Have you had to replace your fuel pump?

If you own a fuel injected vehicle, have you had to replace your (in the gas tank) fuel pump in the last 2 years?

I'm asking this because everyone I know who owns a fuel injected vehicle has had this problem in the last year or two. The local mechanic said that 2/3 of his business is replacing those in the gas tank pumps, and the average cost is $600.

I have a 23 year old car with a carburetor and I've never replaced the mchanical fuel pump which is mounted on the engine block. If I needed to replace it, the pump costs $24, and takes a half hour or less to replace. (No gas tank removal).

At the same time, I have another vehicle, a newer pickup truck, with fuel injction, and an in tank electric pump, and I've replaced it 3 times in 4 years. In fact I finally cut an access panel (above th gas tank) in the truck bed, because I refused to drop the tank again. Each pump has cost around $120 just for the pump itself, and once the whole pump/float unit had to be replaced at a cost of $275.

They call this *PROGRESS*. I call it *GARBAGE*.

I'm just curious how many of you have had to replace yours? I think a class action lawsuit is in order against the manufacturers of the vehicles as well as the pump makers.

In the meantime, I'm looking for a manifold for my truck that will allow me to fit a carburetor in place of the fuel injection system, which by the way sucks more gas than the old carb engine.

Reply to
justice4all
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Last fuel pump I recall replacing was on my '53 Mercury flathead back around 1964 or so.

Over the years, often had carb problems, never had an injection problem. BTW, if you change to a carburetor, you'll have to change the fuel pump too as it required different pressure.

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

I give you a one on the troll-o-meter...

Reply to
George

*I had to replace the fuel injection fuel pump once on my last truck (Dodge Ram Van). The mechanic told me it fried. They use a high speed pump and if it loses gas for a few seconds it burns out. At the time I was trying to see how far I could get on my 35 gallon gas tank and would go further and further between gas refills. With so little gas in the tank, any bump or pothole that you drive over is enough to cause the pump to lose fuel and burn out. Now I never let the fuel gauge go below a quarter tank.
Reply to
John Grabowski

the in gas tank pumps are cooled by the fuel in the tank

keep your tank mostly full will extend pump life.......

better to buy the expensive OEM pumps rather than the cheaper aftermarket ones, they dont last as long.....

aftermarket for my dodge caravan 160 bucks

OEM 500 bucks for just the pump:(

but labor to change them costs a fortune........

Reply to
bob haller

=93They call this *PROGRESS*. I call it *GARBAGE*.=94

I agree with you 100% and it=92s not just the fuel pump either it=92s every= thing.=20 The =93progress=94 is apparently in their profits, so they get to sell more= vehicles instead of people getting away with repairing them. Last week I d= id something as simple as replacing my spark plugs, or so I thought. It was= impossible to even unplug the cables without a special tool that costs abo= ut $50.00. If people would at least stop buying cars because of all their n= ew fancy features and accessories the manufacturers might get the message. = It looks like a jungle under the hood of the new cars.=20

Reply to
recyclebinned

re vehicles instead of people getting away with repairing them. Last week I= did something as simple as replacing my spark plugs, or so I thought. It w= as impossible to even unplug the cables without a special tool that costs a= bout $50.00. If people would at least stop buying cars because of all their= new fancy features and accessories the manufacturers might get the message= . It looks like a jungle under the hood of the new cars.

How much of that jungle under the hood and more difficult access do you think is due to "fancy features" as opposed to stricter emission standards, increasing MPG requirements, new safety standards, etc imposed by the govt? You can't squeeze 10 lbs of stuff into a 5 lb box without some consequences.

Reply to
trader4

As usual, Congress is the man behind the curtain (Wizzard of Oz reference.) As usual, they pass laws and regulate, and we get upset at the wrong people.

Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus

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How much of that jungle under the hood and more difficult access do you think is due to "fancy features" as opposed to stricter emission standards, increasing MPG requirements, new safety standards, etc imposed by the govt? You can't squeeze 10 lbs of stuff into a 5 lb box without some consequences.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

...

One (10+ yr-old vehicle) out of total of some 10-12 vehicles in last 20+ years...iow, your "statistics" are terribly skewed...

As for the other rant on vehicles not lasting as long as days of yore, that's just convenient-remembering, too. As is the nonsense that fuel-injected engines don't outperform old normally aspirated...

There is a lot of extraneous "stuff" as far as gew-gaws that aren't all that necessary, granted, but it is what is demanded by the bulk of the market, not the other way 'round...

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Reply to
dpb

Me and my friend LM dropped the 35gal tank on my Dodge van and the problem I was having was caused by the sock screen attached to the intake of the pump being folded over in such a way that a quarter coin sized piece of screen was all that was screening the intake. the small area would clog with debris and the engine would starve for fuel. I don't know if it is the original fuel pump or not but after removing it and reinstalling it properly, all I have to deal with now is poor quality alcohol laced gasoline and the inconsistent engine performance caused by such an abomination. ^_^

TDD

Reply to
The Daring Dufas

Government mandated tree huger friendly fuel adulterated with ethanol is tearing up engines and fuel systems which were really designed for REAL gasoline. O_o

TDD

Reply to
The Daring Dufas

injected vehicle, have you had to replace your (in the

Got me thinking. Maybe there is a market for a hippie retro car.... I mean they do buy VW beetles that are tiny, cramped little wonders that cost $20K, when they could have a real car. So, how about a car styled like a 60s car, with very limited features? They could probably figure out a way to have it get 12mpg too.

As for the fuel pump issue, the last fuel pump I replaced was back in 1978 in a Fiat 124 Spyder that was just two years old. Not example a fair example of the good old days though, because Fiats were real crappers.

I do concur with some of the OP's points, eg having to buy a special tool to remove spark plugs. I was recently working on a BMW and they have a penchant for using a different style frigging electrical connector on various cables, even those going to the same componet. And that wouldn't be so much of a problem, if the connectors could make it obvious what you have to do to get them apart. I've seen a lot of connectors in a long career, but I've never seen so many where even looking at it in broad daylight you can't figure out how it's supposed to come apart. Good luck with the ones you can barely get to.

The same BMW requires a 27mm socket to remove the oil filter. At least that's still a std tool, but why couldn't it be a smaller size that you're likely to have in a std socket set?

Reply to
trader4

35 gal tank on a van? I find that a bit odd. Even at 15 mpg it gives a cruise rand of 525 miles!

Harry K

Reply to
Harry K

My sister's Ford Taurus had to have it's in tank fuel pump replaced 3 times.

The service manager at that dealership told me that the reason why the pump was in the fuel tank was because it was extremely rare for one of them to go.

I told him that I didn't believe that these pumps were reliable and than my sister just happened to have bad luck. But I told him how Ford could fix the problem. My Toyota Corolla also had an in tank fuel pump, but it also had a removable cover in the trunk that provided access to the fuel pump so that the work involved in replacing the pump was dramatically reduced.

The real problem here is that major auto companies want to support their dealerships by ensuring enough things go wrong with enough cars that their mechanics are busy. Electric motors are extremely reliable, and once electric cars become more affordable and more widely accepted, you can count on defects being built into them as well to keep the mechanics in the dealerships busy.

Reply to
nestork

Exactly right. Those who complain about one "luxury" accessory will swear by their electric operated side view mirrors. Fuel pumps are pure luck. I've replaced them once each in 3 of the last 5 of my daily drivers over the past 20 years.. All high millage Chevys and one Grand Am. No rhyme or reason I can see except initial pump quality. Just a month ago I replaced the rusty gas tank in my '97 Lumina. A lot of labor just replacing the tank. Took me and my son about 5 hours, working on the floor at a steady, careful pace. I was just handing him tools. That new tank cost $98. We moved the old pump to the new tank, just replacing the strainer sock. That pump has about 172k miles. Didn't want to spend +$200 on a pump that might outlive the car. An access panel to the pump is a good idea, but most car designers don't see it that way. New cars are leagues better than old ones, and that pump in the tank is maybe the biggest weak spot in terms of maintenance cost. I had the fuel pump fail on my '66 F-100 352ci in the middle of an intersection way back, and there was a nearby parts store. Took me 5 minutes to put the new pump in and get going again. Now you need a tow.

Reply to
Vic Smith

No. I had to replace a fuel tank but the pump was fine.

Do you run the tank empty? Nearly? That's *really* bad for fuel pumps.

Nope. The only fuel pump I've ever replaced was the old style, bolted to the side of the engine.

Do you have emissions inspections in your state?

Reply to
krw

s/cooled/lubricated/

"Mostly full" isn't needed but running it out will kill the pump. Running it low (better to buy the expensive OEM pumps rather than the cheaper

Roger that. The hardware is by far the cheapest part of the job. Don't skimp on the cheap part.

Bingo.

Reply to
krw

I actually see a different problem at work here...the fact that manufacture= rs seem to put absolutely no thought into designing things to be easy to wo= rk on (or actively try to make them difficult so you have to take your car = to the dealer for service, I'm not sure which). This is without a doubt dif= ferent from 50 years ago. Certainly some of it has to do with packing thing= s in tightly to save space but not nearly all.

The in-tank fuel pump on my car was an exception though. I think it took me= about 30 minutes to replace (didn't have to drop the tank or remove anythi= ng else as far as I remember). I could have done it in 10 if I had a lift A= ND I knew what I was doing. That was at least 5 years ago, and I think I pu= lled the original 1994 pump. I don't remember what I paid for the new one, = maybe $75 at most.

Reply to
Larry Fishel

It's an 89 model full sized V8 powered cavern on wheels. I think it's a

35 or 30 gallon tank but when we use a forklift to pick up that huge plastic tank, we thought it was a 50 gallon tank. The darn thing is huge! O_o

TDD

Reply to
The Daring Dufas

On 10/11/2012 7:51 AM, The Daring Dufas wrote: ...

See no real signs of that here...E-10 has been around since the

80's--that's 30 yr which covers the time frame above...only thing I do see is that there's the mileage penalty owing to lower specific energy content...

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Reply to
dpb

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