Hi,

My 1985 camry 4 cylinder sedan is acting up again. I turn the key, but the fuel pump is not activated, so the car does not start. I popped the hood this a.m. and noticed that the battery's neg terminal has corrosion, another unfortunate surprise! THE battery is only 10 months old and i have the anti-corrosion pads for it.

My friend/mechanic has narrowed the issue to the Circuit opening relay. We cannot find it, though. OUR latest idea is that it is behind the glove compartment or center console.

ANY advice? We would like to know if we are on the right track before we start removing the pieces from the dash area.

THANKS.

 

The Camry Circuit Opening Relay (CIR) works by getting a signal from the car that the engine is running or being cranked over to start it to then turn on the fuel pump.

If the engine dies the pump turns off.

There may be a small plastic box mounted to a front strut tower. Inside the box are wiring end terminals. Under the box fiip up lid should be a layout drawing of the terminals. Jumping the B+ and FP terminals with wire should bypass any relays. The pump should run with the ign switch on.

 

-------THANKS! We have a very small black box that is marked "Diagnosis'' that has a lot of empty receptacles. THE back of the lid shows the position of B+ and FP. We will try your jumping suggestion, as it is easy, now that we have recharged the battery and removed the corrosion.

The problem is that the fuel pump is not activated when I turn the key. The fuel pump is under the back seat and when I turn the key, I can feel when it is activated and when it is not. I can crank all day, but without the fuel pump getting the proper signal, which we thought came from the COR relay switch, the car will not start--obviously! The car WILL start with my turning the key and my friend shooting starter fluid into it, but that is not much of a long-term solution.

1 friend told us that the COR is in the dash, as I mentioned yesterday. IF we remove the dash and find the COR, we are expecting that it is corroded and the cause of our issues, but we could be wrong in our assumption.

WHAT does activate the fuel pump, if not the COR? We replaced the EFI relay switch 6 months ago and the car ran fine and even passed the rigorous CALIF smog check with flying colors.

 

We found the COR; it was located behind the glove compartment. My friend will run tests today, in the daylight, with his voltmeter. THE COR, despite being 40 years old, was in pristine condition to the naked eye; of course, the cor has been in a sealed compartment that does not get sun, rain, wind, or dust,so that explains it, but it still might be corroded or completely worn out. I am optimitstic that we have found the solution to the intermittent starting issue.

 

The FP terminal inside the box is wired directly to the pump +12V input wire. If the pump is not running when the terminals are jumped check for 12V at B+ terminal with ign switch on.

EFI relay solenoid is powered by the 7.5A ign fuse.

EFI switch when closed sends power to the COR relay switch. When this switch is closed it sends power to the pump.

Check EFI relay plug. Two terminals should have 12V power when ign switch on. Two terminals grounded. One goes to the COR relay switch.

 

THANKS very much for those numbers--I mean, the 12 v and 7.5 A. My friend has not arrived yet, but now I will show him the CORRECT procedure for handling the issue, courtesy of you.

Without those numbers, we would not have known what to look for, other than if we got 0 on the voltmeter! WITH 0, we would have known for sure that something was dead--a circuit, I guess--but now we have more specific guidelines. THANKS again

 

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