Ford E150 Fuel Pump Replacement

[NibbanaBanana]

Here's a very nice trick I got off a guy on one of the Ford truck sites. To replace the fuel pump on a full size van you have two options that I know of. The first is to drop the fuel tank. This was pretty much out of the question for me as the truck was sitting outside in the snow and not running, with a 3/4 full fuel tank.

Or.........Cut a hole in the floor and swap out the pump. (Kudos to WVVan for this great idea.) I eyeballed the pump location with a tape measurer and cut a couple 1 1/2 inch holes on the inside with a hole saw. Then I could see good enough to sketched out where I wanted to cut. Drilled a bunch of 1/8 inch holes along the line, and cut it out with an air hammer and chisel.

$143 to NAPA for the pump, gasket and strainer. 3-4 hours of work and it started up like a champ. Made up a cover with some sheet aluminum I had, sealed it with silicon and screwed it down. Now I have a nice convenient access panel if I ever have to get in there again.

 

[53' Stude]

Very nice idea and nice work sir

 

[Ducked]

How did you fit the aluminium to the floor ribbing? Looks a bit neat for hammering.

 

[DoubleWasp]

Originally Posted By: NibbanaBanana

$143 to NAPA for the pump, gasket and strainer. 3-4 hours of work and it started up like a champ. Made up a cover with a stolen aluminum road sign I had, sealed it with silicon and screwed it down. Now I have a nice convenient access panel if I ever have to get in there again.


Fixed.

Nice work. I like it alot. Good hammer work on the si...I mean sheet aluminum.

 

[Lyman]

I did the same to a 98 Ford Explorer I used to own. I cut the hole under the back seat. Every car should be designed with a fuel pump access panel.

 

[Kruse]

Thanks for the pix.
I did the same on my cousin's beater Chevy pickup a few months ago. He researched it and cut it. I installed the pump that he had purchased.
Saved a bunch of labor.

 

[NibbanaBanana]

Originally Posted By: Ducked
How did you fit the aluminium to the floor ribbing? Looks a bit neat for hammering.

The floor ribbing is 3/8 inch deep. I had some 3/8 flat bar stock that I clamped to my welding bench and used as a fixture to bend it on. Hammer and clamps.

"a stolen aluminum road sign"
I found that sign buried in the dirt down in the woods believe it or not. (I don't lie either.) It would not surprise me if the previous owner of our property did steal it though.

 

[Tegger]

Originally Posted By: NibbanaBanana
some sheet aluminum I had

Pretty cool.

What did the sign say originally? It almost looks like No Parking, but it`s yellow.

 

[KD0AXS]

I used to work for a company with a fleet of about 30 of these vans, most of which had anywhere between 300K and 500K miles on them. This was the standard procedure when a fuel pump needed to be replaced.

 

[Tegger]

Originally Posted By: KD0AXS
This was the standard procedure when a fuel pump needed to be replaced.

Same with older Hondas. Weirdly, the sender in those cars had an access panel, but not the pump. Later cars had an access panel for both.

 

[Run]

It works, better than laying down in the snow trying to drop a tank.

 

[larryinnewyork]

Nice job and very pratical.
Future you will thank you.

I wanted to cut a hole in my Ford Ranger for future Fuel Pump replacement.
Unfortnatly, the Fuel Pump is located (inside fuel tank) between the Bed and Cab.

Oh well, if my Fuel Pump ever goes, I'll have a Mechanic deal with it.

 

[fdcg27]

I wonder whether this is what Ford had in mind when they designed these vehicles?
While I doubt that this repair method is documented in the FSM, surely Ford's engineers would have known that some thinking wrench would figure this out.
Ford obviously omitted an access panel for cost reasons.