1989 bronco 5.0 5 speed

I replaced the fuel pump in the tank last fall or fall of 2011 and recently I had an issue. I got off work and went to start the truck up and would not start. did not hear the rear pump. I checked the relay and it was clicking like it should.
I got it towed home.

I get it in the garage and use my snap on 36" extension and tap the connector on top of the fuel pump through the passenger rear fender. starts right up. I checked it several times to confirm that is the problem.


so my question is now, do I cut a hole in the floor to pull the plug and put some dielectric grease in the connector or ??? the tank is 90% full and dad had arm surgery a month ago so he can't help.

I was at work a few days prior to this washing the truck very thoroughly and spraying the underside to get the sand out so maybe the water froze pushing the connector up? did not have any issues same day or the 2 days after. happened same day I put for sale signs in the window

 

If you are going to sell the truck, why fix it?

Now if you are going to keep it, making repairs to the connectors

sound like a good idea.

I donʻt have issues with my tank right now, but it sounds like a good

idea putting an access hole in the cargo area.

Dropping the tank is mostly a one person job, although having another

set of hands does help.

When I replaced the float in the FSB tank, I gave 20 gallons of gas

away to a neighbor since I had no place to store all that gas.

 

I agree that cutting an access panel is a good idea, Make it big enough so that you could change the pump and everything from the top side. But I also agree that if you plan to sell the rig, putting that much work into it might not benefit you.

 

It doesn't cost anything to cut a hole, just time and a tube of dialectric grease.

got my hole cut and greased the plug now gonna put it all back together somehow. probably gonna weld some tabs on the panel and screw it down to the floor again and silicone around the gap

 

Dielectric grease is an insulator. If you successfully coat the terminals you won't have a connection to the pump & sender for the gauge. It's not likely that the connector will fit onto the plug without making contact so it should work for a while.

 

I didn't find anything wrong in the first place, probably was drawing too much power and arced. just a fluke. probably will never happen again