My Thunderbird makes a humming sound.
Steve Riley
making a humming sound that is very audible inside the cabin. It makes
this sound as soon as I start the car, and its pitch remains relatively
the same regardless of how fast or slow I drive (only when I turn on the
read defrogger does the pitch drop). If I walk around outside the car,
the sound seems most prominient from the rear.
Could this be the fuel pump? Is the pump located in the rear of this car?
I know that Fords have that crazy fuel shut-off that gets activated in
certain kinds of collisions (to avoid the Pinto effect); is this somehow
related to the fuel pump?
The car doesn't feel or run any differently than it did before the
humming started. It's just annoying, that's all.
<<Steve>>
tum...@lmsmgr.lerc.nasa.gov
ril...@iia.org (Steve Riley) writes:
>I have a 1989 Thunderbird with the 3.8L V6 engine. Recently it started
>making a humming sound that is very audible inside the cabin. It makes
>this sound as soon as I start the car, and its pitch remains relatively
>the same regardless of how fast or slow I drive (only when I turn on the
>read defrogger does the pitch drop). If I walk around outside the car,
>the sound seems most prominient from the rear.
>
>Could this be the fuel pump? Is the pump located in the rear of this car?
>I know that Fords have that crazy fuel shut-off that gets activated in
>certain kinds of collisions (to avoid the Pinto effect); is this somehow
>related to the fuel pump?
Does it hum when you turn on the ignition *BUT* before you start
the engine? That should tell you something. There aren't too
many things that should make a racket with the ignition on and
the engine not running (barring radios and other such noise
makers).
Jim Martz
Gregg Zachritz
> I have a 1989 Thunderbird with the 3.8L V6 engine. Recently it started
> making a humming sound that is very audible inside the cabin. It makes
> this sound as soon as I start the car, and its pitch remains relatively
> the same regardless of how fast or slow I drive (only when I turn on the
> read defrogger does the pitch drop). If I walk around outside the car,
> the sound seems most prominient from the rear.
>
> Could this be the fuel pump? Is the pump located in the rear of this car?
> I know that Fords have that crazy fuel shut-off that gets activated in
> certain kinds of collisions (to avoid the Pinto effect); is this somehow
> related to the fuel pump?
>
Most likely it is the fuel pump. I experienced the same symptoms on my
92 T-Bird and had the fuel pump replaced under warranty. The fuel pump is
mounted INSIDE the gas tank through the top. The gas tank in turn, is
mounted in front of the differential. This is why the sound seems to be
coming through the back seat of the car (in my case anyway).
Unfortunately, removing the fuel pump involves first removing part of the
exhaust system, draining the fuel tank, removing the filler neck, removing
the fuel tank, and finally, the fuel pump from the top of the tank. I'm
sure glad mine was a warranty repair!
--
Gregg Zachritz
Gregg_Z...@sdd.sri.com
Todd Cloutier
><<Steve>>
Steve,
My '89 T-bird has been making the same humming noise from the fuel
pump for about a year now without any problems. In fact, my father's
1988 Voyager hummed from the day he bought it. Unless the sound is
really bothersome, I would just ignore it.
-Todd Cloutier
clou...@cnde.iastate.edu
Steve Riley
tum...@lmsmgr.lerc.nasa.gov wrote:
> Does it hum when you turn on the ignition *BUT* before you start
> the engine? That should tell you something. There aren't too
> many things that should make a racket with the ignition on and
> the engine not running (barring radios and other such noise
> makers).
>
> Jim Martz
I never really thought about this, so I just went outside to check. It in
fact does not make a sound until the car is started. Based on some other
answers I received, I think it is the fuel pump.
<<Steve>>
Steve Riley
wrote:
> Most likely it is the fuel pump. I experienced the same symptoms on my
> 92 T-Bird and had the fuel pump replaced under warranty. The fuel pump
> is mounted INSIDE the gas tank through the top. The gas tank in turn, is
> mounted in front of the differential. This is why the sound seems to be
> coming through the back seat of the car (in my case anyway).
This is exactly the way it sounds.
> Unfortunately, removing the fuel pump involves first removing part of the
> exhaust system, draining the fuel tank, removing the filler neck,
removing
> the fuel tank, and finally, the fuel pump from the top of the tank. I'm
> sure glad mine was a warranty repair!
Damn. There goes a Saturday.
<<Steve>>
Don Cho
>I have a 1989 Thunderbird with the 3.8L V6 engine. Recently it started
>making a humming sound that is very audible inside the cabin. It makes
I know. Your Thunderbird became a Hummingbird.
Couldn't resist.
-Don
James P. Callison
>I know that Fords have that crazy fuel shut-off that gets activated in
>certain kinds of collisions (to avoid the Pinto effect); is this somehow
>related to the fuel pump?
All cars with EFI should have this. Your T-Bird maintains constant fuel
pressure (my '89 SC, f'rinstance maintains ~35psi with the engine off)
in the system--it isn't to avoid the "Pinto effect", it's to avoid
spewing gasoline everywhere in the event of a fuel line rupture.
(Believe you me, the sumbitch will spew gasoline like nobody's business;
I know from experience--I dumped a half a tank of gas in ~15 minutes
from the low-pressure return line before I could get home!)
At any rate, the hum is probably (from experience, again) the fuel
pump. If you turn on the key it should start up--it'll sound kind of
like the electric fan on the radiator. The pump is located on top of
the fuel tank, and the sound should be loudest right in front of the
passenger side rear wheel (since that's the approximate location of
the pump). If you want to test this, start the engine, then go back
to the trunk. Pull the cover from the driver's side trunk wall; you
should see a squarish plastic gee-gaw box thingy (dontcha love them
technical terms? :-) with a set of wires running into it. On the
rearward side, there's a pair of wires running up into the box
thingy--pull them out. (Don't worry, there's a nifty connector; you
have to do this any time you change the gas filter.) This will kill
the fuel pump--it should also kill the noise (and the engine).
NOTE: it'd work better if the pump makes the noise with the engine
off (ie key in on position, engine off), as this is not a recommended
procedure for killing gasoline engines. :-)
James
James P. Callison Microcomputer Coordinator, U of Oklahoma Law Center
Call...@midway.ecn.uoknor.edu /\ Call...@aardvark.ucs.uoknor.edu
DISCLAIMER: I'm not an engineer, but I play one at work...
The forecast calls for Thunder...'89 T-Bird SC
Peter Sheriff
indicate that it is caused by an electrical part. I always think of the
cooling fan when I hear any sort of hum from a car. This doesn't explain
why it is more pronounced at the rear of your car. You might be correct
when you think of the fuel pump. I always thought that they ticked when
operating but that was before the advent of fuel injection. Maybe they
do hum now.
Pete
Steve Riley
wrote:
>
> At any rate, the hum is probably (from experience, again) the fuel
> pump. If you turn on the key it should start up--it'll sound kind of
> like the electric fan on the radiator.
This is exactly what it sounded like. In fact, I thought at first that it
was the fan.
> The pump is located on top of
> the fuel tank, and the sound should be loudest right in front of the
> passenger side rear wheel (since that's the approximate location of
> the pump).
Yup.
> If you want to test this, start the engine, then go back
> to the trunk. Pull the cover from the driver's side trunk wall; you
> should see a squarish plastic gee-gaw box thingy (dontcha love them
> technical terms? :-) with a set of wires running into it. On the
> rearward side, there's a pair of wires running up into the box
> thingy--pull them out. (Don't worry, there's a nifty connector; you
> have to do this any time you change the gas filter.) This will kill
> the fuel pump--it should also kill the noise (and the engine).
I'm going to try this tonight.
> NOTE: it'd work better if the pump makes the noise with the engine
> off (ie key in on position, engine off), as this is not a recommended
> procedure for killing gasoline engines. :-)
The noise does not start until the engine is running. There is no hum if
the key is in the on position and the engine is off.
This car (a 1989) has over 91,000 miles on it; it just started the humming
a couple months ago. It is annoying, but is it a sign of anything? Should I
expect the pump to expire soon? Or can I just forget about it?
Thanks.
<<Steve>>
Zafer Mehmood
>In article <34jdst$g...@constellation.ecn.uoknor.edu>, James P. Callison
>wrote:
>>
>> At any rate, the hum is probably (from experience, again) the fuel
>> pump. If you turn on the key it should start up--it'll sound kind of
>> like the electric fan on the radiator.
>
>This is exactly what it sounded like. In fact, I thought at first that it
>was the fan.
>
>
>the key is in the on position and the engine is off.
>
This is typical in most fuel injected cars.
>
>This car (a 1989) has over 91,000 miles on it; it just started the humming
>a couple months ago. It is annoying, but is it a sign of anything? Should I
>expect the pump to expire soon? Or can I just forget about it?
>
If the hum is audible from inside the car during driving, i.e., its loud
then it is worth determining the cause and fixing it. In my experience,
FI fuel pums will hum for two reasons - the fuel filter is getting
clogged up, creating back pressure and making the pump work harder,
or the pump itself is wearing inside and is likely to fail. I would
change the fuel filter first if it hasn't been changed in the last 30K miles.
If that doesn't solve the problem, consult a mechanic familiar with fords
to see if its a common problem before changing the pump.
-Zafer
z...@mhcnet.att.com