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Preemptively replace OEM fuel pump?

pjanda1

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Boulder, CO
I had to drop the fuel tank on my '98 136k miles because I melted a hole in it when I beat the exhaust into two bits on a trail. Near as I can tell, it has never been down before, and it looks like the OEM fuel pump. Should I take this opportunity to replace it? Or will an inexpensive replacement be worse than an OEM pump with 136k miles?

Paul
 
... will an inexpensive replacement be worse than an OEM pump with 136k miles?

Any fuel pump that isn't a Bosch or a genuine Jeep part will be a massive mistake.

If there are no symptoms of failure, why bother ? Typically the check valve will fail, but the fuel pump will continue work for many years.
 
What Tim said... I replaced mine with a Bosch unit and have no problems. And it's way cheaper than replacing the entire unit. I don't remember where I got it from, but it was around 90 bux....

BUT! More importantly...You melted through your gas tank with a hot tailpipe and there was no:flame:???
 
Uh, yeah. I actually discovered it after we had the Jeep towed home because the t-case exploded into three pieces on the interstate. I told my wife we were lucky, because the t-case exploding may have saved us from a fiery death. She was not amused.

Paul
 
THEY are so hard to amuse when they're sitting on the side of the road.

But...leave the pump alone and look into an aftermarket skid that protects the side of the tank.

Maybe...think about some 3/16 wall for a cat back.
:D
 
The way I see it, at 100k miles you've done well. Any more and you're on borrowed time. I'd replace it.

I have a story of my own about lucky I didn't blow up. around 135k my pump failed and left me on the side of the road. When I got it out I could see that the pump must have shorted, drawing more power, although not enough to blow the fuse. the wires got hot enough in the connector to burn apart and burn through the side of the connector. If I could post pictures here I would, I saved the connector for a memento.

I replaced it with a Denso unit because at the time it was the only one I could find that included a connector. Now I see Carter includes one as well. Tells me there is a known issue with this.

Jason
 
THEY are so hard to amuse when they're sitting on the side of the road.
:D
Especially when you are in the middle of no where and its your Anniversary.
:anon:
 
I have a gas tank skid. A really beefy one. That I bent a bit on this trip! OEM question, not an OEM Jeep. I wouldn't go much of anywhere but the street without a gas tank skid.

Like I said, I burned a hole in the tank. It was in the front where the tail pipe goes over the rear axle. The exhaust had been cut and slipped together to facilitate other major work. I slammed it in two just behind the cat up on Holy Cross (dented the cat real bad). At the top, I decided to try and connect it again. The tubes had banged together enough that it took much persuasion to get them to mate for even half and inch. So, the tailpipe was getting pushed back about 3 inches. In retrospect, that was super stupid. I should have just let it keep flopping. Mufflers are overrated. In any event, it is getting a new exhaust now! (When the driveshaft made its untimely exit on the Interstate, it pretty well destroyed the muffler, too.)

Part of why I originally asked is that dropping the tank is harder with the heavy skid, trailer hitch, and shackle relocation brackets. I have bad memories of fighting rusted in nut strips for trailer hitches in the U Pull. But at home with my air tools, I can get the tank down in 10 minutes. So, I'm going to stick with the stock one. I got a spare with the used tank.

Thanks!

Paul
 
'96 is the last year on which you can do that.

'97+ use a plastic tank with a top mounted pump/sending unit assembly. If you want to be able to access the pump without dropping the tank then you have to put a hole in the floor.

I have put a hole in the floor of my Suburban for this very reason. And I have been grateful I did so. (Somehow Chevrolet really blew it on those fuel pumps.) If someone wants to go that way I recommend getting a patch panel from the junkyard, cut out oversized from the same section of the floor from a donor vehicle. That way all the contours line up nicely. Put a strip of butyl sealant between the patch panel and the floor. The butyl will not harden. It releases with a bit of effort and makes for a field serviceable situation. I made nutstrips for my situation, but nutserts would probably be okay too.
 
Agreed. I would add an access panel on anything with a top mounted pump. Some vehicles already have it, I changed a pump on a Buick a while back that had access through the trunk floor.
 
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