It started because mine is the convertible model and right now I have very limited funds and I got this car free, but what happened is somehow the circuit the interior lighting is on is messed up. When the fuse for the interior lighting is in, the lights do not go off except very occasionally, and it seems to pop fuel pump relays. At least the first time I put a fuse in there that was what happened though at the time I didn't make the connection.

So I tried messing with that again and it seemed just like it popped a fuel pump relay again, but this time even with a new relay, one that clicks when you turn the car on, I still seem to get no fuel pump! If you hook the bypass wire to the battery the pump shows it works and you can even get the car to fire up for a second before dying back out.

I do not think the problem is in the pump nor filter because it went, literally from PERFECT engine performance to zero after messing with the fuses under the dash. I can't seem to find any fuses under the hood and I bought a relay and have two from a junkyard Cavalier, so I am 99% positive it has no connection to the relay itself this time.

Mine is just the base package 2.0 MPFI SOHC Opel designed engine if that has any bearing on the problem....

I don't think there is any connection that could be at fault save for the one directly to or from the relay, or some fuse somewhere I don't know about. It ran PERFECTLY, then with one fuse added, it died, the car didn't move at all, then the only thing that has been disconnected since was the battery, and the relay, and the fuel pump bypass proves the connections at the pump are fine, so I will check tomorrow when I have time, but it still seems unlikely that anything that isn't close to the battery or relay could have been changed.

The thing I find puzzling though is that almost every car I have ever owned had some kind of fuse box under the hood as well as under the dash. The under hood fuses being bigger, like some even 40-60 amp, but yet I can't find one on this and I am about to go through the Haynes manual to see if I find mention of it, but Haynes manuals are notoriously vague about electrical wiring, focusing instead on common components since they cover so many different model variations.

Beyond this, I begin to suspect some kind of failure at or near the injectors. I have heard that engine noise is an issue with this engine, but what I hear when it runs with the hood open is some clickity chatter which seems to come from the injectors, but my Cavaliers in the past were '97 models and much newer and a different engine, so I have no frame of reference to know if that sound is normal or not.

So I have looked in the Haynes manual and found nothing else too specific and I am kind of stuck as to where to look next for trouble?

One other related question is I notice a black "tarry" substance on the wire that connects the relay and the relay itself. I thought this might be wrong, but the exact same thing was on the relay in the ('91) Cavalier? Does anyone know what this is or what it may mean?

Sorry for the long post but it is a cut and paste from another site that suggested I come here with my problem and I was too lazy to re-write it all....

Well I guess first check the wiring at the pump make sre that it has power... if that has power then follow anything electrical from the pump foreward. The older pontiacs from my experiences are a pain in the @$$ as far as wiring and issues with the wiring. I know i had an 88 firebird with the same issue and i ended up rewirering from the pump foreward and hooked it up to a toggle switch... Sorry if i wasnt much help.

Honda's are like tampons, Every PU$$Y has one!!!

This was so stupid! There is a fuse that got under the seat where I could not see it and it goes in the top of the fuse box and I didn't notice the empty slot, so when I found that and put it in it works fine once again. Just one of those easy things that can happen and makes you happy that the car works but feel stupid to have not noticed it!