{How to change your fuel pump}

{A step by step approach to doing it yourself}

    The first thing you're wanting to do is to jack the rear of the car high enough to get good access to the gas tank.

    Make sure that you remove both of the rear tires to gain better access to everything.

    Once the car is up on the jackstands, you may want to troubleshoot the connection going to the fuel pump.

    In this picture, I used meter lead probes to get voltage to the Grey wire (supplies voltage to the actual pump motor) and to the Black wire which is ground.

    Get a good 12volt source to do this and ground the other lead to the body somewhere.

If the pump does not turn on, then it's time to change.

    The next thing you want to do is to remove the fuel filter.   I used two crescent wrenches to do this, using one wrench to hold the filter while the other wrench loosened up the nut.

    Once done, it's time to get a pair of needlenose pliers to remove the other side of the fuel pump.    Btw, make sure that you have some rags to catch the fuel that is sure to flow out of the connections you're removing.  I'd also suggest that you cap off the ends with some vacuum caps or something to keep the fuel from flowing out of the lines.

    To remove the other side of the fuelfilter, push in the line into the filter, then with a pair of needlenose, press the black clip up against the fuel line, using the filter for leverage, all the while keeping the line pressed into the filter, then gently try to push the black clips out, away from the filter. 

    You may have to do this a few times and try twisting the black clips a bit to clean up the connection.   It will come loose and pop right out. 

    Next, you'll need to purchase this fuel line removal tool that you can find at any car parts place of your choice.   It's very cheap and works quite well for removing the next couple of fuel lines.

    Next, install the fuel line removal tool to the fuel line and it will fit perfectly, albeit a bit stubborn to install.

    Next, push the tool into the connection as you see below.

    Once the tool is inserted as seen, pull apart the two pieces and it'll snap apart as seen in the next couple of pictures.

    Now you're ready to do the last line.   Follow the instructions above to do this other line and it's a piece of cake to do.

    All the fuel lines are now removed so you're now ready to remove the fill hose and vent hose.   You'll see these as they have a worm gear clamp that holds the hoses.

    In the next couple of pictures, you'll see the two hoses you need to remove at the tank.  You may want to use a small stubby screwdriver to remove the clamps.   Once they're removed, gently use a pair of channel locks to remove the hose off of the nipple.   They will usually pull right off and if not, just be carefull pulling them off.

    All the fuel lines are off of the tank and you're now ready to loosen up the nuts.

    Here is what it should look like when all of the lines are off of the tank.

    You're now ready to remove the tank.   So take a 15mm socket, 6 point is best, and remove the following two bolts which hold the straps of the tank to the tank.    You'll see them pictured here in the next couple of photos..

    Here is the drivers side strap bolt that will need to be removed.

    This is the passenger side strap bolt that will need to be removed for tank removal.  Don't remove these completely until you get a jack under the tank to keep the tank from dropping to the ground.    This will damage the tank so you want to make sure that you have support of the tank while dropping it slowly with the jack.

    Here's a picture of where you can use the jack to hold the tank while you're dropping it and loosening up the straps.

Once you have the straps unbolted, gently remove the tank down with the jack, being careful of the wiring harness to the fuelpump as well as the pipe inlets.

    Keep in mind too that when you're dropping the tank, that the drivers side front corner of the tank will be held up by the exhaust to some degree.  So make sure that you look out for that and remove the tank accordingly.   You'll wind up having to drag the tank a bit once it's on the ground to get around the suspension.   Just be gentle while doing this.

   This is what the tank looks like once it is dropped and you''ve now done the hardest part of this fuel pump removal. 

    Now it's time to remove the bad fuel pump out of the tank.   This won't be too hard and is basically a take out the old and replace it with the new.

    The first thing you want to do is grab a pair of needlenose and look for the large C clip that holds and retains the pump assembly to the tank.

    Use the needlenose pliers to squeeze together the clamp while using a screwdriver to remove the clip out of it's hold.  

    Next, you'll want to take that same screwdriver and pry up the pump assembly which is very easy to do.

    Just be careful here and don't use force.   It should come out easily. 

    Once you have the pump assembly removed, simply replace the old unit with a new unit.  

    Be careful while removing and installing the assembly so that you don't hurt or destroy the sending unit on the side of the pump assembly. 

    When the assembly is installed, push it down to where it's flush enough to the tank and make sure that you follow the tab keyway on the installation.   There's only one way to install this so you really can't make a mistake.

    Using the needlenose again, simply clamp the clip together and reinstall the clip and now you're ready for the tank reinstall. 

    Just a quick note for those of you replacing the bad pump with a used pump.   All of the fuel lines or wiring harness is interchangeable with the other pump assembly.  With the used pump I was using, the connections where quite dirty, and rusty.

    So I cut off the fuel lines of the old unit and reattached them to the used assembly by pressing them onto the barbed connections.  It was quite hard to do this but it will go onto the barb all of the way.   Just be patient with it and push hard while doing so.

    Don't cut the lines too short but only to where you're getting into new hosing.  About an inch and nor more needs to be cut.   WIth the ends of my old pump in like new condition, made me feel better in assuring that my connections won't leak or have issues later.

    Next, you're ready to reinstall the tank.   Some help may be needed and makes things easier but did all of this by myself so anyone can do this if they don't mind the little bit of work involved.

    Manipulate the tank back into position, just ahead of the rear axle assembly, keeping in mind that the front drivers side of the tank has to go in first to get over the exhaust system.  

    Another note when reinstalling the tank.   Make sure that you lift the tank just enough to get the straps under the tank.  This will make it easier to get the straps positioned for the finishing touch.

    You'll need to be in wierd positions and have to get up and down quite a bit to manipulate the tank to where it's going to go in easily.   Be patient with it and slowly work it into place with the driverside front corner going in first, then pivoting the tank toward the front of the car, the whole time getting the jack back into position to lift it up.

 

    From here, gently start to jack up the tank, all the while manipulating it back into position.   It just sort of "fits" into place and you really can't make a mistake in not mounting it correctly. 

    Continue to jack it up while simultaneously positioning the straps and setting the tank into place.  

    Always remember to be sure that you don't pinch your lines and that the hose ends of the tank clear the axle, up, and over.   Same for the wiring harness and hoses.   .

 

    The tank should now be up all of the way and the straps up high enough to be able to thread them up.

     Tighten everything up with the straps, making sure that they're aligned correctly, that the wiring harness going into the tank is not binding, and that the hoses are not pinched.   Make sure that you can move this wiring/ hose assembly just a bit to make sure nothing is pinched or crushed before you bolt it down completely.

     Another note on making sure that everything works.   Hook up all of the fuel lines, install the fuel filter, and hook up all of the wiring to see that everything works before you button it all up.  

    Make sure everything is done right and go crank up the car.  

    If it runs and your fuel pressure is good, proceed with tightening up the nuts to the straps, and you're done. 

    Look for any leaks from when the car was cranked and if everything is ok, drop the car off of the jackstands and you're ready to roll. 

   

 

    For those of you that find your new/ used fuel pump isn't working, then remove it all again, and start all over.

    Now you see why I mentioned for you to not fully install this until you know that the new/ used assembly is working.  

    Well, that's it in a nutshell and really isn't that hard once you know what to do.   This will save you alot of money with the exception of the actual price of the fuel pump. 

    Also, this should take you about 3-6 hours if you're doing this by yourself.   With the help of a friend, should take you alot less time.