1985 Town Car fuel pump is getting no power.

[mre12ax7]

The other day while driving my 85 TC just died in the middle of the road. Had been driving for about maybe 3-5 minutes after startup (cold start).
Cranks all day long but no fuel. I don't here the fuel pump running at all. I will not hear it prime or anything. Fuel pump was replaced about 2 months ago as the original had some dryrotted rubber stuff on the assembly that was causing issues.
I have tried replacing the pump relay and the EEC-IV relay to no avail. I checked the inertia switch its not tripped. I am getting +12v to the fuel pump relay on both the control and load side. The relay does nothing. No click or anything.
I have tried grounding the fuel pump test port on the obd1 connector as well with this also doing nothing. This has started to get quite confusing. I have checked the pump for resistance and it has a few ohms resistance so its not open. While jumpering the fuel pump test port to ground I tried measuring voltage at the pump connector. Got nothing.

About a week ago I had it die on me just like this except in that case it started right back up.
Any ideas folks.

[kishy]

It sounds like you've done what I would have done.

Fuel pump power distribution basically looks like this:

From the terminal on the starter relay, through the harness, to the fuel pump relay.
The fuel pump relay is commanded on by the computer (to prime when initially turned on, and then continues running while engine rpm exists thereafter).
From the fuel pump relay, the wire goes back to the connector above the tank.
From there, down to the pump hanger, into the tank, and to the pump itself.

If you see 12V at the relay socket, and if you have bypassed the relay (jump the two fat wires together), but you do not see 12V at the connector above the tank, it seems to me you have a break in the wiring harness.
If it turns out that there is 12V at the connector above the tank, then verify the ground wire in that connector actually has good ground (resistance between it and good body/frame metal, or better yet, all the way back to the battery).

You should re-test as I've described in the line above and just be 100% confident you've got good contact everywhere you're poking with a meter.

If the 12V and ground end up checking out OK at the connector, it might be the connector itself. Wiggling it could resolve the issue. If so, you should source a new weathertight connector (both halves) and replace it. I would not be surprised if crusty connectors somewhere are part of your problem. Also, carefully inspect all wiring from the fuel pump relay socket and follow it as far as you can see under the hood. The chubby wires tend to get really hot and melt things when the failing pump is failing for a long time. If the insulation is melty and/or cracked, get a look at the condition of the copper inside. If it's black and gross, it isn't doing a good job conducting and harness surgery will be needed.

[WagonMan]

My fairly new Spectra pump is cutting out on me. Bypass the relay with a jumper and whack the gas tank with a rubber mallet. If the pump starts after a few good wacks, the pump is bad. WagonMan

[mre12ax7]

Dug around some more and found that I had a bad connection on the relay connector for the fuel pump relay. Fixed that and the relay is now operating properly. Now with this I am able to get 12v at the connector above the tank. so looks like my new pump crapped out on me.

[gadget73]

verify the ground and the connection back there. I thought I had lost a pump once and it turned out to be a sketchy contact in the inertia switch plug.

[mre12ax7]

Just to follow up with my issue replacing the fuel pump fixed the issue. Also always make sure the lock ring is as tight as possible. Don’t ask how I found that out.

[DerekTheGreat]

Gotta love the quality of aftermarket parts, eh?

That's probably the only thing which will thwart me from being able to drive old junk until I die.

[mre12ax7]

Yeah I was pretty irritated that it went out. And of course the original Ford part is discontinued.

[gadget73]

if Bosch makes a pump, that would probably be about as close to the OE as you're gonna get.

Sad that the originals would last decades and easily over 100k miles and its just expected that the replacement isn't going to last nearly as long.

[DerekTheGreat]

...Sad that the originals would last decades and easily over 100k miles and its just expected that the replacement isn't going to last nearly as long.

Yeah, all of this. You're lucky if you get two years out of most electronic crap. Can't find good ICM's for my GM stuff to save our lives. Even with lots of good thermal paste, those burn up in 1 to 2 years, usually less. I'm going on fifteen years with the fuel pump thrown in my Fireturd. Fifteen years and ~15k miles.