fuel pumps

[Rhett]

Have any of you changed your fuel pump and sending unit/float/strainer etc.? Do you have any particular brand that you would stay away from?

I'm looking at Carter, Motorcraft, and Spectra. Motorcraft is about twice the price of the others -- but is it worth that price. Walbro makes a pump for our explorers, but it is pump only -- I would have to buy a separate sending unit assembly. Any experience / advice with any of the above pumps?

 

[Brian1]

Stay away from Airtex.

I replaced mine with a new unit from Bosch (the pump itself was stamped Walbro). Still going strong after 6+ years. Delphi, Motorcraft would be the only other ones I would consider. Look for the lifetime warranty from whoever you buy it from.

Before you button it all up verify the fuel sender is reading correctly, I had to slightly tweak the rod to make it read right when I got mine. Hopefully you have the fuel pump access panel mod!

 

[gmbroy]

I must agree with Brian 1 Get the bosch , delphi or mototcraft . with the airtex you stand a chance of it going out on you . I have had airtex last for years , but with bosch you have a greater feeling of knowing it will last . I dropped my tank to replace mine . used a floor jack piece of plywood & just took my time . it took 4 hrs but I cleaned up the bolts & put anti seize on them . I am a firm believer in that silver stuff .

 

[Rhett]

Stay away from Airtex.

I replaced mine with a new unit from Bosch (the pump itself was stamped Walbro). Still going strong after 6+ years. Delphi, Motorcraft would be the only other ones I would consider. Look for the lifetime warranty from whoever you buy it from.

Where did you get your Bosch from?

Before you button it all up verify the fuel sender is reading correctly, I had to slightly tweak the rod to make it read right when I got mine. Hopefully you have the fuel pump access panel mod!

I have never done the access panel mod. I am going to drop the tank, since my skid plate needs some work anyway. So did you have to bend the rod? Was it making the fuel gauge off?

 

[Rhett]

I must agree with Brian 1 Get the bosch , delphi or mototcraft . with the airtex you stand a chance of it going out on you . I have had airtex last for years , but with bosch you have a greater feeling of knowing it will last . I dropped my tank to replace mine . used a floor jack piece of plywood & just took my time . it took 4 hrs but I cleaned up the bolts & put anti seize on them . I am a firm believer in that silver stuff .

I'm gonna try to siphon the gas out with two hoses, prob use compressed air on the in-hose to start the other hose. You know a fuel pump only goes bad when you have at LEAST a half a tank in there, right?

 

[gmbroy]

I got my Bosch from Napa here in orange VA

 

[Brian1]

My Bosch came from Advance Auto. I don't know if they still offer it or not. Yes I did bend the rod. I think it was reading off by about 1/8 tank. Whatever it was, it was enough for me to open my tank back up to adjust it.

 

[2stroke]

I would take a Carter over any of those. I've only seen it as a pump only though. I'm still going on an Airtex pump that was made in USA, ran for a couple years in my 1994 explorer, then I took it out and put it in my B4000, which has been going strong for even longer. Probably a total of about 50,000 miles and 5 years on it and no problems.

 

[Rhett]

Thanks for all of the info on the pumps you all use.

Rockauto carries the Carter, which seems to have the whole assembly IF you can trust the picture:
http://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=296600&cc=1119631&jsn=465

Tonight I realized that it's not so easy to siphon gas out of a 94 Explorer -- I assume it has a ball or screen in the filler neck (or at the tank?) like I've seen in other vehicles.

 

[2stroke]

I found the easiest way is to jack up the rear. I actually had it on ramps. Then you can remove the spare tire, and there is a small hose on the rear of the tank. It's easy to siphon through that.

 

[Rhett]

My local NAPA has Carter pump / sender assemblies, so I went with that. Plus a new lock ring, and fuel filter. I forgot to ask them about fuel filler hose.

The NAPA store guy told me that the Napa-branded units were initially Carter, then switched to Airtex, and then recently switched back to Carter.

I haven't decided if I am going to put the rear on ramps, or jack up both the front and rear on stands. Probably stands, since I may remove the right rear tire for better access to the filler neck area.

 

[gmbroy]

good luck on the install Rhett .

 

[arco777]

I bought an Airtex and it was fine for the year that I had the vehicle. I bought a Bosch for an Explorer and it failed after a few months. Bought several Denso pumps and they have been awesome. For me it is either Denso or Motorcraft. Or Walbro, seeing as how they make pumps for Ford often.

 

[Rhett]

Here is a new Carter (top), and a 23 year old Motorcraft (bottom):

And here is a closer look at the float/pump/return/sock area:

 

[mgmgmg]

I went with NAPA 2 years ago, still going strong! Whats was still going STRONG was the Motorcraft! Those Pics should be explain my story.....

 

[2stroke]

The above situation is pretty much a given here in the rust belt. People might view plastic as cheap, but I have yet to see a plastic fuel pump unit break. I've replaced a number of fuel pumps, on quite a few different kind of vehicles, most of them not mine. I can't say I've ever seen an honestly bad one. They either rust out, or develop wiring problems before they get that bad. I just had a heck of a time on a 1998 chevy, after way too much time, multiple fuel pumps, I found Chevy neglected to put a ground to the frame rails of any kind (found due to high resistance from battery to frame). A new wire from battery to frame fixed all of its problems. I guess the tiny braided strap from the body to the frame was supposed to suffice.

Anyway, that Carter unit looks about the same as any other replacement. Too bad they can't use brass floats like the original. I always test the fuel level wires before installing, as I'm sure you know.

 

[Rhett]

Sorry to see that mgm. That will ruin your day. At least here, the winters are not so bad (no snow here last winter) but the City and County morons salt the roads *heavily* with a forecast of flurries. As you can see, my pump was rusty on the exposed parts, but not to the point where it was holing thru.

The above situation is pretty much a given here in the rust belt. People might view plastic as cheap, but I have yet to see a plastic fuel pump unit break. I've replaced a number of fuel pumps, on quite a few different kind of vehicles, most of them not mine. I can't say I've ever seen an honestly bad one. They either rust out, or develop wiring problems before they get that bad.

I can see that. As an example -- this is the first time I've had to change the fuel pump in this Explorer, or the other similar vehicles (Ranger, Bronco II, Mounty) I've owned or friends owned going back to the early 90's.

Anyway, that Carter unit looks about the same as any other replacement. Too bad they can't use brass floats like the original. I always test the fuel level wires before installing, as I'm sure you know.

I do know it is a good idea to test, but I am still a novice when it comes to changing the pump and testing one. I used the procedure Maniak or DannyBoy had in an old thread. Using a DVM, about 145 ohms full, and 22 ohms empty per that thread. I probed the wire from the sender, and the ground. My meter was all over the place on both the old sender, and the new one, but roughly 22 at empty and 160 at full, jumping around a lot more than I expected. I've had no gauge or sender issues so I assume the jumpiness is my DVM or just normal for these types of potentiometers.

 

[2stroke]

Sometimes they can be touchy. if it was bad, you would be seeing much higher numbers. The easy way is to simply plug it in and turn the key on with the battery connected. That way you see that the pump works too.

 

[acschilling]

My Airtex is still going after 5 years. Just make sure the tank is completely sealed once you're done - including evap line on top of the tank - or none of them will last. I cut the access panel in my 92 so it's super easy to get to JIC.

 

[Rhett]

Here's a closeup of what the top of my old Motorcraft pump looked like after 23 years. Rusty, but not holed thru like mgm's, above:

I think I may hit the new sender top with some clear before I button everything up -- to at least give it a first line of defense against corrosion. I think once I'm done, I will be able to drop the tank pretty quickly if I need to, since I'm building a simpler bracket/strap setup than what came on the truck. This time, I had a lot of work to do on that skid plate and its bracketry.