Alright guys check it out, I have a 1989 RS that is bone stock. Car drives pretty good except for 1 thing it bucks like crazy sometimes. Its almost like the fuel is cutting out then recovering and it does this sporadically. The one thing I do notice is that it will happen more if I hit a big bump in the road. I obtained the trouble code and it is saying fuel pump relay. Is this a common problem with these cars? Easy to fix? Its a 305 TBI with electric pump in the tank. Please help! This is a very annoying problem. Thanks!

 

This is just something to try to look in to. This should not be hard to do so start by checking you fuel pump fuse located under the left side of the dash in the fuse block then check if it blows check the grounded wire in the harness to the fuel pump if this does not help you then let me ask you this does your oil pressure gauge work??? Don't forget that if your fuel pump relay fails your oil pressure switch acts like a fuel pump relay as well the oil pressure switch is located near the oil pan.

I did find Code 54 - Fuel Pump Circuit - Defective fuel pump; defective fuel pump relay; defective oil pressure switch; poor electrical connection, open or short in circuit; defective ECM

 

Nitro its funny you say that because the oil pressure gauge only works sometimes.

 

I just started a thread about this over on TGO because I was wondering if a fauly oil pressure sending unit would cause the fuel pump to cut out and lose pressure under wot. My old sender was tweakin out and registering 0psi when warm at a stop, and I know that could not be right. Swapped it out and now it reads a steady 29psi at a stop. But the oil sender will turn off the fuel pump if oil pressure gets below 4-5psi. So maybe if your sender "thinks" oil pressure is getting that low, it could very well be the problem. It's an easy part too change. You might have to take a little hacksaw blade and cut the connector off the stock piece, as the originals tend to be a inch or so longer than the replacements.

Will