Hi and thanks for reading. In the last week, my car had starting issues twice, the second time, i was at mechanic's house that works from home (I was being introduced to him ironically). He said that it was the fuel pump and he wanted to change the fuel level sensor and other parts in the fuel tank which came up to $500 plus $300 labor. He says might as well since he's in there since the parts have a tendency to go bad.

Do you guys think he's pulling my leg, or should I go with the repair? Here are my specs.

1998 xj8 45k miles automatic.
I recently had code P1643 (something about the CAN), but after re-installing the air system tightly (there was a gap between the MAF and the tube) the code hasn't come back. Not sure if that helps but thanks for your help!

 

I just replaced my failed fuel pump on Thursday last week. I used an AIRTEX E2471 and a Fuel Strainer FS175 and BOTH were less than a hundred dollars TOTAL. It took about 4 or 5 hours but I had to siphon about 15 gallons of fuel from the EVAP flange opening with the tank partway out to get to the pump without soaking my hands in fuel. The sender can be changed ANYTIME with the fuel level below 1/4 tank.

bob gauff

 

Hello Mr. Gauff,
would you please share the steps you took to change this and if a amateur mechanic like myself can do this reliably?