This morning I could'nt get my wagon to start.The road service guy traced it to no charge going to the tank pump. Gave the relay a tap and the car has been starting ok since. My questions- does the fact the main pump couldn't send fuel on it's own mean it's on the way out? Is a main pump in good working order meant to be able to bear the load if the intank pump fails? Also relays- I don't have a clue about electrics-what do they do and if this one is playing up should I get it replaced quickly? Thanks.

Typically the fuel pump relay gets so hot it melts the solder connections on the relay circuit board. You get cold solder connections and the pumps don't work. Before you spend $40 on a new relay, get your trusty soldering iron out and resolder all the connections on the board. You will actually see that some are loose.

I did it and my pumps worked fine afterwards.

Lawren

Both pumps are supplied from the same relay contact. If the in-tank pump wasn't working because of the relay, then the main pump wouldn't either. Replace the relay, they're not expensive.