fuel pump relay 1994 325i

[redpoint]

hope someone can figure this out. car would turn over but wouldnt start. probably fuel pump issue. towed it home. started once then not again. fuel pump fuse #18 is ok. took out relay and jumper wire slots 30 and 87 and pump starts. wait 10 seconds to load fuel but then car still wont start with the jumper wire in the slots and the pump running. Question 1) :doesnt this indicate that the relay is bad? Q.2) should the car start with the jumper wire in place of the relay? old post in archives says the car should start with jumper wire in place of the relay. if so what are the other two slots for in the realy circuit? Note: I took relay (with same slots)out of 84 533i parts car I have and plugged it in but pump doesnt run. Not sure if that relay is good or not but I think it is. WHAT AM I MISSING???

[Jeron]

Does the fuel pump start with the original relay in place?
Why are you so sure it is the relay or pump? Can you check the fuel pressure?

What about fuel filter or injectors? What about the ignition system?

[redpoint]

thanks for the reply, I am getting spark. could be fuel filter. i havent checked pressure yet. if it is a pressure issue do i start by replacing the filter. i bought one from bav auto, just haven't wanted to do that job yet. probably will this weekend, during the day. it gets dark here before i get home. so the weekend is the best time to work on the car. again thanks for your reply

[Jeron]

You probably need a filter anyway and it would be great to eliminate it as a cause.

Here are my filter replacement notes. Not that it is hard but I was able to do it without spilling adrop of gas. The intructions refer to the tools I used but you may use different hose clamps for example. Also Pelican may have a Tech article on filter replacement.

Fuel Filter Replacement E36

Remove the filter shield. An 8mm long socket works best, especially on the funny shaped nuts.

Using a Phillips unscrew the multi-line bracket holding the fuel lines on the pump side of the filter.

Pull the filter line and the adjacent line from the plastic clips that were exposed after removing the clip in the last step. Use two small flat heads and after you loosen then slide the screwdriver under them to keep them from going back into the plastic clips.

Unclip the adjacent line from the plastic clip on the side of the fuel filter retention bracket.

You should now be able to get to the fuel filter bracket nut with a 10mm socket. Remove the nut and completely remove the fuel filter bracket.

Loosen both filter worm clamps using a flat head or 5mm socket and slide the clamps far away from the filter.

Prepare medium sized vice-grips with the teeth, but not the very tip, wrapped in duct tape and set to close with the tips not quite touching.

Use a small 1" c-clamp to pinch the hose on the engine side of the filter. Clamp the hose far away at approximately the first bend from the filter.

Place a small ½ gallon bucket under the filter.

With the vice grips at the ready, twist and pull the pump side hose from the filter but do not pull it off completely. Look at the new filter to get an idea how far you can side the hose without removing it.

Make sure the bucket is positioned to catch the filter as it swings down.

Put the vice-grips on the hose just past the filter inlet and clamp the vice grips down. The may cause the filter to pop off or you may have to pull the hose off the filter as you clamp down. The filter should fall into the bucket if you drop it. You may spill a little gas on you at this step.

Now the filter should be sitting in the bucket draining with the engine side hose still attached. No need to wait for the filter to drain.

Since your have the c-clamp on the engine side hose you can now easily remove the engine side hose from the filter.

Put the new filter on the engine side hose. Make sure you note the flow markings on the filter. The flow should be toward the engine.

Put the inlet hose on the new filter. You may have to release the vice-grips as you slide the inlet hose on.

Make sure the hoses are slide al the way onto the filter then slide the hose clamps down into place and secure them.

Replace the filter bracket, re-clip the lines into the multi-line bracket, replace the multi-line bracket cover, re-clip the line onto the filter bracket.

Replace the filter shield.