'87 560SL Fuel Pump Relay Woes

[Grantorino]

Hi All,

The saga continues. I was replaced a bunch of old looking fuses with new ones because I thought it would be a good idea. When I had finished replacing about half of them I tried to start the car and it wouldn't fire. I noticed I no longer was hearing the fuel pumps prime when I turned the key. As I understand it, there's no fuse related to the fuel pump relay, so I figured the relay must have just gone bad.

I have a new one on the way, but I can't for the life of me get the old one out. I've removed the glove box, but no matter how much I wiggle on the idle relay (the one in front of the fpr) I can't get it out so that I can get to the FPR. The seem to be pretty well stuck.

First, can anyone think of what might have happened to the make the FPR spontaneously fail that would have been related to me messing with the fuses?

Second, does anyone have any tips for getting the idle relay and FPR out?

Thanks much!
George

[Stretch]

It sometimes feels like cars know you are giving them attention - it is like they have been struggling along for years - they realise you doing something to one bit and just let an another bit fall off or stop working (!)

I know it seems that way - sometimes you can work out what has happened - other times you just have to carry on with your fault finding.

Those relays can get stuck - the best way is to hole the block into which they fit as you pull the relay out / try to pull the relay out.

As for fuses - well they are a bit tricky especially when they get corroded. Try cleaning them up with a contact cleaner and refit. Avoid excessive mechanical cleaning as the coating on the fuse holders is easy to damage.
You can easily "fix" the connection by scraping away but then the corrosion comes back with a vengeance because the protective coating is gone. (So not a fix after all)

I too had one of those what the heck moments with my W201 where the fuel pump stopped after I changed a fuel pipe at the engine (or something like that). It was just coincidence that the fuel pump died drawing too much current - killing the fuel relay too.

If you remove the cover from the fuel pump relay - yes yes I know you're not there yet - you might see a blown bit of circuit board which is fairly easy to solder across (I took mine to an electronics repair shop cos I'm not really at one with electrickery) - this might work out to be cheaper than a replacement relay.

Again once you have the relays out - clean with contact cleaner and they come out a bit more easily next time