Hey all, got a 93 base model 4.0 that recently started whining from the fuel pump. Have no idea if it is original pump or not. Was wondering if, in anyone's experience, that this is a sure sign it's about to crap out on me.

I've had noisy pumps before that were just in it's nature. I haven't had car long, but do not remember ever hearing it before beside when first energized.

Thanks in advance for your input.

 

That is "generally" a sign of wear, and yes, failure may be days away, or years away, that is the mystery of these things.

I would change the fuel filter first, and NOW. If that filter is oldish or of unknown age (as I believe yours is), it may be blocked and that would put a significant "load" on the pump, which will create noise.

 

Excellent suggestion, I had been contemplating changing filter, but will do so this weekend for sure and hope for the best. The pump isn't too expensive, but it sure looks like a terrible pain in the butt of a job.

 

Yep, the language will flow thick and fast for sure. Those "oh crap" clips on the fuel lines under the car right at the tank will be the testy bits. I tie a piece of thin wire around them, (by feel coz you can see NOTHING), and when they take off, you still got em.

The later "quick connect" are just as testy, but at least nothing flies off into the depths of British Engineering.

ENJOY.

 

On my 93 I took the back seat out,then the upholstered cover over the rear bulkhead,then cut a hole thru the bulkhead above the pump(cut as close to the front as possible) then you can reach down and get to the pump easily.Whole job took 2 hours. When cutting you have to go just next to vents and back about even with the stop light. Then rivet or weld some tabs to the top side of the piece removed. then use self tapping screws to hold in place,seal with some rtv.

 

Update:

I had replaced fuel filter couple weeks ago. Old one looked in pretty good shape. Didn't have any discolored sludge drain out anyway.

Fuel pump was still noisy, so decided to gamble and see how long it would go before death.

Then yesterday, it started to quiet down so now I'm really worried...

But so far still pumping. I'll let you all know what happens.

 

You only need to rotate the clips 90 degrees to remove the pipes. Once the pipes are removed you can snap them back in place so the pipes will 'click' into place.

If you don't trust that they will not fall into the rear suspension then tethering them might a safe thing to do.

I dropped one about 10 or 15 years ago and had to fashion a replacement out of a spring metal coiled key ring (the kind you get from the dealer with a paper tag to number your keys for identification). It is probably still on that car and the lost one is still in the rear suspension somewhere.

bob gauff