Hi Folks,

I have a dual fuel 2.6 EFI Magna. I ran out of petrol and drove it home on LPG. It obviously overheated the fuel pump. The next morning it had trouble starting, but it did start after cranking for long. On my way to petrol station, I saw smoke coming from under the dash (in the center as well as near steering wheel). I switched off the car then it did not start at all (cranked ok). Now I have replaced the fuel pump with a new one. I noticed the old one was melted.

I checked with the multi-meter, there is no voltage coming to the fuel pump (I checked it while removing the plug from fuel pump). It shows no voltage at the LPG/Petrol changeover switch when turning ignition. I can still hear the relay under the glovebox.

I suspect there may be a short-circuit which caused the smoke or a very high current was drawn through the fuel pump circuit due to faulty fuel pump. It may have damaged the relay or ECU. I am not sure where to start with. Could anyone help me please. I have detailed workshop manual for magna.

Thanks in advance.

The relay for the fuel pump is under the glove box. If you remove the horizontal plastic sheet under the glovebox, you can get to it. 2 8mm bolts hold it on. No need to remove the glovebox itself. Check the wiring in the plug for burns. If you want to test the pump itself there is a connector under the bonnet against the firewall on the passenger side. There are two, the round one with a cap is for ignition timing, the flat one runs the fuel pump. Connect it to battery POSITIVE with some wire.

You could connect that up and check for voltage at the pump, if there (turn your fuel switch to petrol first) the pump wiring is ok and it may be just the relay that needs replacing. I paid $7 for one this morning. lol The ECU is mainly a low current data processing box and is protected from large currents by the fact it runs various relays, so it should be ok. (I hope)

The general approach with dual fuel on any car is to not run the petrol tank dry as it ruins the petrol pump, keep it above quarter to be safe. Daughter got caught out in her Commodore like that, same problem.

If there is still a problem remove more plastic bits from the dash, like the steering column covers and look for burnt wires, especially on the back of the ignition switch. If it gets too hot the plastic will start to melt, should be easily seen.

Good luck. Lots of TR and TSs at the wreckers to get bits from.

Welcome to the forum, and the joys of trying to keep a second gen Magna on the road. I have 2 myself, I know how annoying they can be at times. lol