of the plug). But now I'm really wishing there WAS a Subaru junkyard next door, so I could find/use an old plug for a "pigtail" connector. Was hoping the plug worked the other way around, with the male end connected to the wires and the female end connected to the pump. But nooooooo (see pics). Since it's the other way around, I can't just plug paperclips into the holes and attach the battery to those (like I was planning). Instead, I'll need 2 tiny little plugs - which of course I don't have. Not to mention, it's almost impossible to see that end of the plug to make sure things get attached correctly. I can get my camera in there, but I can't get my head in there. So unless somebody has some ideas on how I can manage to attach the battery to the fuel pump without tiny little plugs, I'm back to my original question. Is there an easier way to do this? As I mentioned previously, I've read in a couple threads where people have stated that there is a "red wire" running under the back seat (to the fuel pump) and this is supposedly another place where you can splice in power. Before I yank everything out of the back seat (everything that used to be in the back of the car), does anyone know if this is true or not? Help!

Yep, I'm with you. Got that page printed out and your instructions noted. Now, I've just got to find a couple grabby clippy things. I don't do electronic stuff, but I do have a hoarder's tendency to hang onto lots of little items that may or may not come in handy. Pretty sure I should have something around that will work. Unfortunately, I'm trapped at home for the duration with no junk yard next door. Thank you! I'll report back after I get a chance to do it.

Got it. Thank you. FYI, my car isn't close to me. I couldn't get AAA to bring it all the way to my house because I've got a weird driveway. So I'll have to take notes and then go down and do the hands-on after lunch. Fire away!

Thank you, GD. I haven't gotten to the relay, yet. First, I'm trying to check the pump, to see if it will work with the relay bypassed. If it doesn't work that way, it's probably a good bet that the pump has died - correct? That's what I suspect because I've read certain threads that lead me to believe old pumps (like those with 220K miles on them) can get hot and burn out - especially if one has a tendency to run the gas tank close to empty too often. As I've been known to do. If the pump DOES work with the bypass, my next step was to check the relay. Not looking forward to that part, as I've read that it's a royal pain to get it out from under the dash.

Yes, it's a single connector at the fuel pump. With 6 pins I believe (from what I've read elsewhere, haven't actually yanked the plug yet to verify that). I don't suppose there's a handy-dandy free resource somewhere that has wiring diagrams? Also, in a couple threads I've read, people have stated that there is a "red wire" running under the back seat (to the fuel pump) and this is supposedly another place where you can apply power. Have you ever heard of that? Power-wise, I just bought a brand new battery that I haven't installed, yet. The old one was getting weak, so I wanted to have as much juice available as possible. I was thinking of using that (out of the vehicle) to apply power to the pump. Does that sound like a good idea or not?

Ha-ha! No, I can handle terms like "connector", "pin", "wire", and "positive". It's when we start getting into ohms, volts, resistance, etc. that I get lost. And no, I don't have a correct wiring diagram for my car. I'm hoping to keep things a lot simpler than that. When it starts getting into that stuff, I'll have to take it to a real mechanic. As for the locations to feed power to the fuel pump, the connector at the fuel pump is MUCH easier to access versus the relay stuffed way up under the dash. I'm saving that fun (relay) for after I determine whether the fuel pump works (or not) with a jumper wire. So let's say I try to feed power via the connector at the fuel pump. How would I do that?

3 days ago, my 1995 Subaru Legacy L station wagon conked out while leaving my house. After which, it refused to start up. Just cranks and cranks. Subsequent tests indicate that it is getting spark, but it's not getting fuel. There doesn't seem to be any clicking sound from the relay under the dash when turning the key. Also, no sound from the pump (I removed the outer cover, so I could hear it better). I suspect the relay has gone bad after 220k miles. But it could also be the pump (among other things, as always). I want to test the pump to see if it will run without going through the relay. I've read lots of things about hot-wiring pumps with a jumper wire between the battery and one of the wires going into the fuel pump. But I'm just not finding anything that says/shows exactly WHICH wire that might be and WHERE exactly it's located. Like it's common knowledge or something. But it's not to me. I'm not a real mechanic. I just pretend to be one, when necessary. Surely, somebody can tell me how to do this as easily as possible. Preferably without getting into electrical jargon that boggles my mind. Any help greatly appreciated, as always.

FINAL CHAPTER (I hope): Well, after months of the car starting just fine (after cleaning all the outside connections), it finally stopped starting altogether. No amount of cleaning would fix it. So I went ahead and yanked the starter and replaced the contacts inside the solenoid. I was going to replace the plunger too, but naturally the cheap-o set of parts I got on eBay included the WRONG size plunger (too short)! Too late to anything about it, so I just shined up the old plunger (which thankfully wasn't too worn) and re-used that. Once I got the old copper contacts out, it was obvious why the car refused to start. One side was was worn down to almost to razor thin and the other side about halfway (see pic). Put it all all back together and VROOOOM! Instant start, just like it's supposed to. Hopefully, I can get another 219K out of those contacts. :-)

Yeah, no worries. I've noticed he doesn't always have the correct answers. That's why I come here. But in this particular instance, his advice seemed harmless and actually worked! Thanks for the warning.

Follow-up on my starter problem. Got the plunger/contacts set from eBay and was all set and mentally prepared to go through the hassle of yanking the starter and rebuilding the solenoid. But then, in my never-ending search for easy ways out, I decided to try something else first. If that failed, I could still do the solenoid job. There's a guy on youtube - "MercedesDieselGuy - who uploads a lot of videos of work he does on his 1995 Subaru Legacy. In one of those videos, he talks about a starter job he was going to do (because of the same problems I was having). But he had trouble removing the starter, so he tried something else. He cleaned up the outside posts and wire connectors on the starter, put everything back together and the problem went away! So I tried the same thing. I wire-brushed both the posts on the starter and the wire connections thereto. I also completely cleaned the battery connections. And when I clamped everything back together securely, lo and behold, the car started right up. And it has started up every single time since them. It went from absolutely ZERO starting ability (requiring a bump start every single time) to normal starting on the first turn of the key! Now, at 215K, I'm sure that starter will probably still need to be rebuilt eventually. But this is something that's worth a try, first. I was shocked that it actually worked. I hardly ever get off that easy!