gas or additives and fuel pump noise

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Is there any info re gas brand or additives and impact on fuel pump noise? Such as, will fuel power or Lucas reduce fuel pump noise? Another example. Does Chevron or Shell impact fuel pump noise?

a quick search found very litte on this type of question
 
IMHO electrical fuel pump is designed with gasoline as lubrication/cooling in mind so no additional lubrication necessary.

And if you think that dumping something like ucl, 2T oil or similar in small ratio/quantities will help in extending the life of your fuel pump then you must be living on the other side of the planet (ratio-wise, it would almost be a drop in the ocean as far as boosting lubricity's concerned). On the other hand: adding large quantities of light mineral lubricant, 2T oil, etc. in a very significant quantities into your fuel may aid in lubricating the fuel pump better (bushings, vanes, etc.) but at the expense of screewing up your EFI engine emissions feed back loop, causing all kinds of driveability problems.


And as for the explanation why some fuel pumps inside certain automobiles tend to last longer (sometimes way longer) than that of others, IMHO it's all about quality of materials and workmanship. I've dealt with Denso and a few other Japanese fuel pump brands and other than user negligence (they ran their fuel tank dry a few times and burned out their fuel pumps), most of them can easily lasts 15+yrs w/o incident.Even the original Bosch designed fuel pumps tend to last an easy 8~12yrs.

And plse don't quote me on certain domestic brand names for I've had my fair share of frustration ...

Q.
 
Uh... it was a question as I did not know what other's opinions were. The other side of the planet was not under consideration when I thought of the question
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Don't take my word in any offensive way possible Russell.

a properly constructed electrical submissible fuel pump is meant to run in fuel, and the fuel serves as lubrication as well as cooling of the unit itself.

It is intended to be used that way so no additional worries on additional needs for it. Many surfers on the internet claimed all kinds of additives/add-ons w/o serious merits (kinda like mothballs in your gas....lol!)

so long as you never run your gas tank dry to da bone,you just drive until your fuel pump fail and don't question why/how it would fail on you for every mechanical/electrical components are designed to have a certain service life in mind. Some components by certain manufacturers tend to last longer due to quality of materials and workmanships.
 
No Problem. My OE fuel pump just started/noticed it buzzing. It has been in the car for 12 years or so. $250 part at least.
 
Russell-

We should be grateful that hardworking components such as electrical fuel pumps in your gas tank still functioning after 12 yrs. Some fuel pumps namely Bosch and a few others, tend to become somewhat buzzy /noisy after some years of service.

You should be glad that you aren't driving some domestic variants for they would require frequent fuel pump changes on a regular basis (I came across some that would require a new one every 1.5~2.5yrs, even though the user(s) didn't abuse them by running the fuel tank bone-dry.

Q.
 
The cost of the pump is only part of it. The other part is the effort to replace the pump. In some vehicles you drop the tank, in others there is access panel in the trunk or under the back seat.

Sometimes its just the pump, and other times the steel lines on the fuel sender assembly are so rusted they snap and you need to replace that also.
 
Quest, I replaced a fuel pump with a Retech remanufactured pump and it went out in 20,000 miles (3.5 years). This time I got a brand new Carter pump. Am I looking good now?
 
TallPaul-

Some domestic made pumps by "Dexxx" seems to fail far more frequently than others and most of the times it would be either prematurely burnt commutators or plastic vanes.

If you want to go for the extra mile, look for Denso equivalent for your car (no reman plse for they would fail also...)

I would stay away from remain brake calipers, distributor units and ultimately, things like smog pumps, fuel pumps and computer ECU modules at all cost.

Good luck to you Paul.

hmm...lemme see: the oldest denso pump I saw that was still running fine was from my uncle's 78 Celica inline 6 EFI. That thing had clocked over 320,000kms over the course of 26 yrs and it was still with it's original fuel pump!!...my other record would be my dad's totalled(not his fault)89 Mazda 323 with original fuel pump that lasted 11 yrs until it was totaled and the engine had clocked just over 268,000kms.
 
I had a Chrysler K car from 1980 that had FOURTEEN fuel pumps put in it in a year...all under warranty. Last Chrysler I ever owned. The one I had before had the slant six engine...I think those things would run almost forever. What a difference between it and the fuel pump. Obviously, there was some defect, but, at the time, I wasn't experienced enough to know I could have "lemon-lawed" it.
 
I don't want to say anything about the longevity of my OEM pump b/c I might curse it.

RE: noise - there were reports of UCL, FP60, and or MMO quieting fuel pumps and injectors a little bit. I don't have noise to quiet, but some of these adds help smooth the idle a bit.
 
As far as I know, bought the car in 96 with 150k on it, the Bosch main pump is original. It has 342k miles and will be 20yrs old in Nov. In that time, Ive only run the tank out twice. My 88 528e has 2 pumps, an inank transfer pump and the main. The present in tank pump is noisy, but the main is quiet.
 
Not sure how valid it is but I've heard that keeping your fuel filter clean (replaced) can increase the life of the pump.
 
wileyE its a fact... keeping the filter clean means less resistance to pumping = lower pump heat = longer life. Also keep the tank better than 1/4 full to keep the pump cool.
 
Quote:


wileyE its a fact... keeping the filter clean means less resistance to pumping = lower pump heat = longer life. Also keep the tank better than 1/4 full to keep the pump cool.




This has been discussed before as far as what actually cools the fuel pump. The conclusion is that its fuel being pumped through the pump rather than the pump sitting in a tank of fuel. So as long as you do not run out you are OK, whether its 1/4 or a full tank does not matter. But keeping the tank 1/4 full means you are farther away from running out.
 
In addition to Donald's comment, 1 more reminder folks-

yes, all electrical submersible fuel pump are "in the fuel" and also that all these pumps run on a pre-filter (recall there's a sock-like nylon or fabric mesh filter on the inlet side of the fuel pump inside your fuel tank). Whether or not there shall be a secondary fuel filter along the pressured fuel line that depends on the manufacturer (Honda now does not have an additional fuel filter down the line).

Q.
 
Typically, EVERY fuel pump failure (on GM C-K chassis vehicles) also had a fuel filter that was clogged or had never been changed. 70K miles seemed to be the approx time in the vehicle's life for this to happen. Fuel pump noise can be variable, but if you hear it get louder, something needs to be done (filter change?) to see if that helps.

It was also noted that when such failure on these vehicles happened, the wiring harness on the sending unit suffered varying degrees of "melting" of the wiring harness, which ultimately required a new sending unit . . . making the original $350.00 repair (pump, strainer, labor) increase about two-fold. I think that somebody now has a pigtail harness for that plug-in connector now? SO, in any fuel pump failure, ALWAYS check the wires on the sending unit for degradation as you can't tell how far they might have degraded internally when the pump was working harder against a clogged/restricted fuel filter.

Some vehicles (the Chrysler Cirrus/Dodge Stratus were the first ones we ran across) have their filter in the tank, so no external filter. Other Chrysler products are that way too. If you don't find an external replaceable filter listed at the parts store, then it's most probably in the tank and part of the sending unit/pump assembly. As a Chrysler parts associate told me, the in-tank filter is oversized so it does not need to be changed regularly.

In the case of "returnless" fuel systems, the fuel pressure regulator AND filter are part of the sending unit/pump assembly IN THE FUEL TANK. Seems like some Dodge pickups had that first? Now, many GM light duty trucks are that way, possibly others by now too (cost and complexity savings?).

I would recommend a general rule of not less than 1/4 tank, if you can do that. When the low fuel warning light/chime happens on newer vehicles, there's about 2 gallons remaining. In the orientation of a "heat sink", that two gallons is not a very deep pool in the bottom of the tank (which is why the fuel pumps sit inside a plastic baffled situation, to keep fuel near the pump). Even the older carbureted vehicles' low fuel lights were supposed to be at 3 gallons, all things considered. Still, 4-5 gallons in the bottom of the tank (1/4 tank) would be better than 2 or fewer gallons, I suspect. In some cars, you don't notice the chime when the light comes on, by observation.

Another indicator of "something getting ready to happen" is extended crank time. Modern fuel injection systems require a minimum fuel pressure for the injectors to "fire". When the pump gets weak, it can take a while (cranking) for the pressure to get to the min spec, as it cranks (watching the fuel pressure on a pressure gauge), the pressure will slowly build until it hits the magic number (55psi, on some) and then it'll start and run (but with generally less power). So, several different warning signs on fuel injected vehicles . . .

Just some thoughts,
CBODY67
 
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