Fuel Pump replacement gone sour

[SHOtimer]

Got up early this morning to tackle my fuel pump and then replace my rear calipers. As of now calipers arn't done and the SHO won't be running untill Tuesday night. I pulled the SHO in the garage, with the gas light on (so the tank would be nice and light). Using my arm and a few jacks with wood on top I managed to bring the tank down easily and uneventfully. I now procede to unhook the pump, that went fine. Now, their is this other thing behind the pump that has two tubes coming out of it. I figure it is some type of a fume vent (which it is). I get my hand over there to pull it out and snap, breaks right off in my hand. Great! headbang So, at this point I know I'm not getting to the brakes and she isn't gonna be leaving the garage today. I remove the tank swap the pump and call my stealership and the part will be in Tues. Some type of a vapor valve of sorts.

So, moral of the story: Be very careful with the vapor valve when disconnecting it to do a pump swap. I'm not too worried about waiting till Tuesday I was just excited that it wasn't discontinued. Driving my car and working on it is most of the time living and driving in fear that something will break that will be a PITA to locate if it still exsists....

Doug

 

[SHO_Driver]

Bad luck! That's why I cut the access panel. My tires never left the ground and I didn't need to touch that vapour valve.

 

[ACV1081]

Cutting access panels from the top is an absolute must... I use a air chisel with a sheet metal cutting bit and make a 3 sided rectangle over the area of the pump... this allows you to peel back the metal and get to everything w/out dropping the tank, breaking lines, breaking straps, spilling fuel, you name it. It still doesn't get around that pesky ring removal that holds the sending unit in place nor align the darn thing when re-installing it. It does however make for cake pump access. Oh and Doug, did you order that check valve too from ford? It is a must when doing the pump since ford updated the style and it prevents the hard/no start condition when the car is hot. It is like a vapor lock type deal from the check valve being cracked and allowing fumes to go back into the sending unit. Anyways, sorry for the long post... just cut an access panel and save yourself time and headaches! thumb

 

[SHOtimer]

Adam, yes I did get a new check valve. That was part of my motivation to change the pump because the valve was acting up also. I did not want to cut the metal as IMO that is just asking for more problems than are necessary. I would rather know that the metal under my car is all in one piece than it having a square cut in it. Dropping the tank only took about 5-10 min. I didn't find it very difficult at all, and I spilled no fuel. Well, I guess different people prefer different things, I would just rather drop the tank than go cutting up the sheet metal under my car.

Thanx, Doug