I'm trying to get my bronco running again, it's been sitting for 3 years. I pulled the old fuel out and put new fuel in and put a new battery in. It will turn over but wont start. When i turn the key i don't hear the fuel pump prime. I pulled codes and only got 542 which relates to bad fuel pump circuit. The fuses are good and the relays seems good. I check the voltage at the fuel pump connector by the fuel tank and get 6V there and also get 6V at the fuel shut off switch. The relay box is getting 12V at the relay. I lost my manuals so not quite sure which wires are which at the relay box to test voltages with them in. Does anyone have any suggestions on what and where i can check next? I assume 6V probably isn't a good sign. I'm hoping the fuel pump isn't bad. In the 24 years I've had this, the fuel pump has failed twice and has been the only major thing to fail...except the ECU. I had some caps blow in there and had to repair that.

Last I drove it, there were no fuel related issues....only that the transmission wouldn't sift into 3rd or 4th (can't remember which). I parked it, and would start it here and there, but if i didn't start it every three days or so, the battery would die.

 

Perhaps I do have a bad relay. I swapped the horn relay with the PCM relay and then jumpered the relay for the fuel pump and now i get 12V at the fuel cutoff switch and 12V at the connector on the frame by the fuel tank for the fuel pump. No priming noise though. Safe to say bad fuel pump? And then any notion why it keeps failing? Factory one failed after 3 years, replacement failed 11 years later and this one if it's bad failed 10 years after that one while not in use.

 

How did the fuel smell when you removed it? Old bad gas is never a good thing for an electric fuel pump. My f150 sat for years and I had to replace both of my pumps due to the bad gas. If you do have to replace the pump get the tank cleaned out while you have it out.

 

It didn't smell so bad that it kept the kids from standing over it commenting on how good it smelled. But it was a darker orange color. Cleaning out the tank isn't a bad idea, thanks!

 

Got the old fuel pump out. One of the wires coming off the pump was pretty corroded. Put about 4 gallons back in the tank and it fired up. I did hook the fuel pump up to the connector on the back axle and turn the key to see if it would power up before I went through the trouble of pulling the tank. I didn't let it run but for a split second.