Step by Step fuel pump install

willsull80

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OK I busted into my fuel pump today b/c I'm about to upgrade the fuel pump when I add a turbo to my car. I figured I would take pictures and make notes for the next person who may be replacing or upgrading their fuel pump.

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I hope this helps everyone else out who may have an issue with their fuel pump and make its alot easier and cheaper for you to deal with.

Feel free to add to this post to help myself or anyone else doing the same project.
 
Good lil write up, very detailed.. Thanks and good job.
 
nice!

There are a couple of different version of the pump assembly - so you'll have to feel you way through the specifics on opening the housing. Some you do not have to remove the sender, some do not have the rubber hose.

I wrote a similar article for both the pump and jet pump for the LLSOC - the thing to always add...

the manual says to drain the fuel from the tank first..... (although I never do)... and you can buy a retaining ring tool for $14, which make not only removal but re-intall easier.
 
No problem just figured if someone like me needed to put a pump in and didnt know any better I may spend a lot of money on letting someone else do it when its really not a hard process. May take a hour and thats if you have to goto the parts place to get the pump. This is on a 2004 LS with a V6
 
By the way where do you get a manual... who makes one. I've always worked on mine by just looking at what im working and and going from there. Just like the fuel pump I just knew it was under the seat from seeing one taken apart at a junk yard.
 
e-bay - I bought both printed manuals (shop, wiring, ..etc) and the actual DVD off e-bay. Many of the Ford only tools are on there as well - since many dealers closed there doors...
 
I was thinking about smoking when I was doing this post but the fuel vapors kept putting out the lighter
 
This should be a sticky for the simple fact that stuff like this doesnt get stickied and then people can never find it.
 
not sticky - but send it to Joey to add it to the tech articles.
 
Assembly install very simple on '02

I had a hard starting problem that seemed to be related to lack of fuel pressure at key-on. We all know you should key-on and pause just a bit for the pressure to build up before cranking. Apparently there is a check valve in the system that keeps pressure in the lines after key-off for those who go directly from off to start in a tenth of a second. I admit I'm impatient too and I'd recently noticed that a quick crank resulted in a very hard start. After researching the issue here I began to think my check valve was leaking. I guess that's not too bad for 142k miles. Given that I didn't know where the check valve was located in the assembly or if it's in the pump itself, and that Ford designed the assembly to be replaced, not repaired, I opted to order from Max Z. at FiveStar Ford. It was a good decision.

The assembly pictures above are slightly different from above but the idea is the same. First I released fuel pressure at the rail using the Schraeder valve and a rag. Then removed the seat and pulled back a barrier. Pop the rubber cover out with some verbal encouragement. I had two fuel lines and the electrical connector. The fuel lines released by pressing in two ears/buttons and the line pull up and out. The replacement assembly came with plugs so I could learn how it worked there. The lines in the car don't have enough room so I had to bend them a little to get them out of the assembly. It occurs to me that doing this on a much colder Michigan day wouldn't have been good for fear of breaking them. I used a block of pine and a rubber mallet to coax the retaining ring off. To remove the pump I had to release two tabs, again looking at the new assembly for reference helped. The new assembly dropped in and the whole job was complete in about 40 minutes. In four starts since I haven't seen the hard-start even with quick key-off to crank transitions. We'll know after this week if that really solved the problem.

Has anyone else confirmed the hard start solved by just a check valve replacement? I tore the old unit apart and it sure is simple. It looks just like a coolant thermostat check valve. I wouldn't be surprised if a little fuel varnish or other contaminant was the culprit.

I highly recommend replacing the entire assembly to simplify the job and avoid asking the inexpensive plastic and stamped metal supporting cast to outlast the DC motor and pump unit. In the end I suspect my pump was still OK and it was the 50 cent check valve that went first. Again 142k miles and I've got no complaints.
 
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I highly recommend replacing the entire assembly to simplify the job and avoid asking the inexpensive plastic and stamped metal supporting cast to outlast the DC motor and pump unit. In the end I suspect my pump was still OK and it was the 50 cent check valve that went first. Again 142k miles and I've got no complaints.

srhotz, or anyone else:
Where is the "check valve"?
I have replaced the fuel pump and on occasion I still have issues starting. Hopefully this cheap fix is all that is wrong... :rolleyes: prob not.
 
Correction - hard start not fixed, leaky fuel inj?

Correction guys - my fuel pump "fix" must have been placebo effect. To answer the question - I found the check valve in the old assembly when I tore it apart for learning. It looked fine and it was somewhere near the outlet line but I'm sorry I don't remember exactly where. It was a simple ball in crimped cylinder like you'd see in a coolant thermostat. It certainly could have been leaking slightly, but it wasn't all gummed up or anything and no obvious damage.

I've continued to have hard starting issues and this weekend I found descriptions on this site and others that match my symptoms. Leaky fuel injectors! In the past couple of years I've already done coils, plugs, valve cover gaskets, main fuel pump, fuel filter and the performance after start-up across the entire speed/load map is wonderful, implying I have not compression or other chamber issues. I was slightly wondering about the cam and crank position sensors but not high on those as a problem for a couple of reasons. 1. all posts I've seen about it talk about "ok when warm" or not working at all. My hard starts are also when warm, so it's not that. 2. without crank sensor the ECU won't be able to time the fuel or spark at all. Fuel timing isn't so important for running but spark is critical, so my crank sensor must be fine. Without a cam sensor, an ECU could theoretically go waste fuel and spark (fires every 360 degrees) and then when it sees a combustion event represented in an acceleration of the crank shaft, it could infer cam position. I don't think this is likely because it would almost certainly set a code, and I'm not sure the production ECUs actually would implement such a limp-home strategy, but possible.

So, by process of elimination it's highly improbable that my spark, induction/valve/chamber or total fuel flow rate capability are a problem. Since the injectors obviously can flow fuel, and since no codes are being set, it's not like I have a non-functional injector. But if I don't have the expected pressure, then the pulse-width the ECU commands will deliver an entirely wrong quantity of fuel, the A/F will be way off the small window of combustibility and viola - hard start. Eventually the wall-wetting will accumulate enough fuel and it'll run, then the pressure control will be more active and the ECU will take over. The leak must be small when compared to normal operating flow rates, but large when compared with the flow rate required for startup - b/c it isn't running, then needs to step on.

I have been meaning to buy a fuel pressure tester to confirm all this and noticed that Harbor Freight's got one for $16 so I'll pick one up for fun. I expect to see my pressure build then seep down after the pump disengages. The seep down is likely the result of my injectors being varnished up and not seating in the off position fully, thus bleeding pressure out of the rail. I've noticed that if I try to crank immediately or if I let the pump run for a long time, stop and wait, then in both cases I have the problem. There seems to be a sweet spot in delay between key-on and cranking to avoid the hard start. That would be consistent with the pump running until the ECU sees a high pressure satisfied, then bleeding down. The ECU doesn't expect it to bleed, so may not be controlling pressure as actively as it could be. The other posts I've read fit my symptoms well and like I said, by process of elimination this is about all I'm left with.

Now I need to decide on how to fix it. I've run a total of one bottle of Tecron through the system over the entire vehicle's life of 149k, about 5k ago. I see three options 1. on-car cleaning (direct solvent to rail) 2. off-car cleaning (injectors in ultra-sonic bath) or 3. new or remanuf injectors. I'm waiting on a price from Max on new and see approx $35-40 for remans on the web. The rails look pretty easy to pull, but the solvent would be simplest - if it works.
 
to OP, thank you for posting. very useful.

is should be a sticky for the simple fact that stuff like this doesnt get stickied and then people can never find it.

+1

but, for all the griping that goes on about people failing to search, how about a sticky on how to search and why we would like people to do it?
 
Injectors replacement fixed hard start.

Update - I got around to installing eight new injectors in an effort to fix the hard start problem. It worked. Once that was fixed I noticed a persistent misfire on cyl #5 (from OBD scan code). It was noticeable at idle but not sure if happening at load. That turned out to be too large a gap on the plug. I re-gapped the plug and the stumble at idle went away. The check engine light reset it self the next day of driving - woo hoo! 158k miles on this LSE and counting.
 
OK I busted into my fuel pump today b/c I'm about to upgrade the fuel pump when I add a turbo to my car. I figured I would take pictures and make notes for the next person who may be replacing or upgrading their fuel pump.

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I hope this helps everyone else out who may have an issue with their fuel pump and make its alot easier and cheaper for you to deal with.

Feel free to add to this post to help myself or anyone else doing the same project.
Thank you so much for this!! I really need all this information!! The damn mechanic didn’t put on the gasket so I did it myself!
 

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