Fuel Pump Failure

[Jon Wilder]

OK so either my fuel pump and/or the pressure regulator took a dump on me yesterday. The pump cycles on when the key is turned to the on position, but no fuel pressure is present at the rail. The fuel filter is only 3,000 miles old.

My vehicle is a 1999 Explorer 4dr 2WD with 4.0L SOHC. When searching for parts, a lot of places wanna know whether it's the Sport, XL, XLT, or Eddie Bauer model. How do I find the model information?

 

[Turdle]

If it does not have Eddie or XLT badging lets assume it is an xl. Sport wold be a 2 door. Eddie bauer wold have 2 tone paint and eddie seats. XLT wold have XLT badging on the rear hatch.

It matters not though, all 1999 4 door explorers use the same fuel pump. Avoid the airtex brand, or, pumps with short warranties.

 

[2000StreetRod]

Ford Explorer Ranger Fuel pressure test procedure

Ford Explorer Ranger Fuel pressure test procedure

Fuel pump replacement - 2000 Explorer Sport

 

[biff9703]

I've used Airtex in the past. t was the only one I could find for the car I was working on. I don't want to put a poor one in my Ex when it needs one. What brand do you recommend?

 

[Runnin'OnEmpty]

I recently installed a new Carter fuel pump in a Ranger.
It was identical to the stock Motorcraft it replaced.
In addition to those two brands, people say that
Bosch is also a good one....

 

[koda2000]

i put an Airtex pump in my '00 Mountaineer 5.0L about 18 mos ago. it's worked perfectly for almost 30k now. i just replaced the pump part, not the assembly.

i used to work in an auto parts store that carried Airtex pumps. i never recall one bring returned on warranty, although i've read that they had a quality issue some years ago. i think Airtex gets a bad rap because of that. there's not much difference in price between the Airtex and say Bosch or other brands, so buy whatever brand you're comfortable with, but imho, you'd be nuts to buy Motorcraft (way too much money).

i found changing the pump to be pretty easy, at least on a rust free truck. the hardest part was figuring out the the fuel line disconnect at the tank was 3/8's and not 5/16, like the fuel filter. probably took me a couple of hours working slowly.

 

[Jon Wilder]

We're having a hard time trying to get the main fuel line disconnect to release from the fuel pump assembly. Using a 3/8" disconnect tool it just does not seem to want to release.

Is there a chance that it takes a different size to release it? Like a 7/16 size or something?

 

[koda2000]

We're having a hard time trying to get the main fuel line disconnect to release from the fuel pump assembly. Using a 3/8" disconnect tool it just does not seem to want to release.

Is there a chance that it takes a different size to release it? Like a 7/16 size or something?

on my 2000 the 5/16 size gave me fits. the 3/8's size worked instantly. the fuel tank disconnect works the same way as the fuel filter disconnect. you have to be able to push the line into its receiver (female side) just a bit while pressing the release tool in. if you can't do this, it will not release. i use the metal tools as i find the cheap plastic ones don't work very well. use whatever size gets the job done.

 

[Jon Wilder]

Yeah we finally got it to pop with the 3/8 tool. Just finished the job and she's back to running beautifully again.

I have to say this was a very simple operation. We had the tank down in about 20 minutes. The most difficult part was getting the main fuel line to pop off. Once that was done everything went like clockwork. Reassembly time was about 1/2 hour.

Thanks guys.

 

[koda2000]

Yeah we finally got it to pop with the 3/8 tool. Just finished the job and she's back to running beautifully again.

I have to say this was a very simple operation. We had the tank down in about 20 minutes. The most difficult part was getting the main fuel line to pop off. Once that was done everything went like clockwork. Reassembly time was about 1/2 hour.

Thanks guys.

Did i lie?

i found changing the pump to be pretty easy, at least on a rust free truck. the hardest part was figuring out the the fuel line disconnect at the tank was 3/8's and not 5/16, like the fuel filter. probably took me a couple of hours working slowly.

 

[drdoom]

It's not too bad of a job, and very gratifying to hear a quality turbine pump whine when you hit the key...I was haunted by no starts for some time, til I did the pump.

 

[Robman]

throw rust into the mix and it makes you want to cut a hole I did just that with my '97 4dr.