Freelander 1 Live feed to fuel pump

Hi guys, I am new to the forum so apologies if this has been answered elsewhere. I am having starting problems with my 1.8 petrol freelander 1999. There appears to be no power to the fuel pump, I changed the relay in the engine bay, I tried a live feed to the pump and it works and the car starts. Can I run a permanent ignition controlled feed to the pump safely? Your help would greatly appreciated.

If the pump runs with a live connection straight to it, then it suggests the pump relay or the impact sensor has triggered.

Nodge68 said:

If the pump runs with a live connection straight to it, then it suggests the pump relay or the impact sensor has triggered.

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I have put a known to be working relay on and pressed the impact switch and still no joy other than a broken wire I'm running out of ideas

Have you measured the current needed by the pump?

Nodge68 said:

Have you measured the current needed by the pump?

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No I haven't, what would that show me?

Just extra information really. It would give you an idea of pump load. The fuel pump should pull about 8 Amps. Considerably more would indicate a blocked filter and overloading of the pump motor.

Nodge68 said:

Just extra information really. It would give you an idea of pump load. The fuel pump should pull about 8 Amps. Considerably more would indicate a blocked filter and overloading of the pump motor.

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Thank you I will have look and see what I come up with. However it still doesn't answer the original question of " Can I safely run a live feed to the pump to have the car running?"

Brimert said:

Thank you I will have look and see what I come up with. However it still doesn't answer the original question of " Can I safely run a live feed to the pump to have the car running?"

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I can't see why not. As long as it is controlled by the impact sensor too. Some early Rover vehicles used a resistance wire to feed the pump, but I don't think the Freelander does.

Get yourself a test light and trace the fault properly some time, but your redneck fix should work for now. Just wire it so it goes off with the ignition, or you’ll forget to switch it off one day and burn out the pump.

Thanks to you both for your helpful information, the redneck fix is in and working, with a couple of days off work this week I will have the time to run a proper fault trace.