stupid fuel pump... (or ghetto fuel pump repair)

[philip_g]

my pump was making noise, a ton of it on occasion so I figured it would be better to swap it now rather than later.

Got the pump out and the replacement in and wired in probabl 20 or 30 minutes, then wrestled with getting it in the tank for about 3 hours before I finally got the locaking ring to hook, but couldn't get it to spin around enough to make me comfortable.... so headed over to a buddy's shop to try and 2 man it in there and finally gave up, did away with the rubber gasket and sealed it up with some permatex.

Any bets on how long it holds? The lock rings actually holds it pretty darn tight, once the goop sets up I can't imagine it'll leak but I can always go over it again around the outside

(on an 89 4.0 BTW)

[jeepdude10000]

I use grease between the tank and gasket and gasket to the ring.

[philip_g]

Not sure it would have helped, I think the gasket that came with th crappy pump was just the wrong size, both in diameter and thickness.

[dizzymac]

Is it quiet now?

[philip_g]

quieter, more pickup on the freeway. Can't drive it for 24 hours until that crap sets though.

[Matthew Currie]

Good luck. I'm, assuming ths Permatex in question was some kind of RTV silicone? If the bead of sealant is thick and sets well you might get lucky. If I were doing it this way, or if you have to do it again, I'd try turning the ring only part way at first, then let the sealant cure before locking it down tight.

Those things are a bear to get in, but I found that one thing that really helps is to grease it all over. It is also really important to get the O-ring in the right place. If it's off center it won't sit down. Another thing that helps is to file the tangs on the locking ring to a sharper edge (the original bevel is too blunt). It's hard to get all three tangs engaged at once, but once they're in it should lock all the way if it's greased well and the O-ring is in the right place.

[philip_g]

the pump is held fairly tight against the tank even without the O-ring in place, I'd imagine with a good coat of permatex on both the flange and plate I can get a good seal, I guess we'll know tomorrow.
next time it needs a pump I'll pay someone to do it, not worth my time or frustration and it would be much easier on a lift.

You can also bend those tabs down to dig under the locking lugs, this helped me a little.

[philip_g]

answers that question, leaks like a sieve. Guess once my buddy gets back from taking it camping we'll be dropping the tank and doing it for the third time.

[Matthew Currie]

Originally Posted by philip_g

answers that question, leaks like a sieve. Guess once my buddy gets back from taking it camping we'll be dropping the tank and doing it for the third time.

If you bent the tangs of the locking ring down, that might contribute to the difficulty getting it locked all the way, because although it will start easier, it will be too tight once you rotate. I recommend filing them sharp without bending if possible.

[philip_g]

Oh well, have a new locking ring on order from NAPA (dealer wants 65 bucks for a stupid locking ring) and will get a new O-ring. We'll just drop the tank and do it the "easy" way.

I still blame my buddy for not letting the gasket material set up for a full 24 hours as I had wanted, that's why it leaks... right

[Jim Mesthene]

Most RTV won't stand immersion in gasoline.

[Matthew Currie]

Originally Posted by philip_g

Oh well, have a new locking ring on order from NAPA (dealer wants 65 bucks for a stupid locking ring) and will get a new O-ring. We'll just drop the tank and do it the "easy" way.

I still blame my buddy for not letting the gasket material set up for a full 24 hours as I had wanted, that's why it leaks... right

Wow! My cheap chinese tank came with a new locking ring as well as a new O-ring. At those prices you could almost buy a cheap chinese tank for the contents of the little plastic bag and throw the fricken tank away!

[philip_g]

Originally Posted by Matthew Currie

Wow! My cheap chinese tank came with a new locking ring as well as a new O-ring. At those prices you could almost buy a cheap chinese tank for the contents of the little plastic bag and throw the fricken tank away!

You could!
I didn't ask what NAPA wanted, I'm sure $5 or less but they couldn't get one for a few days.

[philip_g]

Originally Posted by Jim Mesthene

Most RTV won't stand immersion in gasoline.

we wondered about that but then figured since it could be used on intake manifolds it might be OK, that's probably the problem then.

[RichP]

Originally Posted by philip_g

You could!
I didn't ask what NAPA wanted, I'm sure $5 or less but they couldn't get one for a few days.

The prices sometimes are unreal, I needed a round headlight retaining ring for one of our wranglers this weekend, my jury rig from a couple months ago broke, dealer wanted $35 for the ring, it has 4 screw holes to keep the headlight in the bucket. Just ordered one from quadratec for $14 and change. Tried a generic help one for $7 and could only get 2 of the tabs to line up, grrrrrr, but it's holding so far..