Fuel pump fuse blowing

Ok.  So another day and another problem to puzzle over.

Recently I've been fiddling with fuel gauges trying to get a read but sacked it off.

the other day the fuel pump relay blew. No idea why, I just replaced and it then ran fine yesterday.

today when I tried to crank the fuel pump fuse blew again.  Replacing the fuse has made no difference.

so here's what I've done in search for an answer;

bear in mind that the fuel pump has been running without issue and has been providing plenty of fuel. It's an '83 Dx engine. Oh and it hasn't seen any water for 5 months

pump will run when bridged
tested continuity of both fuel pump wires both fine
tested voltage across fuel pump fuse terminals and get 12.38v
tried two different relays and no change

I've also turned the ignition with both fuel pump terminals insulated and still blows

ideas please cos I'm getting very close to fire bombing the damn thing now

Furthermore I have removed HT lead at the dizzy end and there is a spark when cranking.  Then i put another fuse in and put centre wire of the dizzy 3pin connector to earth which should set the pump off.

Blew the fuse

Having checked the fuel pump wires for continuity again, ive noticed that both show continuity to ground.  Is this correct?

I had something similar a while back, constantly blowing a fuse as soon as I turned the key and If I remember correctly I traced the wires back to the fuse box and found the thermo time switch (coolant temp for 5th injector firing) uses the same wiring loop from the fuse box, this had shorted somewhere, shot in the dark mate, hope you sort it  

Mine kept blowing because of junk in the fuel tank. This clogs the pump and filter, causing the pump to work harder to push fuel through.

I replaced Fuel tank in lift pump, fuel filter and this cured mine.

Downer.  Pump has only done 2k at the most and the tank was fully emptied about 2k ago when I restored the car but perhaps I missed some crud.

So I'll jack car over on one side (as it has about 4 gallons in it) tomorrow to have a peek at that.

As for the wiring, I've listed the checks I have done so far but nothing conclusive

fuel filler neck rusts dropping into the tank, fuel lines etc would need cleaning through. The harder the pump works the more current it pulls, so it either wrecks the relay by overheating or blows fuses.
Sometimes there's nothing definitive, it's a case of investigation, trial and error fella.

Just a thought but it's nothing to do with the coil is it?  If I remember right the fuel pump feed comes off the coil, the twin plastic connector on the coil.

Thanks for the comments all. I forgot to mention that i tried a different coil.

Investigation begins today then

So then an update for now.  Got the car on the ramps to access the pump easier.

Disconnected the side which leads to the accumulator.  Tried and fuse blows.

Got a seperate battery and two wires (positive with an inline 15a fuse.  Placed this on the pump and works great guns.  Fuse then does NOT blow.

This makes me think more electrical side of things am I right?

And I've just checked the current draw of the pump with all pipes reconnected.  It stays at a steady 6.2amp which from what ive seen in a manual is OK (shouldnt be more than 8 amp).

So im thinking not a blockage issue but wiring somewhere, but where  

http://vwgolfmk1.org.uk/forum/index.php?page=topicview&type=misc&id=fuel-systems-and_3%2F-update-problem-with

Have a look at Rubjohnny's comments on this link regarding warm up regulator, I previously mentioned the thermo time switch but meant to say WUR (warm up regulator) as he says, uses the same 12v supply

What a day. Not one i wish to repeat. At least i know my pump is healthy in everyway 

I turned my attention to the wur as mentioned. Mine was dangling as i e been trying to sort system pressure. Changed the wur to a spare i had. Fuse still blew. So tried another spare wur and sucess!

Since then ive tried the initial wur and the other spare and neither have blown the fuse so im thinking it must be something to do with the wur wiring plug.

Then after this sucess the car wouldnt fire because some idiot in a rush to get things back together before work, put the fuel pump wires the wrong way around

The fuel pump power wire to the WUR also feeds the AAV so check that too, peel back the rubber boot on both plugs, make sure wires not shorting together. if not look all thru engine loom where you can see

if no visable damage look behind the fusebox for the red/white engine loom plug, where it joins to the fuel pump power pin E/14. unplug that to isolate the engine bay power wires.

if fuse stops blowing then good news in that you have isolated the problem, bad news is you'll have to dig in the engine loom till you find it!

Thanks for that.  Ive not had the issue since attaching the wur back to the block so for now Im not going to meddle.  However, the idle is a little erratic (even when warm) and when pulling upto a junction it drops to about 400rpm.  After 15seconds or so it'll raise back to 1100rpm.  Does this sound like the AAV causing problems.  Also when hoofing it, it'll get to about 4000rpm then have a fart and kangaroo hop.  Had it to the local MOT garage today to get it running nicer and we cant get the co2 below 3.5 without the engine stalling.

Think I need to find a k jet specialist to hand it off to and pick it back up sorted  

air leak or bad/snapped wire to aav perhaps, and base idle/co has been adjusted too much to compensate?

sounds like it needs a proper once over top to bottom

I fully agree. Ive contacted stealth to see if they can help