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Hi Bob, here is a story you may enjoy that happened here in Delaware. My daughter has a 87 Mustang that would not start or run. I tried everything I could, with no luck, so I called the Ford dealer here in town to ask a real mechanic. He told me, "oh yea, the fuel pumps are bad in that year of Mustang. They burn out all the time. Being an Electric fuel pump located in the fuel tank I found this just a little hard to believe. So I called a dealer north of here and asked them. Service put me on hold, for a while, then came back and told me that it sounds like need to put gas in the car! Good call if I was blind, def and dumb! At this point I thought maybe I should do more troubleshooting on my own. I put the car up on stands in the garage. After I crawled under the fuel tank I had my daughter turn on the ignition switch so I could listen for the pump to kick in. No sound at all! I thought I have found the problem, after checking the fuse, it checked good (I even ohm checked it to make sure it was as good as it looked), so now I am ready to go to Pep Boys and try to get the right part.
The counter man told me they didn't have the pump, but did I check the relay? Relay?? Why NO, where is it located? With a big grin he opened his parts book and said he didn't know it isn't in the book, but he was pretty sure it had one. He said it should be somewhere under the dash or "maybe" under the hood on the firewall. Hey it made sense to me so here I am off back home to the garage to find this beast and check it out.
I crawled all over the inside of dash with a drop light, flashlight and mirror. Not quite sure what it looked like. I found nothing under the hood either. I went back down to Ford's. I got a new Relay. They couldn't tell me where it was located in the car but, I figured with the part in hand I will match it up with the bad one, simple but effective! To make this short for you, I could not find this jewel anyplace on this Mustang! I called a Ford dealer south of here to talk to their top man in the garage about the location of this. He couldn't talk on the phone because he was to busy.
OK this is starting to get out of hand. I got into my car and drove down to the Ford dealer south of here to talk to this guru in person. After getting there the man at the counter told me clue where it is and he knew it wasn't on any of the Micro-fish. Then he said he would go ask Jim in the back, he might know. I am standing thinking how did this guy memorize all the Micro-Fish and be so sure it wasn't in there somewhere. This man in his 70's came out from in back and asked me what kind of problems was I having. So I started with day one through, and here I am standing before you. After Jim stopped laughing he told me the reason why I didn't find it under the hood or inside the dash was very simple. Ford put the Relay, (get this) under the drivers side bucket seat. I thanked him and started to leave. Jim yelled to me that next time I called down there to be sure and ask for HIM or no one will get him for the phone!
After getting home I reached under the drivers seat and felt some wires. I was surprised! I removed the nuts that hold the seat down so I could see the exact location for this relay. After I got the seat laying back I seen the relay right where Jim said it would be. Chanced it, herd the pump start when I turned the key and the car ran great! Thanks to Jim. In summary: if you need to change the FUEL RELAY in a 1987 Mustang, you will find it under the drivers bucket seat! I am sure if I would have had the Ford dealer come and fix the car I would have paid for a new fuel pump, labor and hard telling what else. Plus a fuel pump relay! If you think this story is fitting for your web page feel free to include it. I get a chuckle when I think of all the events in those two days. I really do enjoy your web page. Thanks! Vic
{Editor's note - I always sound like a broken record on this topic but Vic points out the need to trot down to the local library (or give them a call) and ask them for the manufacturers service manual for the year, make and model of the car you are about to troubleshoot. Here in Rochester NY the technical librarian knows my voice and frequently asks which one I need today, the Ford Truck or the Buick manual!!}
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