1983 fuel pump issue

[Szames]

i have a 1983 spider and belive I am having I believe a fuel pump problem, and would like to know from more experienced owners if in fact it is. The car starts every time and runs for 10 seconds and cuts out. pressing on the gas just cuts it out quicker. When the key is turned on , no pump noises are heard. I would like to know could it be a simple fix like a fuse problem. or is it straight to a fuel pump replacment ???????

[So Cal Mark]

the pump shouldn't run with the key on, engine off. If the car starts, it means the pump is running. If it only runs for a few seconds, the engine is most likely just running on the cold start injector. I'd suggest you check out the FI troubleshooting manual and you're going to need a couple of tools for testing.

[rlux4]

You can download a couple of troubleshooting guides here:
http://www.wcmotors.com/personal/Fiat%2 ... agnostics/
and here:
http://www.angelfire.com/wa2/fits/index.html#ljetguide
Mark is right, if your car starts the fuel pump is running. It comes on when the flap in the air flow meter (AFM) opens, as air is drawn in on the intake stroke (cranking or running). Like he says, you're only running as long as the cold start injector is getting signal. You'll need to check why your main injectors aren't pulsing. A couple of usual suspects would be the wire from the coil to the ECU, or the two grounds at the rear, outboard side of the intake plenum if they were off for some reason and forgottent to be put back on. And go through the dual relay diagnostics in the guides from above to see if it's working OK.
Good luck, keep us posted.
Ron

[Szames]

You guys have been very helpful, stopped me from buying a new fuel pump immediately, as i was advised to do.

[Szames]

One other thing that happened prior ( and I don't know if it provides any further insight ), is the night before it was running fine and I had the heater on as it was a coolish night ( driving in Canada) and the heat stopped, fan still was running , but the heat stopped. Would this be a different problem or one asscociated ??

[So Cal Mark]

unless the engine stopped running at the same time, it's unrelated