It never fails...

[goodfellow]

.....come spring time (April/May timeframe) one of my daily drivers develops some sort of problem. I was driving home last night and the old Rodeo started to jerk and buck under acceleration. I've been here before with this problem and was pretty certain that the fuel pump I installed a few years ago was biting the dust. I pulled over and gave the underside of the fuel tank a few hard hits with the broadside of a hammer, and the problem went away until a few more miles passed. I limped home this way (pulling over, hitting the tank to jar the pump into action).

I'm done with cheap Chinese internal tank mounted pumps on this one. I'll leave the old pump in place and install an in-line pump that is easily replaceable if it occurs again. In fact I'll keep a spare in the toolbox that is pre-wired and easily substituted.

[fatfillup]

Ah, the joys of an aging fleet

[john k]

Did that to an old Buick I drove awhile back.   Only had to rap on the tank, while I reached up and twisted the key with the other hand.   If the hammer had a shorter handle, it wouldn't have happened. 

[bonneyman]

I hate those in the tank fuel pumps with a passion!

[Scout Driver]

We put a good Delphi pump in our '97 Chevy pickup.  In less than 2 months it failed.  Delphi was good enough to warranty the pump and labor.  The replacement has been fine for years now.

Scott

[brslk]

I wish they still had mechanical fuel pumps.  Pop the hood, two bolts, two hoses and it was out.
It also never fails that the in tank pump always stops working when the tank is full...

[Barks]

Just asking---how is it that an electric in-line fuel pump between the old pump and the engine can draw fuel "through" the old, and non-operating, pump?

[goodfellow]

Just asking---how is it that an electric in-line fuel pump between the old pump and the engine can draw fuel "through" the old, and non-operating, pump?

Good question! For a high pressure pump (40-45 psi) like my Rodeo I don't know for sure if it will work. I have used this method for two other vehicles with low pressure (5-10 psi) carburetor based fuel systems. There is just an impeller that is in the way on the broken pump -- and the fuel flows past the impeller when being sucked up by the new pump.

[stokester]

Just asking---how is it that an electric in-line fuel pump between the old pump and the engine can draw fuel "through" the old, and non-operating, pump?

Good question! For a high pressure pump (40-45 psi) like my Rodeo I don't know for sure if it will work. I have used this method for two other vehicles with low pressure (5-10 psi) carburetor based fuel systems. There is just an impeller that is in the way on the broken pump -- and the fuel flows past the impeller when being sucked up by the new pump.

Yea I was wondering that myself. 

Also, does the Rodeo have a fuel pressure regulator?

[Muddy]

I know your pain, well with the aged daily anyway.


Hit a deer Saturday night with my Plymouth. Didn't bother with insurance, as it would be totaled. All it did was crinkle the hood and fender.

 There's barely a layer of paint on the car. But the damn thing just keeps running along. Gonna run it till the wheels fall off.


My "cherry" Plymouth is slowly turning sour.

Sent from the twisted mind of the Mudman.

[fatfillup]

^^^^^^Hatchbacks rule

[Lookin4_67GalaxieConv]

I know your pain, well with the aged daily anyway.


Hit a deer Saturday night with my Plymouth. Didn't bother with insurance, as it would be totaled. All it did was crinkle the hood and fender.

 There's barely a layer of paint on the car. But the damn thing just keeps running along. Gonna run it till the wheels fall off.


My "cherry" Plymouth is slowly turning sour.

Sent from the twisted mind of the Mudman.

Oh we need to see a picture of that! 

[goodfellow]

Decided to take the pump assembly out and see what was up. Everything is crusty on these old rust buckets.
The old pump looked clean, but as I shone a light down into the tank I noticed that the bottom of the well where the pump sits was full of black crud. I decided to drain the tank and only then saw what looked like black sand in the pump well.



I cleaned it out and finally realized that the black gunk was the plastic cladding from the pump.



The pump body has this rubberized cladding and once I touched it it crumbled to pieces.



It may be that this crud became small enough to get past the pump filter screen and into the impeller housing. Anyway, I left the rubber cladding off of the new pump and installed it.



Works great and we'll see how long this one lasts -- hopefully a few more months.

I'll let the sealant for the pump assembly dry overnight and then give the thing a full tank to see if there are any leaks at the assembly seams.

[Muddy]

I know your pain, well with the aged daily anyway.


Hit a deer Saturday night with my Plymouth. Didn't bother with insurance, as it would be totaled. All it did was crinkle the hood and fender.

 There's barely a layer of paint on the car. But the damn thing just keeps running along. Gonna run it till the wheels fall off.


My "cherry" Plymouth is slowly turning sour.

Sent from the twisted mind of the Mudman.

Oh we need to see a picture of that! 

The Plymouth or the deer damage?

Sent from the twisted mind of the Mudman.

[stokester]

No EVAP to deal with 

I replaced the fuel pump in a Pontiac Vibe (Toyota Matrix) which did not come with a new O-ring gasket (required) so I was forced to use the old one... comeback, for an EVAP code which I found with a smoke machine leaking from the pump.  Fortunately these are accessible under the back seat.