Fuel system problem? (long)

[Kneale Brownson]

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At 05:03 PM 10/13/2002 -0700, Rob Winchell wrote:

>So, the other day on the way home from work the car
>sort of just died. Luckily, on a back road and I just
>pulled over. Would not start back up.
>
>After a bit of investigation, I found the fuse for the
>fuel pump had blown. New fuse, started right back up.
>Did not really run very well though. Made me wonder
>what would cause the fuel pump fuse to blow? Curious.
>
>So today, about 3-4 days later, I drove the car all
>day and parked it for about 2 hours. Came out and it
>would not start again. This time, fuse was fine. Still
>a fuel problem? I don't know, but I think maybe. It
>cranked and cranked without starting, but I did not
>get a fuel or exhaust smell during that period.
>
>Soooo, any ideas? Did the fuel pump eat it? Blocked
>fuel filter? Bad fuel pump relay? Perhaps not fuel
>related at all?

When the fuel pump in my 200q20v died, it first failed to start one day a
week or two earlier but responded to a replacement fuel pump relay.  The
next time it wouldn't start, the pump was totally nonfunctional.  After I
replaced it, I tried to run it off a battery with jumper wires.  Totally
unresponsive.
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