One for the archives: My fuel pump relay "clicks" a lot, and searching the archives, I found this is pretty common. I would get some clicking sometimes at start up, and also sometimes when letting off the gas pedal. I cleaned the fuel pump ground, the relay and connection, and soldered all the connections on my fuse boxes, as well as cleaning all contacts. These actions did help some, but the annoying clicking would still show up sometimes. The fix- removed engine to frame ground strap (quite disgusting), cleaned it all up, and sanded/polished the mating surfaces, reinstalled. No more clicking fuel pump relay.
Interesting - I have a lot of fuel pump relay clicking and have not found the cause. I'll have to check it out. Where is the engine ground strap located? And thanks for posting this!
so I found some old threads that indicated the ground strap is located on the right hand side andI took a look this morning but didn't spot it. Can anyone help with a more exact location description, maybe in relation to the air filter box? Is it only accessible/visible from the underneath or should I see it from above? And lastly, a really basic question - when I do find it and go to clean it up, should the battery be disconnected or am I fine so long as the car is off? Thanks!!
It's on the crossmember, right rear corner facing the front of the car, attached to the gearbox. Kind of hard to spot until you are under there. No need to disconnect battery.
I have found this thread because I googled for a solution for the clicking of my fuelpump relay. Just yesterday I have cleaned the ground strap, polished everything but no result :-( If I wire the fuelpump directly to the battery, the clicking is gone. The curent over the fuelpumpfuse is 10 to 12 A. It seems high to me.. The fuse gets warm after a while and I think that is the moment the relay starts clicking. If I make a wireconnection over the fuse, the clicking is not gone. So, the fuse(box) is not the cause. My conclusion was that it must be in the airflowsensor that commands the fuelpumprelay. Correct conclusion? No idea why the current to the pump is so high. Any ideas? I have measured the flow through the pump and the pressure and that is within specs. The high current and the clicking could be two different failures, but they can also be realted. Though problem ;-) regards, Bart from Belgium
No, that's sort of normal (and one of the disadvantages to the Bosch CIS system). IME, a new (tight) CIS fuel pump draws 10~11A current, and a used, but still working well, one about 9~10A current. Your maximum 12A value is getting a little high-ish, but it's not crazy. The high current is why it is so vitally important to have really good connections between the rivets-plates and between the plates-fuse ends in the fusebox on your model, because the I^2*R heating gets huge even for very small values of R. If your relays are clicking when the engine is running = a problem that needs to be fixed. If your relays are clicking only during starter motor cranking = not really a problem as long as the engine starts well.
it never hurts to replace the relays themselves with new ones of the correct ratings. You never know what others may have done in the past. There is a connector under the panel in the passenger foot well as well that should be checked. Mine was getting burnt so I ended up hard wiring that connection and eliminating the connector altogether. It was the two wire connector (iirc, its 144 on the fuel injection wiring diagram for my 328)
I have replaced the relay with another one but no effect. I have also checked and cleaned the connections but don't remember to have seen one like this. I will look for it this evening. Steve, Seems to me that my fuelpump is still working well but that you indicate that it is getting old and a replacement should be considered. Correct? regards, Bart
Did you clean the fuel pump ground connection? I'd guess there is a questionable connection somewhere in the circuit. Changed the fuel filter?
Yes, made a new ground connection, cleaned the other one, changed the filter, new line between filter and accumulator. I doubt between a bad connection or a bad airflowsensor. mvg Bart
Not necessarily. I'm not so sure that these high current meters are all that accurate, and a tight, new pump is in the same ballpark current-wise. Unless you've already made other modifications, I'd suggest that you solder the rivets and various metal plates together at each end of the fuel pump fuse and on both sides of the fuseblock so there's a better electrical connection -- that will minimize the heating. Here is an example: Image Unavailable, Please Login As long as the fuel pump runs quietly and well, I'd measure the current occasionally with the same test gear and only get really concerned (and do a preemptive replacement) if it was increasing 12~13~14 -- JMO...
Steve, I have tested the fuseboxconnection like the photo indicates. The relay was still clicking. So it seems to me that the fusebox is not the cause. A birdmann fusebox is on my 'to do' list however. I also tried to find a 328 wirediagram to see whitch connector 144 I should look for but did not find it. Can someone give more specific details where to find it? A photo would be great help. Thanks. regards Bart Image Unavailable, Please Login
There is no relationship between the unwanted heat at the fuel pump fuse and the relays clicking -- I suggested that you solder those connections (or make other improvements) only to reduce the unwanted heat at the fuel pump fuse.
look at this thread... http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=164315 Post 13 has some photos.
The fusebox of a 308 QV is different. No connectors. Wires are connected to the fuses directly. Steve, misunderstood it. I have measured the resistance of the air flow sensor. It stays 0 Ohm, motor warm and running or warm and not running with contact on. Seems not correct to me. Try to find more info tomorrow. regards Bart
Something wrong with the air flow sensor I have done some accurate measurements: Cold motor, not running resistance between the conections of the blue connector is 0.6 Ohm Cold motor and running it is infinite Motor warming up and running it drops back to 3.7 Ohm. Should stay infinite it seems. I think the relays starts clicking at that moment. It does not click when the engine is cold and running. When I remove the air filter and press the airplate a little (almost nothing), the resistance is again infinite. Suggestions? Is it a switch that can be replaced? I have not found a picture of it jet. regards, Bart
That does eem to be the problem but you could easily confirm this by running the car for a while with the connector disconnected. The clicking will likely not happen confirming its the switch.
The difference here may be that during cold-running the control pressure is lower which increases the deflection of the airflow sensor plate and gives more separation between the metal parts that form the contacts of the safety switch. As the motor warms up, the control pressure increases and the airflow sensor plate deflection is decreased and may be causing the metal switch parts to just start to touch. One thing to check is the rest position of the airflow metering plate when the engine is off (see pages D29-D31 in the Mondial8/QV WSM 281/83) and compare it to the position of the airflow metering plate when the engine is running and warm -- if they are about in the same place, this would be a problem. Unfortunately, to raise the rest position of the airflow metering plate when the engine is off, requires moving pin 12 upward (see page D10) which might be a lot of work, but you can, at least, easily confirm/deny the rest position of the airflow sensor plate visually vs the figure 25 on page D30 and to the airflow metering plate position when the engine is running and warm to see if this might be the trouble and be worth fixing.
I have read the manual Steve is referring to. First thing to check seems the position of the airflowsensorplate. It was not exactly in the middle so I tried to correct it. Not reaaly bad neither, just not perfect. The bold that holds the plate broke when I tried to lose it a little. I did not use a lot of force. Seems to me that it was cracked already. Better not think about what happens if the bold breaks while the motor is running. So, nothing to plan anymore, the air flow sensor house had to be opened. So I did. Doing that I have found some things that are not correct. 1) A lot of dirt inside the flow sensor housing 2) The place where the contact is made was dirty and I could see some deformation in the material of the plate caused by the shaft. Not a lot though. I could just see it. The dirt can cause the non infinite resistance while the engine idling. 3) The air flow sensor plate has no chamfered edge and no mark Top 4) The hose from the auxiliary air device was broken. So it could take air there. I have drilled out the broken bold. Never done that so carefully . Pictures are not in the correct order Next step is to clean everything really good. Afterwards put it all back in place and see what the effect is. If the clicking of the relay is gone, I have to open it again to put some new gaskets in it. Other suggestions are more than welcome. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I have reassembled the air flow sensor after cleaning. Adjusting the position of the plate is very easy to do. First I positioned the plate in the transverse direction. It is done by sliding the whole arm over the axle and fixing it by fixing the screws. Next thing is do is to lose the bold that holds the plate and adjust the position of the plate. I have held a light behind it so I could see if the gap between plate and house was the same all around. Than I had to bring the plate upwards. The position was way too low. It is done by hammering the pin you can see on the fourth photo down (as shown)= upwards once everything is in place. To do so, the housing has to be opened anyway. I have used a bold fixation liquid and a liquid sealing. It can cure now for a few days. When I was reassembling the housing, I had to be very carefully not to turn on the bolds too much. Otherwise the mechanism of the arm with the plate on was not working very well. When I finished it, the arm bounced up twice, just as indicated in the manual.
Put everything back in place today. I had to adjust one bold of the air flow sensor housing to get it working as it should. Started and the relais did not start clicking after a while anymore. . I even had the impression that the warm start was better. I wasn't bad , just could be better. Engine starts immedate now, cold or warm. One thing I had to do to get it running idle was to turn the bypass screw in its close position ( as it should be ) and turn the adjustment screw for the trottle position a little bit in. Runs very smooth now on 900 RPM. Thanks for the help. Next thing to do is to change my fusebox. I know the 'birdmann' box. I have red (ferrari life forum)though that there is a replacement fuse box on wich the original covers can be used. Some info about that box is more than welcome. See picture: I have tried to contact someone but did not get a reaction. Regards Bart Image Unavailable, Please Login
Hi With mine... the relay clicks like mad when starting... and stops while idling .. however, blip the throttle and it clicks.. and gets very hot after a long run.. i will try cleaning all the earth and terminals etc and see if that helps.. unless anyone out there thinks i might have a further issue? if so please let me know Regards Colin
This is exactly how my car's relay acts, as well. It audibly "chatters" during starting, and I had simply assumed, all these years, that this was how it was supposed to act. Have I been wrong? DM
