Fuel Pump Replacement

[polaraman]

Hey guys, I'm doing a fuel pump replacement this weekend due to weak pressure. I've been having to "prime" my lines before i crank so it won't just sit there and turn. Once it cranks, it runs perfectly. I done that for a month or so now and now I think the pump is actually on the way out. Yesterday at a stop light, the car felt like it was about to run out of gas and threw a code. I hooked up my scangauge and it read P0174 and 3 P0000 errors, and this is the first time since i've owned the car it has thrown any errors.

FYI...I'm just replacing the pump and not the whole assembly. Should i change the whole thing?

Do you guys have any tips or suggestions to make my life easier? I've never done anything like this but i'm pretty good with my hands.

 

[beuchaw94gt]

It's really easy did mine about a month ago, took me around thirty min total. I went ahead and bought just a pump cause I changed it a few years ago. Most buy the kit that way everything is new and I would go ahead and got a filter too. Are you going with an after market pump?

 

[polaraman]

I just bought the pump. I got it from Advance Auto where my brother is a manager. I used his discount and that drove the price down a few bucks. I put a filter on about a month ago. Should I buy another?

 

[NXcoupe]

Yeah, put the biggest pump in you can afford so it will grow with your needs. Get the pump only, no one really swaps the entire assembly as nothing but the pump and the rubber line ever wear out, and both those come with a fuel pump kit.

 

[beuchaw94gt]

No filter is ok. You should get a strainer though for the new pump. It's like 5 bucks.

 

[polaraman]

Great! I feel a little better about doing it then. I've read that i need to get the rubber grommet/gasket from the stealership. Did you get one? Did you tear your when you dropped your tank?

It's a bone stock 98GT with 172K. I'm not doing any major mods to it. It still has the factory exhaust as far as i can tell. I may break down later and get exhaust but right now i'm just enjoying the car.

I checked the box. The strainer is in the box!

 

[beuchaw94gt]

:nono:I bought a walbro 255 for 110 brand new. He's saying if you plan on doing any thing later donwn the road and you use an oem one you will just have to replace it again.

 

[polaraman]

Yeah, i won't be doing any motor mods, save for possibly exhaust and headers so no worries there.

 

[beuchaw94gt]

Yeah I had to get one the first time I did it. It cost me like 25 bucks.

 

[polaraman]

ok.. I'll pick one up today before i start.

 

[JDwhite98gt]

I hope you got the right pump because advance and pep boys didnt carry one for my 98. The 98 pump is specific to only that year. Good idea to get that gromet for the gas tank. I have about the same amount of miles on my chassis and mine ripped when i swapped out my pump last week. Just spray that sucker with wd40 before you try to squeeze it back in the tank. Only other tips I can give you are, 1) just make sure you have about a quarter tank of gas or less, you'll be able to manuver the tank by hand. 2) Make sure you have some ford fuel disconect tools to disconect the lines going to the pump (one coming off the fuel filter and one line on the chassis right above the axle) 3) Start your car and then pop your trunk and tap on the fuel shut-off box to set it off an wait for the car to die, this will make the lines have less fuel in them when you get them disconected...a lot of fuel will still come out though. 4) when the tank is dropped and you are ready to pull out the pump, you have to pull out the whole assembly, it only goes back in one way but just make sure you pay attention to the fuel level floater, you dont want to break it. It also took me a few tries to get the assembly out, there are two taps that you have to press inwards towards the middle of the tank and then pull kind of hard to dislodge the pump assembly. It feels like you will break something but it will pop out eventually. Make sure when you put it back in eveything "clicks", that way you know its seated in there. Good luck, it should take u maybe 2 hours max if its your first time.

 

[reivaxtorres]

well........i say you get the entire kit when it comes the fuel pump. JDwhite98gt is right, the 98 pump is specific to the 98. autozone carries the complete module (pump, bucket, and both socks), but its pricey, they do carry the pump by itself as well, but its the same part number as the 96/97, so i know thats the wrong one (connections are different).


if you do decide to go ahead and just replace the pump itself, at the very least try to source the fuel pump filters (socks). these are the two little filters that go on the bottom of the bucket and on the bottom of the pump. autozone, napa, kragen (Oreily), pepboys, ford, etc, dont carry JUST those filters, they make you buy the entire assembly. do not chance the pump and reuse those filters or you will start getting a whine out of the pump, and may even cause the pump to fail. i did this, and within about 2 years my brand new pump was showing signs of failure. i replaced those two filters and the pump is acting like new again.

 

[polaraman]

Do you have any idea where i can find those filters?

 

[NXcoupe]

Yeah, dummy me, should have known. lol. It won't be hard, but yes, get the filler neck grommet it's a great idea and you can always take it back if you don't open the package if you don't need it.

 

[reivaxtorres]

Do you have any idea where i can find those filters?

nope, those are really hard to come by. i found them on ebay after months of looking, wasnt fun trying to find them.

 

[DropTopPony]

Yeah, dummy me, should have known. lol. It won't be hard, but yes, get the filler neck grommet it's a great idea and you can always take it back if you don't open the package if you don't need it.

Fo Sho

I did my swap on a Sat and tore my filler neck grommet and could not get one until the following Monday... so its best to have it just incase.

 

[polaraman]

fuel pump replacement is complete as of 1000 last night. It took about 4 hours start to finish. I now only have one issue and I don't think I'm going to worry about it. My fuel gauge does some erratic stuff. When the car is on, it reads as an empty tank. When its switched off, it appears to register somewhat normally.

the only way to fix that is to buy another assembly, right?

 

[polaraman]

one more thing... How do you know if that grommet is bad. Our stealership here didn't carry one so I done it without replacing it. Where exactly is the grommet located?

 

[JDwhite98gt]

Dont know why ur fuel gauge reads correctly with the car off and doesnt work with the car on but sounds like you may have messed up the floater piece, only way to tell is to drop the tank again or you can double check your electrical connection right under the back bumper. To drop the tank you have to pull the metal filler neck out of the tank, there is a rubber gromet that the filler neck slips through into the tank, that needs to be replaced because usually it rips when you pull out the neck. Ford will order you one if they dont have it in stock. Mine was only $12.50