My father has a 2001 Ford Edge 4.0L that out of the blue wouldn't start. He said he couldn't hear the fuel pump when he turned the key on, so I suspected fuel pump fuse, fuel pump relay, inertia switch, or the fuel pump itself. A few years ago I had sporadic issues with my 2003 2.3L and thought it might be a fuel pump. So I had gotten a Delphi Fuel pump ($110) and a WIX Fuel Filter, but never installed them because after I replaced the relay I stopped having the issue (and it was too late to return the pump). Luckily his truck uses the exact same fuel pump, but our filters are different I think (according to Rock Auto, Rangers made after 5/01 use my filter, but his Ranger was made in 4/01).

So I went to his house today with my meter. The first thing I did was pull the plug on the inertia switch. I noticed that when he turned the key on, 12V was showing up there. But when I shorted the 12V coming to the connector the the output to the pump,, the pump still wouldn't run. I also measured the pump power input to ground with my Fluke meter and in was an open circuit (mega ohms). I measured on my 2003 2.3L Ranger and it was about 1 ohm. I measured my new Delphi pump and it was about 1 ohm. So I thought that was pretty good evidence that the pump was bad. We raised the bed and replaced the pump. After that we turned on the key and heard the pump for a few seconds. Then we turned the key off and did that again and we heard it again. Then we started it and it ran great for about 5-7 seconds then it started to sputter and then died. We started it again and it immediately sputtered and died. After that it wouldn't start and noticed there was no fuel pump sound when we turned the key on. I then removed the connect to the fuel pump and measured between the supply and ground pins for the pump and where it had previously been about 1 ohm, it was now mega ohms (open circuit).

I have a fairly capable OBD2 device and I can cycle the fuel pump on and off using it. So I can cycle the pump on and measure the voltage at the fuel pump and it indeed is 12V when I turn it on and drops when I turn it off. I have measured the ground lead and it has a great connection to ground. I have measured the wiring from the fuse/relay box to the fuel pump and it too has a great connection (less than 1 ohm). So I am convinced there is nothing wrong with the fuel pump electrical control.

I just can't think what would cause the new fuel pump to burn out in seconds. We didn't replace the fuel filter, but I would think even if it was completely clogged, it wouldn't burn out the pump in seconds. It makes me think I was just unlucky and the new Delphi fuel pump is junk. So now I am thinking we should try a new Motocraft pump ( > $200), but I am a bit nervous about throwing in another pump and have it fail the same way. Is there anything that could cause a fuel pump to fail that quickly?

 

3rd party fuel pumps are not tested, so yes what you experienced is not that uncommon, these pumps usually have 1 or 2 year warranties because of this, its cheaper to replace the part than to test each one, labor is expensive

Motorcraft(and delco/chevy) parts are all tested before they are shipped, Ford requires it because they can't afford to put untested parts like this in a new vehicle, so they are 2 to 4 times the price of 3rd party
I think the Motorcraft pumps have a 90-day warranty
For fuel pumps Motorcraft is the way to go in my opinion, just because they are a pain to swap out, even with a free replacement

If its an easy to get to part I got no problem with 3rd party, lol

No there is no senerio in the wiring or voltage that would "blow out" a fuel pump, if you were to tap on this one it may start working again, but I wouldn't trust it

 

Thanks. I think I will get a Motocraft on order tomorrow. I would return this Delphi, but I have had it sitting in the box for quite a while.