Fuel pump/tank replacement. Any tips?

[deevergote]

It seems my fuel pump finally shit the bed. I figure I might as well replace the tank while I'm at it, as I'm sure there's plenty of gunk in there!

Going on the advice of an old friend, I'm planning on buying new OEM hardware (bolts, anyway... hopefully my straps are still good enough, because those suckers are pricey.)


The OEM tank and pump assembly are crazy expensive, so I'd rather not go that route. I want to go as cheap as possible without buying total crap. I'd really appreciate any brands and stores to look for!
At the moment, I'm planning on buying from AdvanceAuto (30% off coupon code for online orders, free shipping to store...) That will still cost me well over $200 for the tank and pump, though.

Also, since I've never removed my tank, I'm sure the hardware is a mess (260,000 miles on salted NJ roads...) I plan on hosing the bolts down with PB Blaster a day before I try to remove anything.
Does anyone have any other advice, tips, warnings, etc...?

[cp[mike]]

rock auto!!!!!! consistently the best prices on a full line of products (you choose the quality).

if your pump mounting bracket is shot (like the hardlines that stick out from the top of it) I think the only place you can get that is used, or OEM. Otherwise, ANYTHING that you ever consider buying from Advance or Autozone, you can usually find cheaper on rockauto.com, even for the very same brands (Dorman, etc) They even have new straps for <$20.

I would recommend disassembling the existing tank and see what parts are good or not. Youll need to keep some of them, like the pump mounting stuff and the gauge sending unit. But you will have the option of choosing what you want to replace and buying it all in 1 shot. You can even bench-test your pump to see if it really needs to be replaced or not.

Also I would recommend Fluid Film if you can find it, instead of PB Blaster. The Autozone near me carries it. The FF sticks around longer - so if you spray it days in advance, it hangs on and keeps working the whole time. Blaster you need to keep re-spraying over and over. Ive found that rusty hardware left soaking in FF for an extended period of time ends up looking really pretty nice and comes off just fine. Douse EVERYTHING, the hardware, clamps, hardlines. It will be slimy to work on, but everything will come apart very easily.

[deevergote]

I'll definitely give Fluid Film a shot. Thanks Mike!

It looks like RockAuto is the place to go for the pump. They have cheapies as low as $22, and then the expensive stuff up to almost $300.
They have a Dorman fuel tank for 1/3 the price of Advance Auto. They also have a Spectra tank for about the same price (it'd be considerably cheaper from Advance with the coupon code.)

Most of the fuel pump kits don't come with strainers. Strainers are another $20+, and they seem to be brand-specific.

At the moment, the most attractive options are these:

Denso Fuel Pump kit $135.99 (-30%... +7% sales tax)


And the Spectra Premium Fuel Tank $162.99 (-30%... +7% sales tax)


The total should come out to be about $224. Plus an extra $25 for the bolts, if I order from Majestic Honda (probably cheaper if I just go to a local dealership.)

I could probably save a bunch on the pump if I go cheaper, and reuse my old strainer. I'm just not sure the OE strainer will work with a cheapie off-brand pump.

[Stoner51]

Over the last year I have found that Amazon is at least as cheap as Rockauto if not cheaper. Here is the fuel pump. $116
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000IY6WT6/...I2GF4PVBP1JFJ0

And if you have Prime like I do you get it in 2 days. I order just about everything from Amazon.

Funny how my prices when I click on the advance links are higher than the ones you have listed.

steve

[deevergote]

Are they really? Weird! Prices much change from region to region.

With the 30&#37; off, I'm still not able to find any better prices than Advance (for brands I would trust... I'm nervous about buying a $22 pump!)

[H311RA151N]

I bought a Dorman a few years ago, 2008 I think. It was about $200 with tax. It's still in my old coupe, I see it running around from time to time.

I know Autozone has both Spectra and Dorman. http://www.autozone.com/autozone/par...mString=search

EDIT... I see Spectra has a 3 year warranty though.

[Stoner51]

Are they really? Weird! Prices much change from region to region.

With the 30% off, I'm still not able to find any better prices than Advance (for brands I would trust... I'm nervous about buying a $22 pump!)

That pump was $116 shipped its a Denso Pump

My advance price on the tank was $135 with 20% off that would be about $110 which is great in my opinion.

steve

[lucifer1]

Over the last year I have found that Amazon is at least as cheap as Rockauto if not cheaper. Here is the fuel pump. $116
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000IY6WT6/...I2GF4PVBP1JFJ0

And if you have Prime like I do you get it in 2 days. I order just about everything from Amazon.

steve

Does amazon actually ship right away with prime?

I don't think I am going to continue to use amazon, on my last order it took 5, 7, and 8 days of processing before anything shipped. It is ridiculous to have to wait a full week for shipping. The shipping itself was fast, they 2 day shipped one box from kentucky. My order before that was similiar.

I believe this is intentional to force you into paying for prime. I dont buy enough to justify that $100 a year.


On topic, i bought a denso pump from rock auto a while back, i still have not got around to putting in yet.

[wildBill83]

I know Rock Auto is cheaper than some Amazon items for me, but I generally play between autoparts warehouse and Rock Auto for my big orders. I have dropped a few hundred on AC Delco parts in the last few weeks between RA/APW/Amazon.

APW does free shipping on orders over $50, my last shipping charge from RockAuto was around $90 because my AC Delco parts came from four different warehouses.

I'm on Amazon Prime too, and yes they do ship fast as long as it is listed in an amazon warehouse.

[deevergote]

Does amazon actually ship right away with prime?

I don't think I am going to continue to use amazon, on my last order it took 5, 7, and 8 days of processing before anything shipped. It is ridiculous to have to wait a full week for shipping. The shipping itself was fast, they 2 day shipped one box from kentucky. My order before that was similiar.

I believe this is intentional to force you into paying for prime. I dont buy enough to justify that $100 a year.


On topic, i bought a denso pump from rock auto a while back, i still have not got around to putting in yet.

I've considered Prime just for the Netflix-esque video streaming! If I end up buying lots of stuff on there, I might spring for it. For the shipping AND the streaming video, it's well worth it I'd say.

I know Rock Auto is cheaper than some Amazon items for me, but I generally play between autoparts warehouse and Rock Auto for my big orders. I have dropped a few hundred on AC Delco parts in the last few weeks between RA/APW/Amazon.

APW does free shipping on orders over $50, my last shipping charge from RockAuto was around $90 because my AC Delco parts came from four different warehouses.

I'm on Amazon Prime too, and yes they do ship fast as long as it is listed in an amazon warehouse.

I've never even heard of APW, but I'll take a look. Free shipping for anything over $50 suits me just fine in this case!

And where the hell have you been, man? Glad to see you around here again!

[wildBill83]

Been really busy getting my poop in a group! Glad to be back around.

I'll try and be around more often too especially when the winter rolls in. I'm busy insulating my garage and working on a heating solution so I can do work. I'll have all of my shop tools uhauled up here around turkey day so I'm getting ready. Just got to finish my 89 s10 mechanical rebuild and drive it out of my 3rd stall so I can park my gold car and start the teardown ... again.

APW is not as easy to navigate but they have saved me a ton in shipping costs even if some of their prices are a few dollars more than some of Rock Auto's parts.

[cb7 calling]

Like cp mike said with the hard lines coming out of the mounting bracket, the corrosion makes it easy to crack them. You should be prepared to run to the yard and search for a cb that does not have the tank punctured straight through the fuel pump and bracket.

[Losiracer2]

before you order anything, make sure that your harness isn't shorting out against your tank.

on a car I flipped for profit, I had some weird issues with the starting, so i naturally thought main relay, then fuel pump worst case.

i went all the way to remove the tank, which had not been touched from the factory since 91' and discovered that the harness supplying power for the pump and sender was rubbing on the sharp edge of the tank where the seams meet.

I quickly isolated the wires and wrapped them up properly with electrical tape and it fired up good as new with over 180k on the odometer.

I thought our fuel pumps rarely fail? didn't MM Joe run to a million+ miles with the same pump?

Found the thread I made about it 3 yrs back! has pictures of the frayed wiring too! it looks like it was routed correctly from the factory but was just unluckily rubbing against the side of the tank wearing through the loom and wiring.

http://www.cb7tuner.com/vbb/showthre...ight=fuel+pump

[cb7 calling]

You likely have checked the main relay, but also main relay wiring? Namely the ground. Like Louis was saying these are tough fuel pumps, I have 350,000 and go to gas light on every fill up. I've never changed a fuel pump an any cb. If it is the pump I would also consider a lower milage pump from the yard from an autotragic cb, it would be eom and you could get extra brackets. Change the filter piece and likely run for ever.

[deevergote]

before you order anything, make sure that your harness isn't shorting out against your tank.

on a car I flipped for profit, I had some weird issues with the starting, so i naturally thought main relay, then fuel pump worst case.

i went all the way to remove the tank, which had not been touched from the factory since 91' and discovered that the harness supplying power for the pump and sender was rubbing on the sharp edge of the tank where the seams meet.

I quickly isolated the wires and wrapped them up properly with electrical tape and it fired up good as new with over 180k on the odometer.

I thought our fuel pumps rarely fail? didn't MM Joe run to a million+ miles with the same pump?

Found the thread I made about it 3 yrs back! has pictures of the frayed wiring too! it looks like it was routed correctly from the factory but was just unluckily rubbing against the side of the tank wearing through the loom and wiring.

http://www.cb7tuner.com/vbb/showthre...ight=fuel+pump

That's a good point!
Ok, I guess I'll be removing everything before I order. It'll slow down the repair time, but I'll be able to order things I need as I find they need to be replaced.

I'm thinking my pump is bad because the last time I ran the car, I pretty much ran the tank dry... and the fuel was 7 years old (still ran!) The pump went from sitting in old fuel for 7 years, to idling for 2 hours, to trying to start on an empty tank.