Pontiac Repair: Fuel pump, starter fluid, constanly

Question
'97 Transport, 6cyl. Car would crank but not start.  It would start with starter fluid. No sound of pump running.  Good fuse. I read another of your threads that said to check for power at the connector. I have ~ 1.2 volts at pump in the "run" position with a new micro relay, and ~ .85 with the old relay.  Is that enough to power the pump?  The tank is drooped and the pump is out of the tank.  Will it still run for a second when the key is turned to "run" or does the pump have to be submerged to run?  Please help, I'm about to roll it into the lake if this doesn't work. (for all the environmentalists, I'm just kidding)

Answer
Hi Michael:

1.2 Volts is not nearly enough volatge to run that pump. You should have battery voltage across the pump wires which are grey and black. The heavier gauge black wire because ther is more then 1. I would suspect you have a bad connection some wher or a corrosion build up in one of the wires. The plug in the floor pan of the van where the tank harness plugs in is VERY common for corrosion/connection issues. If not ther you may have a bad ground connection or high resiatnce in the power feed wired from the relay to the pump. You can try this with the key on you should have power constanly on 1 pin at the relay and a 1 second power burst when you turn the key on or are cranking the car on another pin at the relay. if you have battery voltage there but not at the pump the issue is in the power feed betwween the relay and the pump. Good luck :)