How-To: Replace the Fuel Pump (56k death)

[sleestak]

This past weekend I decided to tackle the fuel pump. My research into the topic lead me to many scattered threads about it, but not many details or photos of what to expect. If I recall, there is one "how-to" and it had no pics, just a brief overview and tips. So pretty much I went in armed with the Haynes manual and what I could gather online.

Being that I didn't know what I was getting into and that I completely removed the tank, it took me all day. Thats doing it solo w/ messed up ribs from snowboarding.


So allow me to throw down my "How-To". It was done on an SVT so you may find something slightly different down there. I also kinda hacked my way around detaching the exhaust ...it was "an adventure".

First thing's first, you want to plan ahead on this project. Start keeping an eye on your fuel and work it out so that you have very little in the tank. If your needle is sitting dead on the red line, you'll probably have between 1-2 gallons.

You will also want a can to hold that gas and probably a siphon as well. Also, if you can get access to a lift, do it or find yourself the tallest jack and stands you can find. The higher you can get the car, the easier it will be. My stands went up to 17 1/8" and I would say they were just enough to get the tank out. Any shorter; good luck to ya.

Some new hose clamps will also be handy. Various sizes or just take them all off and get to the store to replace them, thats how I did it. ok, ok, here we go.....




First, locate and pull the fuse (#12) for the fuel pump:





Jump in and fire up the car. Let it run till it dies, then repeat one or two more times. This will depressurize the fuel line.

Put the fuse back in and detach your negative terminal on the battery.


There are a few ways you can proceed from here. Technically, you should unbolt your exhaust from the rear of the flex pipe & pop it off the hangers so you can slide the entire flex-back from side to side...I opted not to do this option, so I am going straight to jacking the rear of the vehicle.

Chock the wheels:





Jack Her up....way up:





You then may want to take off your rear passenger side wheel. You'd be stupid not to really.



Now slide up under the car and look around. You will see the fuel tank and a heat sheild that protects one side of it from the exhaust. That needs to come off. Normally you would unbolt the exhaust from the flex back and also undo all the hangers so you can move the exhaust freely and maneuver the heat sheild around it...I have another way if you dont wish to deal with that. It will involves cutting the heat shield though...

Remove all the retaining tabs that hold the heat sheild in place. You can grab them with pliers and just turn them off, they are threaded:





Now that the heat sheild is free, wiggle it a little and you will notice that it hangs up on the exhaust hanger. You also cant rotate it out because of that small corner of the heat sheild....answer = cut it off.

I grabbed a pair of snips and cut that little section out and zipped it back together later.




That then gave me exactly what I needed to just rotate out the heat sheild from around everything.:




The two pieces:




Now locate the fuel filter and the lines that surround them. You are going to detatch the lines and remove the fuel filter assembly.

** Have rags and safety glasses handy. There will be gas in the filter and probably some in the lines.

[img] http://bonzermedia.com/SVTimages/fue...fuelFilter.jpg [/img]



Now you smell like gas. Get used to it.

Here are the three hoses you need to disconnect in order to drop the tank and get it out from under the car.


The large clamp on the bottom is the filling hose and it uses a regular hose clamp, but the two up top are those special ford (one time use) clips. Mine were facing away from me and I could only get one tool in there so I followed the lines to see where they went and viola...



I found them over closer to the wheel well. Immediately to the left of the circle is the bottom of my strut and the red bar is the end of my swaybar.

There is a small black canister with the one hose on it, and the silver tube you see is the other hose. Getting these off was much easier. Again, they were screwy clamps but I just cut them off and replaced them with normal hose clamps.



Once you have wrestled with it a bit and got the three hoses disconnected, you are ready to drop the tank. You might want an extra set of hands or a jack handy because you dont want it to fall out...theres connections up on top.

The strap that holds the tank has three points of contact and you only have to disconnect one...the one towards the front of the vehicle is held by a bolt, loosen that and support the tank before completely removing it.

Now that the tank is supported, remove the bolt and slowly lower the tank so you can peek on top of it....

Two electrical connections exist here, you need to disconnect them before removing the tank. The first is on the top of the pump and the second is directly opposite on the drivers side.:



You also want to look for this line as well, I believe its an evap line, its tucked into a crease that is molded into the top of the tank:



Now you can lower the tank and remove it. Make sure everything in the rear is ok. As you slide the tank out, the fill up hose should come off:




Whew, now you have the tank out and wow is it dirty. Here are all the connections and such illustrated for you.




Next get the siphon and gas can and remove the remaining gas:




Time to use some brute force...get out the frustration of fighting those hoses and show your tank who's boss. Ok, well not really, but we do need to get that blue retaining ring off and unless you have the special tool, you are going to have to use some ingenuity. I have hear of plenty of methods, but I opted for Ray's @ McNews....

Grab a piece of wood, wedge it against the blue tabs on the ring and give the woos a good whack with a mallet, hammer, brick, your head...something.





Now that the ring is loose you want to remove it.

From here, you just want to follow the instructions that come with the pump. Removal is different per year/make/model. But its a pretty simple (unless you have an 00-01, early 02, and have to cut tabs for the new pump) swap.

On the SVTs you just push two tabs on either side of the pump and pull straight up. The pump fits inside a little basket of sorts.:




With the pump removed, you may want to look inside and see if there is any funk or sludge in the tank...clean it out. I got lucky, 100k miles and it was clean as a whistle in there.

Next you may want to remove the supply line from the top of it. Use a small screw driver to push in the red tabs and disconnect the line. (Your pump will come with a new red piece)

Install the supply line to the new pump per the instructions. Make sure your green oring is in place and drop in the new pump, and seal it up.

Installation is just the reverse. Make sure all your lines are connected well and they are clamped tight. You really don't want to go under there again after all this. If you cut the heat shield like I did, there is a tab that holds it in place and you can reattach the rest with some ties.

And well, thats about it. Pat yourself on the back after you're done. It certainly takes some time and patience.

[febo1228]

good post man, nice and elaborate, should make this a how-to

[bmylez]

Totally agree on making this some sort of sticky...although I dread the day I have to do this.

[LamarWH]

Can't be done from inside the car via taking out the rear seat bottom?

[thelastsvt]

Excellent write-up. Thanks for taking the time to document and photograph. This will be invaluable info when the time comes. I need to get a camera and learn how to do this.

[Reedicus26]

EDIT: inadvertent bump, I totally replied to wrong thread. oops.

[DigitalGT]

Originally Posted by LamarWH

Can't be done from inside the car via taking out the rear seat bottom?

Nope, not unless you feel like cutting a hole in the floor with a saber saw.

[shikatoi]

I'll be doing this tomorrow morning with my mechanic coming over. I'm worried about the 6-7 gallons left in the tank. I think his guide called for 2+ hours for the install, but that doesn't account for having to modify the new pump to fit (01 ZX3)

[bmylez]

Only 2+ hours? That seems pretty generous. The OP said it took him all day (assuming that means close to 8 hours...maybe 6). If I can get a shop to only charge 2 hours plus pump modify, I think I would pay it. Now 4+ hours of labor is not worth it...

[2Focused4Life]

Wasn't the Fuel Pump under Recall from Ford?

[bmylez]

Yeah, I heard something similar about '02 fuel pumps (it matters when it was made. Late '02 have a better pump). Mine is still going strong, but I'm also not straining it much. If it decides to take a crap once I boost it, so be it. I'm not fixing something that ain't broke, though.

[sleestak]

The pump isn't under recall, there is an extended warranty on it. I called about it and it goes by VIN# ... apparently, I have one of the later 02's that doesnt get the extended warranty

As for the amount of time it takes, if you have a lift you will definitely get it done faster. I also had an issue with some of the hose's being stuck to the nipples on the tank, so that too a bit of struggling and straining with my giant hands. But 2 hours, thats a bit generous.