cursed

So the van died the other day.
It had been in the process of not wanting to start.
I'd gotten stuck  a couple times in the last 100 miles or so,
but it would start after a couple minutes.

On it's 4th to last trip,
there was this "door buzzer" type alarm ringing.
I'd have the kids open and close their doors but it didn't help.
Great.
The buzzing would stop after a while,
so I'd just drive it,
 figuring that there are so many wires on this thing maybe something shorted.

2001 ford e350
fuel pump repair

Fortunately the time it really died,
it was in front of the shop.
Because of the possibility of a wiring problem,
I was tentative on replacing the fuel pump,
even though it was the most likely culprit.

broken hangers

The van was from New Jersey,
and they must salt those rodes something fierce out there,
cause there is alot of rust.
As a result,
the threaded rods on the fuel tank hangers broke off.
Nice.

Also,
I have never been so dirty working on a car.
Seriously my hands and arms were black,
and so was my face.
The outer rubber on the hoses was like powder.
It was crazy.
Seriously.
It was ridiculous.

fixed

I must be cursed.
Seems like I can't do anything without breaking out the grinder and welder.
Oh well.
It justified doing it myself,
a mechanic would have doubled the price by than.
(even though it took a huge part of the day...)

I had priced out the fuel pump on the O'reilly website.

$90 for the pump only

$200 for the whole assembly (airtex)

$400+ for the whole assembly (bosch)

Since I'm a cheap mofo,

and the assembly was so clean,

(how could it not work after 200,000 miles!)

I started to think about replacing just the pump.

dead fuel pump assembly

Than I had second thoughts,
as they didn't make it easy to just swap out the pump.
Especially since its sitting inside the tank,
and will be pumping out 60 psi for a (hopeful) couple years.

So I got the cheaper replacement.
Hated to spend the money cause I still wasn't sold that it wasn't the wiring.
Sure enough it worked.
Ahhh.
Now I'm kinda thinking the Bosch pump would have been a smarter buy.
Those Germans make some good chit.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Lucy's Fur Coat - Still I complain

If you can find it,
get this CD or download or whatever.
"Jaundice"
Lucy's Fur Coat - Jaundice [Audio CD]
One of my most worn out discs.


!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyway,
it runs,
I'm happy.

How could I write a whole friggin article on replacing a fuel pump!

TP