burning out fuel pumps and relays
 

i've got my eye on a nice looking 78 that the owner says is burning out fuel pumps and relays before he was burning out fusable links so he did the stupid thing and bypassed them does anyone know what could be causing this problem thanks in advance

craig

does he have a 12 volt battery? mabey the alternator is for a car with more than a 12 volt system?

My guess is that someone either wired in a stereo that pulls wattage, and they used a ignition "hot" wire source that feeds the fuel pump and it's related circuitry or:

The car has a ground (battery -) problem that is causing too high of resistance.

Carefully inspect the battery cables, you need 4 gauge or better and if you have a ohm meter check the resistance between the negative battery terminal and a good body ground the meter should read low ohms. There needs to be a good ground connection to the body for the electrical circuitry to properly function.

Improper wiring attempts like you stated, rust at grounding points, etc. can cause the components to draw more current than they were designed for.

The 78 had a very good harness and should not be a problem.