Jumping a fuel pump relay has become a conventional approach to overcoming bad fuel pump issues, but the problem most beginners face is how to jump fuel pump relay on Chevy truck.
Before you get into the act of jumping a relay, you need to understand what a relay is and how it functions.
Because if your relay fails, your car will not be able to pump fuel correctly, which means it will not start or will begin to experience start problems.
In most cases, if you cannot fix or substitute the relay right away, you can still drive your car by jumping the relay.
So, in this short guide, we are going to learn the right process of jumping a fuel pump relay on a Chevy truck, but first, let us take a little walk around the relay and its entirety.
Table of Contents
What is Chevy Fuel Pump Relay?
A Chevy relay is what controls the flow of electricity between your Chevy’s fuel pump and the truck’s electrical system.
The electrical system of your truck is again made up of obvious parts like the charging sequence, lights, ignition, and air conditioning.
But there is a caveat: your fuel pump also controls the air conditioner, which is not as obvious.
Think about the safety factors keeping you from having wheels that slip or engines that do not work right. Most relays are located under the hood of the car and are tied to the firewall.
Common Symptoms of a Bad Fuel Pump Relay
Most of the time, a bad relay will send the driver a few signs that something is wrong. If you want to get the most out of your car, you should keep an eye on the common symptoms of a problematic relay.
Here are the common symptoms of a bad relay to keep an eye on:
- Variable Fuel Consumption
- Check Engine Light
- Exhaust System Issues
- You Can’t Start the Car
- Fuel Pump Silence
- Rough Idling, and the engine stalls
- The engine performs poorly.
Solutions to a Bad or Malfunctioning Fuel Pump
If you think there is a problem with your relay, here are a few actions you can take to remedy the problem:
Required tools:
- Basic toolset
- Basic screwdrivers set
- combined pliers set
- Protective gear and clothing
- A car jack and a jack stand
- Some paper towels or a piece of old cloth
- A tester or multimeter
Step-By-Step Solutions
Park your car somewhere safe – Make sure the car is parked and the parking brake is on. The best place for your car to be is in a garage.
Raise the Cover and Look for the relay – Take off the shield of the big fuse box, which is where the relay is, and look at the diagram. You can find your fuel pump by looking at the wiring diagram.
Listen to the sound – If a car is in decent shape, you should hear the sounds coming from it. But a broken relay makes no noise, even when the hood is up. If you don`t hear any noise at all, you should check the vehicle.
Unplug the battery’s negative cable – Remove the battery’s negative cable with a wrench set or a socket. By doing this, you turn off your fuel pump power and all the circuits that go with it.
Remove the relay – It should be something that can be done by hand. Another useful tool would be a set of needle-nose pliers.
Get a Multi-Meter Tool – Change the tool’s mode to resistance. Some relays comprise the following:
- Input voltage
- ground
- batteries
- load
Connect the probes of the multimeter to the pins for your battery and the load on the relay.
To power the relay, you need a power supply or a 12V regulator. Connect the relay’s ground pin to the power supply’s ground pin.
How to Jump Fuel Pump Relay on Chevy Truck?
The below steps will teach you how to bypass a fuel pump relay, but before we dive into it, let us see what tools we will need for this process.
Required tools:
- Ratchet set
- Open-ended wrench
- Extension cables
- Ruel pump relay for replacement
Step #1: Search for your car`s relay
Knowing the location of your car`s relay will make working on your Chevy vehicle much easier. Lift your engine hood after ensuring that your Chevy is well and safely parked.
A relay is often located under the hood of the car. They are tied to the firewall, or your battery cables and have their labels on them.
If you don`t find the relay in these areas, look behind the driver’s headlight located at the right of your car`s engine.
Most of the time, they are black and look like plastic boxes. They are always marked with where they are so that the location and the label can be verified.
Step #2: Taking the car`s battery cable apart
Now that you have found the relay, take it off your car`s battery cables.
Next, you need to take off the negative ground cable, which is the black cord on one of the cars’ batteries. You can cut both wires if you want to.
If you find the first two (2) steps uncomfortable, here is what you can easily do after you find the fuel button:
- To start with, take the pump off.
- You will need to bring a 5-inch cable with copper wire, with half inch of an insulation. Next, cut off both ends (one flat end and one rounded end).
- Connect one terminal of the power cord to the hole on the left end of the pump’s center post and connect the other terminal to the relay’s pin slot, which is just under it and faces down.
Step #3: Join the jumper cables together
Then you need to attach the cords to the battery cables that go with them. First, take your red cord and connect it to one of the batteries’ red terminals.
The other blue cable linked to your jumper kit should be connected to the battery’s blue terminal.
Make sure you put it the right way, because both must match what you did in step two.
Also, when you are connecting these terminals or cables, do not allow any metal you have on your hands to touch them.
Step #4: Start the Vehicle
First, switch on your Chevy and check that all the lights and gauges are properly functional.
Then, ensure that the red-striped end of the cable of your automobile`s jumper is connected to the live end of the battery and that the black-striped side is connected to the dead end.
If you are sure, you did everything right so far, start your Chevy and let it run for fifteen minutes.
And after this time is out, turn the ignition off again and finish any steps needed to disconnect the connections & reconnect them in the opposite order of how they were cut.
Step #5: Control the dashboard lights
Check the engine`s fuel gauge to know if the light is green. Just after you turn off the ignition system and taking all the connections off, you need to check your fuel gauge.
Rather than seeing green immediately, watch your dashboard for changes that go from yellow – then to red – and later to green.
This implies that you must have turned on the relay in your car. If none of these things change, repeat this process until you see a flash of green.
If you follow the above steps carefully, you won`t have to worry about jumping the fuel pump relay on chevy anymore. You will feel like a pro at the end of the process!
To understand better, click this video to stretch your understanding of the whole process.
Is It Safe to Bypass Fuel Pump Relay?
Fuel systems often have problems with relays that do not work well. Relays are important to the way your car works, but yes, it is safe and possible to get around them.
But remember that to bypass your relay must be a short-term solution to restore your Chevy. If you do not know what you are doing, it will be risky to open the hood of your car to carry out changes.
In the same way, if you do it right, bypassing your car’s relay will not hurt your car. The best case is when owners replace their car’s relay instead of going around them.
Taking care of your car means ensuring that its electrical systems work right, so fixing this problem as soon as possible is a priority.
But sometimes, you need your car to run before you can even get a fresh relay. If you want your car to start right away, with a jumper wire, you can get around the relay.
But if you use a jumper cord to bypass your relay, your fuel pump will always get power, even when the car is not running, causing a risk to your health and the health of your car.
Even though it does not happen often, bypassing the relay can lead to accidents.
You should be careful when receiving a direct electrical current, but accidents still happen even if you bypass your car`s relay.
Cost of Replacing a Chevy Relay
You can buy one at a local aftermarket parts store or on the internet. Based on the make of the car, the cost to replace a relay varies between $100 – $250.
This cost also includes labor. The way the mechanic bills, per hour or job, can also affect how much it costs to replace the relay.
The mechanic’s time would depend on how skilled he is, how the car is made, and what tools they have handy.
Top Questions
Should I pay someone to bypass I relay?
As we have already mentioned, it is not hard at all to get around a relay. Not adequate time or skill is needed besides knowing which cables require a jump wiring.
This information is already written on the relay switches, but if you will be able to figure it out, the best thing to do is call a roadside assistance.
If you could get an assistant truck to tow your car to a nearby shop, and if they do not have the model of your relay, you can hire a professional to bypass it.
Does a relay need to be in a fuel pump?
Your car` relay is an important part of how an engine burns fuel. It is no longer news that cars need gas, and your car`s relay makes sure that enough gas comes out when you step on the gas pedal.
Most of the time, relays are energized by the control units of the engine or an ignition module that are either installed directly or kept in the car.
When the relay breaks, what happens?
If the relay in your car breaks, your fuel pump would then stop working. Without fuel, the engine will not be able to start.
For example, this problem could cause the engine of the car or other parts to develop other problems, like overheating. So, we suggest that you get a professional to check out your car.
Final Thoughts
If you are still here at this point, then you must have a hand full of information about how to jump fuel pump relay on chevy truck.
Jumping a relay is no big deal but, as earlier mentioned, it is a short-term fix and not a solution, neither is it something to do habitually.
Yes, it is safe but there is a caveat around the process. That is why it is sometimes advisable you get a professional to handle the process for you.
Besides all, the best approach toward a bad relay is a complete replacement.
Replacing your relay will cost a few dollars but not something that should scare you. So, while you jump your relay, you should as well, immediately start thinking of a replacement.