Fuel Pump Overheat?

Had an interesting problem over the weekend. I was geocaching along a local FS road. Temps were probably in the mid 90's, driving below 25mph. At some geocaches I let the engine idle at others I shut the motor off. Toward the end of the trail the fuel pump started howling like a banshee, then the motor sputtered and died. After letting the Jeep sit for a few moments the motor would turn over and start, run for 30 seconds to a minute or two then sputter and die.

Luckily I was able to flag down another XJ that came up on the trail behind me. He pulled me out to the highway. After sitting for about 10-15 minutes the Jeep started and I didn't have any problems with the drive home (~50 miles).

Today I drove the Jeep to work and haven't had any problems. This fuel pump has always been noisy (it was replaced about a year and a half ago)

Is it possible for the fuel pump to overheat or should I just start carrying a spare fuel pump?

Was this at a higher altitude? I replaced my fuel pump last year, no problems with it, runs quiet.

Two trips to the high country this year and I start to have problems between 9 and 10 thousand feet: Fuel pump howls like a banshee, like the tank is empty, I can smell fumes front and rear, hard starting, but runs OK. I loosened the gas cap to see if there was vacuum, had pressure. As the pressure relieved, pump got louder. I think this cheaper (10% ethanol) fuel is partially vaporizing in the pump; on the suction side.

My other theory was that my manifold vacuum dropped to the point the regulator saw a higher demand.

There is one other change this year, I'm running the factory tank skid. Last trip to the high country I waited for the pump to start howling, reached under and felt the tank, it was hot. I'll have to head up for more research, };-> I'll take a vacuum gauge and fuel pressure gauge, and fix the exhaust pipe that broke at the clamp.

Naw between 4000'-5000'

I probably threw altitude out the window last night. Went to 11,200 feet with a different brand gas in cooler temps, no bad sounds.

The odd thing about the other trips is that the pump quieted down as the Jeep descended. Maybe it's just stacking the tolerances...

Arrgh it happened again today!

Arrrggh.

I’m still being plagued by this problem. New conditions. Driving home from SierraFest. Level highway, cruising between 2500-3000rpms, exit the highway to fuel up and the Jeep stalls at the bottom of the offramp. Same symptoms as before, whiny fuel pump, sputtering, fuel smell. I was able to get the Jeep into the gas station and when I removed the gas cap a HUGE amount of pressure was released. Filled up and the Jeep started right away and we were off.

About 60 miles or so down the freeway, the sputtering starts again. This time at freeway speeds. Limp off the freeway to a spot in the shade. Loosen gas cap, once again a huge amount of pressure released. I unscrewed the cap some more and the cap blew off and gas erupted out of the filler like a volcano. I quickly screwed the cap on and let things cool down. I also checked under the hood and noticed some wetness around the connection between the hard vent line and rubber vent line that goes into the charcoal canister. Let things cool and was on our way.

Happens again, this time climbing the Grapevine on I-5. This time we called AAA and had the Jeep towed home.

Is it normal for that much pressure to build inside the tank?

Tonight I’m going to check for pinched or crimped vent lines. Anything else to look for? Can the charcoal canisters get clogged?

Hey karstic im the xj that pulled you out. So was it your fuel pump that was giving you problems??

Hey thanks I forgot your screen name (and real name) I really appreciate what you did.

I replaced the fuelpump and wrapped the return line with some heat shield material.

So far so good