Hey guys it seems like my fuel pump is bad after my mechanic checked it out. He said I need a fuel pressure reg too! Now I'm wondering if I should attempt to replace the pump myself or pay to have it done. Price is expensive. How long and difficult is it to do on my own??? 89 IROC 5.7 stock car.

 

Its intank. Unless your comfortable dropping rear end, and draining + dropping gas tank. pay someone to do it.

 

why does he say you need to replace the FPR? is there gas in the vac line??

Have you check and FP relay or the main fuel by your battery?

use the search feature, and you'll see how hard it is to replace pump before shelling out big $$$

also, use this set up. better pump and hot wire kit. click below

http://www.racetronix.com/RX-FL98-FPKG-2.html

 

Before anything make sure it's really your problem.

I just did a fuel pump in my car. It's a pretty substantial job, Working efficiently you should be able to do it in a day. Mine took 3 days taking my time only working on it about 2 or 3 hours each day.

You need to get the rear of the car up pretty high with jack stands on the sub-frame to let the rear end hang. Then support the rear end with a jack and unbolt the shocks, panhard bar, panhard bar support, brake line T-junction (just unbolt it to allow some brake line play), and lower control arms. Drop the rear end as far as you can, because next you need to get the tank out.

This part is a pain. First disconnect the 4 fuel lines coming around the top of the tank on the driver side. Don't get gas in your eyes like I did, that will end your day quick. Try to get as much gas out of the tank as you can, then take off the gas cap and the plastic shielding around the filler neck. Support the gas tank with your foot or something (I did this laying on my back with my feet above me pushing up on the tank while I used my hands to take out the two strap bolts.) the tank will start to fall on you. Have fun wrestling it out of there. Try not to bend up the straps too badly.

The rest is pretty straightfoward, turn the locking cam ring on the top of the tank by tapping it around with a screwdriver and hammer. Be careful not to let chunks of the rotten tank seal fall into the tank. Now is a good time to drain ALL the gas out of the tank and maybe vacuum the inside of it to get rid of any crap that may be in there. The empty tank will be much easier to get back in the car because it's lighter.

Back together is the reverse of taking it apart. Like I said make damn sure it's really a pump problem before embarking on this job. Now you know why it's so expensive....

 

WOW! I think that pretty much sealed the deal for me. Called this one shop and he's the cheapest so far. 350 total sound ok??

 

i did it for the first time and it wasnt bad. i had previously did a rear end install so taking it out wasnt a problem for me

i can get a rear end out the car in a hour or so. Its easier to takethe whole rear end out so you can get under there and get at it.

the tank took me alittle while longer whole job took me about a weekend working on it alittle at a time, like a few hours a day.

Dont do it unless your tank is near empty i had 3-4 gallons in it and it was alittle bear to get out. Not hard to get in but getting it out it would have helped to have someone push the filler neck thru as i pulled/twisted the tank down. I had to figure that out

popping the new pump in was easy too. racetronix kit is the best deal going.
Then i wired up the hotwire kit.

All in all the job isnt hard it just takes time. but 350 for that job is NOT a bad deal. I just love workin on cars and dont justify spending money on repairs i can do myself

 

350 total including the pump? Sounds too good to be true to me. Make sure they are using an ACDelco pump, or if you are running a modified engine (I'm not talking bolt ons, i'm talking heads/cam) the Walbro kit.

 

I don't know, the pump is only $100. $250 sounds like 4 hours labor or so. Hopefully the shop doesn't plan on cutting the floor pan up. With a nice body lift, I would think the whole job could be done in 2 hours or less. I paid someone to do mine about 10 years ago; they didn't do it right and they bent my brake line. Not to mention breaking the brand new sending unit by trying to do the job without fully removing the tank....too lame.

This time I did it myself and used the extra money to buy a new fuel tank and pickup/sending unit. I also upgraded my pump to a larger capacity AC Delco (Delphi) pump. The whole job cost about $400 and my fuel gauge is right. I'll never pay someone to do it wrong again.

It took a couple of days, but I really took my time and only worked a few hours per day on it. I did it on jack stands in my driveway and it wasn't that hard, just get all the fuel out first. The fuel tank only weighs 25 pounds empty. Use plenty of PB Blaster and it will all come apart easily. This is a good opportunity to also install new springs/bushings/shocks/panhard-bar/etc......

 

Your local auto parts store should have a device for siphoning liquids, it will be a hose with a fitting on the end of it that has a ball in it. When you push the fitting into the gas it fills the tube up to the level of the fuel then when you pull it up the gas cannot escape because of the ball which acts as a one way valve, all you do is work it in and out until you fill up the tube and it begins to siphon out and your job just got a lot easier. You should be able to get it down to couple of gallons like this.

I would do my fuel pump my self never mind trusting anyone else to do the job right chances are it won't happen.

 

If you do it yourself you'll have the peace of mind knowing you've completed what is probably the biggest pain in the @ss job you can do on a thirdgen, with the possible exception of front coil springs. Even then it's really not too bad if you take your time.

 

I just did it to kinda. Because i took out the fuel pump because im going to carb but the hardest part for me was the tank straps and the taking the tank out. All those different angles and stuff make it little hard i quess. But do it yourself and learn a few new things....
mike

 

I am about to change my fuel pump as well,I would rather do it myself than pay a shop to do it,this way I know it's done right the first time and also the more things you learn how to do on your car the better off you will be.

 

Do search on "fuel pump not that bad" use the quotes. It is a step by step way to do it.