Nissan Repair: Nissan Primera 1992 wont start, nissan primera, fuel filter

Question
QUESTION: Hi there, my boyfriends Nissan Primera has stopped working at we're unable to figure out what's going on. This is a little bit long because we've tried a wave of different things with no success.

While he was driving home the other day the car was struggling to get to a normal speed. He had to get revs up to 3000 before it starting acting normally (speed at 50kmph).
He got it home alright and turned it off and then on again to check to see if it would act weirdly again.
The car would start but not turn-over, so he left it for a while to wait for a mate to get off work to come help. When he turned up they checked the the spark plugs. All of them were firing apart from the 3rd one down, so he swapped the plugs around to see if it was that. 3rd one still wasn't working, so we tried switching the coils around. The different coil in the 3rd slot worked, so we assumed it must have been a broken coil.
Went and got a whole brand new set, put them in and it still wouldn't turn-over. Started thinking it was the fuel filter, changed that with a new one and still no luck.

Then we looked at the fuel pump, took it out and went to a car wreckers to get a second hand one. We brought the seemingly broken one along with us and the guy confirmed that it was in fact dead. He sold us another one which was from a different Nissan but he assured us that it was the same type (just switched the filters pads around because the new one was far too big). The guy tested it in front of my boyfriend and he left with the new one but didn't take the broken one with him.

When we got back and put the new second hand pump in we were expecting it to work, it made a wurring noise like it was working when the key was turned on, but stopped after a few seconds and wasn't doing anything when he tried to start the car. We checked to see if there was petrol getting to the engine and from what we can tell it wasn't. So we checked to see if there was a blockage in the pipes under the car, he blew down the pipes from the front and some (pressumably) old petrol came spitting out. We also checked under the car looking for dents but it seemed to be pretty good.

So now we're completly unsure of what to do! The new pump seems to be working but it's not actually pumping anything. We've been informed it could be the computer not telling the pump to pump but that's as far as we're willing to go without some professional help.

Does anyone know what we should be doing now? We're seriously considering buying a new car but we don't have a heap of money right now and we've already spent quite a bit with all these new parts.

Thanks!

ANSWER: Hi Steph -

Can you tell me if your check engine light is on?

Aloha
Calvin

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi Calvin, apparently it is on and it has been on ever since he got the car.

Answer
Hi Steph -

OK. We will have to get an OBD (On Board Diagnostic) reader and download the code(s) that are stored. This should tell us where to go and what to look for. The engine has many (hundreds) of possible codes, given to the computer by sensors all over the engine. If the engine is not working properly these sensors send a signal to the computer and using the reader we can fetch that code and reveal what the problem is.

I know the car was running with the light on previously, but I am thinking something new happened and we need to see that new code.

If you have an autozone in the area, I think they will do it for free. Once you get the code(s) let me know what they are and I will tell you what it means.

Hope this helps - LMK
aloha
Calvin