Hi all! I installed a new fuel pump yesterday. Old one was dying on me. Replaced it with a Carter P75040M 12v.
hooked everything back up as it should and primed it before hand. Went to start and now she won’t crank at all. I can hear the fuel pump Turing on. Some of the lights kinda work but I can’t get the headlights to turn on now either. I didn’t have any battery issues before this. Can y’all shoot me ideas where to start?

 

Start by cleaning the connections to the battery. And while you have the cables off, have it load tested for free, at an auto parts store to see if it is still good. If your cables have a ton of salt built up on the positive cable, the cable may be corroded inside the insulation and may need to be replaced

 

load test at a battery shop is definitive, (but as you cannot start it) a simple multimeter on the battery is very indicative

a fully charged battery should hold over 12.5V

for every 0.1V below that, is a substantial % less effective

12.25 is about 50% and usually means the battery is on the way out, (although it will read this after a few cranks)

any history of going flat will drastically reduce battery life.
3 to 5yrs is not abnormal. The days of batteries lasting 10yrs is mainly gone