Warning signs of a failing fuel pump

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Found this on yahoo.


Symptom 1: Intermittent operation, especially when the engine is hot. If the vehicle starts fine but after a few miles of driving begins to sputter, then the fuel pump could be going bad. This may only occur when the engine is hot, so let the engine idle for at least twenty minutes before checking this particular problem.

Symptom 2: A screeching sound when the engine is engaged is another symptom. This sound could vary depending on the vehicle but the sound will be annoying. The sound will just happen when the engine is first engaged and then disappear.

Symptom 3: A slow or no starting vehicle is another early warning sign of a bad fuel pump. If one's vehicle starts slow or will not start at all and you know that the starter and battery are good, then the next logical part could be the fuel pump. Starting and acceleration of one's vehicle depends heavily on the amount of fuel that is being supplied.

Symptom 4: Engine misfire at highway speeds which can cause the vehicle to have problems for a couple of miles. Hesitant or sluggish acceleration is one of the signs that the vehicle is either out of gas or the fuel pump is failing.

Symptom 5: Engine loses power when climbing hills or pulling trailers. This too can be a sign of a failing fuel pump as the extra power needed for this comes from the gas that is supplied to the engine.

Symptom 6: While someone is turning the ignition key have someone else listen to the gas tank for the pump motor to engage. This is one way to determine if the fuel pump is operational or not. The fuel pump will sound like the whirling of an electric motor if it is engaging properly.

While each of these are symptoms of a failing fuel pump they can also be the symptom of any other part in the fuel system assembly. Remember the fuel system depends on the pump, filters, fuel injectors, spark plugs and so on.
 
A whirring or whine from under the vehicle even if the sound doesn't seem to come from the tank area can be a bad pump.

A bad pump can work fine but still have problems, such as a whine that is louder than normal.
 
My L67...
* slow starting (thought that it was the IAC)
* wouldn't rev past 120km/hr at full throttle.

My E30...
* Occasional no starts
* Occasional cuts while running
* Eventually lots of noise

FIL's Accord
* Occasional no-starts
* No starts that defied repeated off/on with the key, but responded to hammer.
 
I recall hearing lots of "whiny" pumps over the years, yet the vehicle went and went. Only familiar with two incidents: Fairly new (still in warranty) Astrovan hit a railroad track and died; it blew the fuse. Blew it again later; pump finally replaced shortly thereafter. The other incident had the pump quit with zero warning while going down the road. Replacement pump was fairly noisy too (much louder than the original pump).
 
I think you would be lucky to have any sort of warning, my only "warning" was a stalled car along the side of the road
frown.gif
 
I have seen them fail with zero warning. My old van whined for years. Then the day it went it got much louder,sputtered for 1-2 miles and then done. The bad thing was I had just filled it with gas. It took longer to transfer the gas into other vehicles than to drop the tank and change the pump.
 
If the mechanic can't figure what else it could be, then it's probably the fuel pump. Had a 1985 S-10 blazer in which the fuel pump went out at 75,000 and 150,000 miles. The first time I was in Death Valley. Then with my 2001 Silverado, I was on HWY 395, along the eastern Sierras when my fuel gauge went from full to empty and then after awhile, back to full. Got back home (400 miles away) and took it to the dealer. It was the fuel pump, at 97,000 miles.
 
With a large fleet of al GM's you would think we would be heavily invested in this issue.

But only ever had 2 really fail. One was at 200k miles and the truck simply became harder and harder to start when hot. Fired right up cold. Never made any noise. Did it for a long time. Then one day she would not run no matter what we tried.

The other one simply quit during driving, just like you turned the key off. Mileage was 160k.

Didn't feel the severe pain everyone seems to feel as after 100k miles I feel it's up to the owner to accept responsibility and quit whining to the mfgr about repairs.

Other than those two we have never experienced this issue. I always wondered if it was because of our unusual duty cycle...
 
I think something must have changed when the fuel pressures were upped for the Vortecs, then for the LS motors. That or failures are slowly going down.

Dunno, stuff like this makes me want to not take a high mile car on long trips. If it breaks 200+ miles from home you are at the mercy of wherever you are. But I'm paranoid after years of owning a VW, and in general from reading horror stories.
 
In 2004 my 1990 Lincoln Mark VII at 100k miles the car would almost die at 65mph, than fire right back up than die again. I would hear a loud clicking noise inside the cabin. After two months of checking, finally the fuel pump.
 
Originally Posted By: supton
I think something must have changed when the fuel pressures were upped for the Vortecs, then for the LS motors. That or failures are slowly going down.

Dunno, stuff like this makes me want to not take a high mile car on long trips. If it breaks 200+ miles from home you are at the mercy of wherever you are. But I'm paranoid after years of owning a VW, and in general from reading horror stories.


I haven't seen one (external) that you can't get going after the first or second failure with a few hammer blows (in tank different matter)
 
Thanks for the replies fellows. "Wonder the Thunder Pig" is currently at 153,000 and I noticed yesterday the pump seemed to be on the loud side. It also seems to labor under load, (climbing hills and accelerating from a stop). Pretty sure it's the original pump. Didn't know if it was me or if that was a warning sign of problems in the near future. I think for the sake of not being stranded in the middle of no where in the middle of the night, I'll be dropping the tank and replacing the pump this Saturday.
 
Another sign of a fuel pump about to quit is feeling a sudden, inexplicable, and urgent need to completely fill up your gas tank even though it has enough gas in it already. If this happens you should not shut the engine down until you drive to wherever you're going to replace the pump. If you feel that you must fill up the tank right away and can't fight the urge you can leave the engine running while you fill up.
 
Originally Posted By: Donald
Buying a GM vehicle.


The Lift pumps on 24v Cummins engine's are known for their reliability....Right??? The fact it takes out the Injection Pump if ran too long is just icing on the cake.

Back on track....When was the last time the fuel filter changed? A clogged filter will make the pump louder.
 
Originally Posted By: yonyon
Another sign of a fuel pump about to quit is feeling a sudden, inexplicable, and urgent need to completely fill up your gas tank even though it has enough gas in it already. If this happens you should not shut the engine down until you drive to wherever you're going to replace the pump. If you feel that you must fill up the tank right away and can't fight the urge you can leave the engine running while you fill up.
Knowing you, I think you are joking. I presume you expect having to drop the tank to replace the fuel pump and by Murphy's Law, you will need to do it just when the gas tank is completely full!

But then again, sometimes you are serious, so one never knows!
 
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