OK, so today I got sick of the buzzing from the back seat, so a fuel pump change was desperately needed.

WHAT A MONGREL JOB.

Luckily my car has the flexible hoses in the piping under the car, so trying to disconnect those silly quick connect was not required, nor possible. I tried, and after slicing the hands on some sharp piece of Jaguar's finest, gave up, and decided that the tank OUT was not going to happen.

Undid all the visible items, and attempted to slide the tank out, BUT, the LH bootlid strut passes through the gap between the filler pipe and the breather pipe, smart, NO, so off with gas strut, then with some tender loving words, HAHAHAHA, the tank slid out quite a way and the top aperture was easily accessable.

Pump out, sweet, but the new one was WRONG, damn.

The X300 pump is a Nippon Denso pump, and I found it the same as most Toyota pumps, such as Landcruiser (6 and V8), Hi-Lux etc, and the plug socket is identical, so "plug and play" is as simple as it gets.

The best part is the pump cost me $69.

Now the fact I am down here, and most of you are up there, the part #'s I give may be useless, but here goes.

The pump I used is a Fuelmiser brand, FPE-249. This is equal to a Goss GE043, and a Dayco EP104AU.

I hope this helps someone, somewhere.

 

Thanks , I am sure this is gonna help someone when they need such info

 

I'm happy to learn they make an objectional noise prior to failure...thought you just go out and get a no-start one fine day...

 

Mostly they just go legs up.

Noise is something that happens, but is usually unheard, unless you are familiar with that particular noise, an old age thing, and hearing aids helps haha.

Ethanol type fuels apparently shortens the life significantly. We dont have it in my corner so not an issue.

This one was just a pesristant "buzzing", and got louder as the fuel level decreased, so I knew what it was. The car performed faultlessly, and since we do a lot of interstate driving, and it is NOT the sort of thing you would change on the side of the road, I bit the bullet.

The XJ-S, being an external pump, started to really squeal, all of a sudden, and 15kms later, DEAD. Easily changed with minimal tools.

 

Grant:
Thanks for the encouragement for cheaper alternatives. I found that lowereing the rear suspension was my easiest access.
I have often heard the ethanol shortens the luife story, but I have seen no good study or proof. The materials used in these pumps should all be compatible with any normal gasoline formulation, or there would be a lot more proof of the problem. Ethanol has not been unusual in gasoline formulations for a very long time. I think its sorta like "I drink water and I got sick, so water must make me sick!"

 

Ross,
I do agree with you on that.

My very limited experience with Ethanol was a while back with the V12 in another state, and I got a dose of 15%, 75ltrs, and it was waaaay too late when I realised, and decided to let the car deal with it, realising that some power loss would be evident, from what I had read.

Well that was a sad day, the mighty V12 decided to run quite HOT (it NEVER runs hot), really struggle for power (HAHAHA), and then the fuel pump (1 year old pump) started a real screaming sound from the boot, DAMN. This was all in less than 20kms from fill up. Returned to that servo, and drained the tank (deserts soak up fuel real quick), put 20ltrs in, ran the engine for a bit, pump quietened down, engine sort of settled, so dropped that fuel also, and refilled with fresh again, and went on our way.

The car was sort of OK for the remaining 4000kms, but that pump was always noisy, so swapped it out when back home.

NOT very scientific I know, and I also know it may have been contaminated fuel, or any number of ills, but the same servo and non-ethanol fuel and all OK, you kind of wonder. Outback servo's are also a bad idea at times mainly due to fuel turnover, and it going "off" in the tanks??, but when the beast wants fuel, one must oblige. We carry 25ltrs extra now, and avoid outback/low volume servos wherever possible.

The X300 originally lived in a state that has mostly Ethanol laced fuel, and at 180000kms the pump was due anyway.

My main reason for doing it was that we travel a lot (retired enjoyment), and being flatbedded in a Jaguar is just SO WRONG.

The fuel filter was quite sad, very black/sticky goo like stuff in the paper, which I am led to believe this is an Ethanol by-product??.

 

Grant:
I understand why your experience would lead to the cause - effect conclusion, but my experience is different. I have 4 XJ300 / 308s now, with a total of 7000,000 miles showing. One was new from the dealer. Where I live, 10% Ethanol legally mandated for clean air. I have had two fuel pump events- One was the known problem on the X-300 of the fuel hose blowing off in the tank. The other was a plugged fuel pump screen. So, neither was an actual pump failure.
Also, as your post points out, the Jag pump is not special, and is similiar or exact to the ones run in many applications. So, if ethanol caused lots of pump failures, you would see the contryside littered with broken cars where ethanol is used.

My MY 89 XJS V-12 DID experience a pump failure, and like yours, failure was preceded by noise. When I dove into it, the tank was full of mudd and rust, and the inlet screen was plugged. My conclusion was that the failure was caused by the crap or having the inlet starved.

 

Ross,

Agreed again.

I looked into the old pump today, and it appears fine to the eye. I ran some fuel through it, and simply held it in my hand, and it does NOT seem to vibrate any more than any other pump I have tested, and pressure was OK.

Thinking back, it may have been an installation issue in the tank itself??. By that I mean that when I refitted the new pump and its bracket with that single bolt, I noted that as you tighten the bolt the bracket rotates with the head of the bolt, until the bracket sits up against the side of the sump bowl. I looked at that with a strong light and felt that the pump itself was "just kissing" the tank, and that would be noisy. As 2 hands via that hole is not possible I used a piece of wood to limit the rotation travel and removed it after , and there is now significant clearence at the pump itself.

So as you say, my pump is more than likely OK, but I am not going to refit it and get caught in some remote part of our island, with a dead pump, and at $69 who would.

Ethanol is a concern in some markets, and we do hear of this sticky goo in some cars at the workshop I assist at from time to time, but with it being an uncommon fuel here at the moment nothing is conclusive at all.

 

Not sure if I understand.

Are you saying that some cars were built with flexible hose in the pipes, and others were built only with solid pipes?

If so, is there any rhyme or reasons to it?

Just wondering. I'm trying to study-up on impending failures. Given my experiences with my XJR in the last few months I reckon my my learning curve is gonna be pointed way upward for the next few months :-)

Cheers
DD

 

I have to agree. I'm just not convinced that enthanol is a big problem, or even a small problem.

The issue has become very politicized in some cases, with ethanol being blamed for all that's wrong with the world. Good grief, if you have a flat tire or your wife gets pregnant, it's probably NOT due to ethanol :-)


Cheers
DD

 

By the way, it's not just water. I recently read that everyone who ate a pickle in 1879 is now dead. SO....avoid pickles at all costs! :-)


Cheers
DD

 

Doug,

No clear answer.

I called in a few favours at my Ex-employer-dealer, and the staff there in service do not remember the X300, too young, damn.

So back to my department, and the parts catalogue only lists solid "pipes", and NO mention of flex bits. Mine have that alloy tag around them, but there is NO WAY I could get at them to even touch that tag, let alone remove it for info, damn again.

I assumed from info I read here, and the other one, that they were solid pipes, and lowering the cradle was required by most to get into the area enough to "pop" those pipes out of the tank.

I stumbled across a poster in Japan, with an X300R, and he noted flex bits in his "pipes", and simply slid the tank out far enough to get the "lid" off, as did I when I saw those hoses.

Obviously, tank removal will require those pipes to be "popped" no matter what.

When you are next under the tail of the beast, have a peep up on top of the cradle, about dead centre, and viewed in from the pinion, and you will either see 2 hoses curled around, or nothing??.

 

The hose I referred to was a short rubber hose, secured with standard screw clamps, inside the tank making the first connection from the fuel pump to the internal fuel pipe assembly.

 

Ross,

Yep I got that, and I also noted that my fuel tank had a Red marker pen notation of "23-1" written on the RH top corner of the tank, which "may" be the TSB code for clamps on internal hose ?????????, as my car had clamps on that line, both ends, and they were "Wurth brand clamps, made in germany", which I very much doubt the factory used??.

Now done 1500kms since the pump change, and NOT A BUZZ to be heard, damn I'm good, HAHAHA. Jack Daniel's all round bartender.

I will be changing the diff oil again in the very NEAR future, and will attempt to get at those alloy bands on those hoses and see if there is a part number on there that will actually mean anything. I will post back to this thread when and IF I find anything useful.

 

OK, as promised, I got all warm and fuzzy with the X300 today.

Diff oil changed, and I had a GOOD look see at those pipe/hoses on top of the cradle coming from the fuel trank "dumb" fittings.

The "rubber" that is barely visible is in fact a protection sleeve over the flex section of that pipe, and that flex section is PLASTIC type tube. The rubber sleeve is obviously to stop chafing as they sit atop the cradle.

I managed to remove the tab from the supply pipe (the one that goes to the fuel filter), and it reads:

NNA6082AF with a date code of 23/11/95, and since my car is dated 12/95 build date it ties up nicely.

Now, that part # originally was NNA6082AE, which went to AF, then AG, then AH, now NLA (no longer available).

Knowing this as a major hindsite, I would NOT consider doing the pump without removal of those pipes from the tank, as sliding it as I did could easily crease those plastic flex bits, and getting them out to repair them would be a serious pain. I have checked mine as best as possible, mirrors and feeling around, as anyone who has ventured into this area knows, actually seeing what you are doing is IMPOSSIBLE.

So it appears that the flex bits are factory original, and nothing sinister has/is going on.