08-11 Buick Lucerne Fuel Pump Relay Cheap Fix
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- Опубликовано: 30 янв 2024
- Does your car not start? Think your fuel pump is going out? Keep blowing fuel pump relays? Then keep reading.
Had this happening in my 08 Buick Lucerne. Basically the rear seat brackets on the left hand side stick out a bit too far and push on the side of the fuse box. This is a known issue and has had recalls; apparently GM has made a low profile relay to help with this but I haven't come across it yet, however once you get to the point of blowing relays I am doubtful it will help as the socket is too loose by then. But ultimately this pushing from the seat bracket on the side of the fuse box over time as people get in and out loosens or wears out the female/female spade style connector inside the fuse box that runs from the base of the fuse box to the pins that your relays / fuses plug into (inside). Over time this results in a loose connection to the fuel pump relay pin #30. This is your 12volt constant. So due to this poor connection you get arcing and the relay struggles to get the proper voltage gets hot and burns out which compounds the issue over time. Very rarely is the culprit the fuel pump in these cars from my understanding. You can test fuel pump amperage and ensure proper functioning by jumping from pin 30 to pin 87 on the fuse block and turn the key to the on position; if the fuel pump kicks on / car starts it is not the culprit. If you want to be more thorough you can check the amps, you should be somewhat stable between 8.0 and 9.5 amps to the pump.
Unfortunately once this starts to occur your options are limited (4th option is fix shown in video).
Ultimately you have four options.
1.) The optimum solution is to replace the box and cut the seat brackets back (should cut brackets regardless of what fix you do). This is easy to do but expensive. Costs will range 200-260 for junkyard / used on ebay up to 6-700 from the dealership.
2.) You can split the box and install new female to female style spade terminals but this requires drilling out x3 of the grommets to get the box apart to get to them, new pins can be purchased on ebay for around 8 bucks for a pack of x2. Looks difficult and will damage the box permanently but should fix the issue.
3.) If you are pretty electrically savvy you can buy an external relay and bypass the one in the box. This would require finding a 12 v constant (add 20 amp in line fuse), 12v switched (15amp in line fuse), fuel pump wire and grounding the relay.
4.) Finally would be to do this as a temporary / long term fix. Jumper from a good 12v constant to supplement the damaged relay pin 30 with a stable current. Looks like allot of these relays have a fuse in close proximity, for example the 20 amp fuse next to the fuel pump relay in the top left corner of the box. Protects the 12 volt constant to the relay. So what I did was ran a 20 amp inline fuse and attached to one of the two copper spade terminals located in the fuse box, the one closest to the front of the car seems to be a 12 volt constant and the one just below has no voltage (probably a ground); I'm assuming these were added for easy accessory hook up. From that spade terminal I ran a 20 amp inline fuse to the damaged pin 30 of the relay, this should eliminate the chance of taxing another relays available current too much while still providing protection to that the relay. If my logic is correct since we are now splitting the circuit if you swapped the two 20 amp fuses for 10 amp then the overall circuit should have 20 amp protection overall but I'm not 100% on that perhaps somebody can chime in.
Been about two weeks, relay is remaining warm while running and no longer getting scolding hot and it has stopped blowing, everything is working correctly and I haven't had any issues since.
**update. 06/24/24; 6 months later. still going strong. no issues. **
Link to inline fuse (20amps / 16ga)
www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07...
Wire gauge is 16ga.
Good luck folks! Your feedback is appreciated if this can be improved upon or if there are any potential issues with this fix; please let us know so we can help others. If you did this fix and it helped you leave a comment or a like so others in your position can see the video and keep money in their pocket. 
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Thank you for this. My younger brother is having this exact issue with his Buick Lucerne, and we simply cannot afford several hundred dollars right now. He's owned this car for about 6 months and we've already sunk several hundred dollars in repairs into it, and now this. This would be a huge relief if this is the problem. I'm not sure that he knows to look for another fuse box (under back seat) so great info. Thanks again.
@@Doxymeister hopefully that's the issue, relatively easy / cheap fix if that's the case.
I used 14 gauge home wiring. 2 feet wire, strip ends 3/4 inch. Hammer stripped ends flat. Wrap wire around pencil to coil wire. Remove relay, push flattened copper into hot slot of fuse box. Insert relay. Stretch other end of wire to horn relay hot slot. Then push relay back in. Working great on mine. Barely gets warm in 30celcius day.
No reason that wouldn't work. Like the idea of pounding out the wire and making a spade insert. Probably way beefier than it needs to be but no reason that wouldn't work. We don't use the horn much so that shouldn't cause a fuse to pop unless you hammer on it in traffic possibly (the horn) and even then I am doubtful you will ever have issues. Well played. I like the ingenuity.
Thank you
Wanted to think you this actually work I'm driving right now texting this and my relay haven't blown 👍🏼
Definite life saver, thank you, going to get the parts later today.
Glad it helped. :)
The only thing I did different from what you did is, I bent the #30 prong on the relay, into a U-shape pointing up and then put a female, spade connector on the end fuse wire. Now instead of shoving the wire down in the hole you just push the female spade connector over the pin, it’s a tight fit between the little 10 amp fuse that’s right next to it but it’ll go.
Love it, that works too. I like it. Still working well I hope?
Replaced the block and got a shorter relay about 7-8 months ago. Literally JUST had to have this done on my 2009 Lucerne 🤦🏻♂️ Got my car back a few hours ago😭😭😭
Sorry.... well it's fixed right...
Might want to still cut that bracket back.
This is crazy I was going insane wondering why i was blowing relays my local shop scammed me out of 2k replacing the box and relay
Sorry to hear that. It's not a commonly known fix. I had to do a ton of digging. The more views and likes the more likely people will find the fix. Appreciate the feed back.
Make sure you cut the seat bracket back so it doesn't happen again down the road.
@@SupaJunnt will do man thank you!
I don't understand how you grounded it
The relay has a dedicated ground, I forget which pin it is but there is already a ground where the relay plugs in, the problem is a lack of positive voltage typically.
This is exactly what is happening with my car and thank you thank you thank you because absolutely nobody could figure this out for me and my car has been out of commission now for months and it's a fairly new car. I'm going to get the parts to do this now but I have a 2009 Buick Lucerne CXL will this same fix work on my year and model as yours, I hope?
Yes, should work for any lucern from 06-2011. Glad I could help. Post an update once done.
Hello I’m glad I’m came across this video I have the same problem but pin 87 is burned up will this still work ?
The commenter just above you used the horn relay pin and it's working pretty good. Good luck, we're having the same issue with my brother's Buick.
The J Case #49 seems to be the location of one end of the inline fuse, since that spot is designated for a 40 amp BLOWER, do you know which blower it powers? By the way this does work, I'm driving right now as a result of this technique, thank you.
J-Case #49 is designated as not used on 08-11 Buick Lucerne. www.autogenius.info/buick-lucerne-2008-2011-fuse-box-diagram/
#48 is designated as a blower. Not sure which blower. If I had to take a guess I would imagine the blower would be for your blower motor located under the dash that controls the output of heat / AC through your vents. Just my guess.
Thanks for the tips. I installed a new relay but I still needed the jumper wire also. Is it because the black fuse box is bad?
Yes, the connection in the box is loose where the relay plugs in (pin #30) and not getting correct voltage.
Unfortunately jumper is the only reliable fix without replacing the entire box.
Glad it helped!
I wish I had a fuel pump problem I have an 07 Buick Lucerne an I have no idea what's going on with it won't start won't crank all I get is a click I've replaced the battery and starter nothing has changed I don't know what's going on with it
Do you have a lock symbol illuminated on your dash when key in?
.
wonder if this is still working after 5 months?
@@simmy5883 Yes, still working well. Have not had any issues after the fix.
Would you suggest cutting the bracket back or adding the wire or both to make sure I don’t have this problem in the future?
I would do both and it should future proof it.
Where did you get the inline fuse and yellow connector from? Like autozone or something? Can you provide both links? That a be awesome thank you
I got the inline fuse off amazon and I had the spade terminal in a terminal kit could probably find both at Autozone.
So I did all of this and the relay is still getting hot, do you think I’m too far gone already? I can’t really afford the fuse box right bow
@@iamharley4325 the relay will still get warm to the touch but shouldn't be scolding hot. Wonder if you have a bad ground or bad connection from relay to fuel pump. Are you still viewing relays with the fix?
Did this it worked for about 3 months and had to replace the relay.
It may have been bc my fuse disconnected from the 12volt constant not sure tho. Put a new one in a drive around and it did not get overheated this time around.
@@jackvollo7541 Make sure you cut the bracket back s it does not agitate / loosen the relay by pushing on the fuse block lid. Yes a loose fuse / wire would definitely cause it to get hot or not start at all. Depending on how damaged the socket is on pin 30 for the relay you could try a larger wire size to ensure snug fitment / proper connection. Going on 4 months with my fix and still works great; no issues.
What is the yellow piece that you put on the end of the fuse line to connect it
That is a 'spade terminal connector' they come in various sizes. The color i believe correlates to wire size / Spade terminal size. Put it over the exposed wire and crimp it on. Or if you don't have crimp tools a pair of pliers will work.
Will that cause the fuel pump to go out?
Yes, the relay controls power to the fuel pump; a relay is basically a switch that turns the fuel pump on. So if the relay is not working you will get no power to the fuel pump.
If I don’t have that area to put that spade connection can I run it to my battery?
Yes. That spade connection is 12v constant, same as your battery post.
@@SupaJunnt what size gauge wire did u use this issue is a headache and I could use that 600 on new box for my kids instead thanks for any info
@@marcusrodriguez4272 Not sure on exact gauge. I would imagine 16-18 gauge stranded. Maybe even 20ga. But most likely 18 gauge. "Think speaker wire thickness." It doesn't need to be very thick, in fact that would probably not be beneficial as the relay still needs to plug in. I would go with 18/16 gauge.
Will changing the 20 amp relay fuse to a 30 amp fuse help the problem
No. The issue is with the connection to the relay and not the connection to its parent fuse. Increasing fuse size would make no difference with the relay connection.