Fuel Pump Failure

[centralman]

Hello everyone I have a 1987 Dolphin with close to 120,000 miles. I am wondering when the fuel pump will fail - It's not something it has happened to me yet but I would like to ask if there are any symptoms of fuel pump failing and at approximately what mileage it will fail. I really don't like to idea of being stranded somewhere with a dead fuel pump. Would anyone do a preemptive replacement on it?

Thanks for your advice.

[stamar]

i might possibly carry the part in some cubbyhole.

the toyota truck fuel pump is actually the cheapest on the planet earth

worth ordering just so you never get stuck paying auto parts store prices.

I would say it can go hundreds of thousands of miles if not forever.

http://www.amazon.co...81&s=automotive

although here is a real denso one with the strainer.

more likely to clog the strainer than kill the pump anyway.

http://www.amazon.com/Carter-P72165-Carotor-Electric-Strainer/dp/B000C01B4C/ref=au_pf_ss_9?ie=UTF8&Make=Toyota%7C76&Model=Pickup%7C230&Year=1985%7C1985&carId=013&n=15684181&s=automotive

[waiter]

It would be nice if manufactures produced MTBF (Mean Time Between Failure) data for stuff like this, but they don't.

I tend to agree with Stamar on this. Here are some thoughts for your consideration.

150k is getting up there, WAG (Wild Arse Guess) I would say 200 - 250 would be a good life expectancy, your starting to come up on that..

The pump is a pain in the butt to replace, need to drop the tank If you do this, replace the filler neck and vent hose at the same time.

Infant Mortality - The first 5% of the new component is its first failure window, i.e. if it makes it past the first 5% of its life expectancy, odds are very good it will make it to the end. The reason I say this, your odds of failure with a new pump are probably greater than the odds of failure with your existing pump.

Tank contamination and low fuel level. Contamination (rust specks, dirt, etc) plugs up the sock and the pump works harder. Low fuel level, Fuel helps cool the pump, so when the fuel gets low, the pump runs hotter (warmer would be a better word).

If you replace the pump, keep the old one as a spare.

JOhn Mc

88 Dolphin 4 Auto

[Skydancer2992]

In my 1985 4Runner with the 22RE engine, the OEM fuel pump lasted 167,000 miles.

The fuel pump started failing by intermittently not supplying fuel on engine start. Like once every few days. On second try, a good start. Then one day the car stalled on a highway. Only to start again a day later. Drove it home and bought a filter and fuel pump from Autozone. 60,000 miles later the Autozone pump quit suddently. Autozone gave me a free replacement. Sold the car at 235,000 miles.

My 1996 4Runner has 340,000 miles on the original fuel pump. Go figure.

On the 85 4Runner, there's a hatch underneath the rear passenger seat. Undo some screws and you are staring at the top of the fuel tank at the right spot to pull out the pump assembly. Basically, one hour's work and you have a new fuel pump installed.

Might make for a good mod to put a similar hatch in the floor of the camper.

A fuel pump on Ebay is about $35 plus shipping:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ELECTRIC-FUEL-PUMP-AIRTEX-E8023-/320856623703?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item4ab48b8a57

Might be cheap insurance to keep one handy.

[stamar]

ya I would actually buy the cheapest one for insurance. On the other hand Id buy the denso one if I were installing it.

Its hard to explain but thats just what I see from the price difference.

If you might never use it id get the 40$ chinese one.

If youre really dropping the fuel tank Id get the OEM one.

And yes definitely a reliable OEM denso part not like a dodge caravan that will die by 150k at the latest.

It could make a million miles.

Like I said its the um filter that clogs more likely than the pump. dying.

By that time youre covered with gas and grease you may as well replace the fuel pump too

[centralman]

Thanks to everyone who has replied. May I ask the followings:

1. Did anyone do a preemptive replacement on the pump? Or rather wait until it fails?

2. At what mileage would you consider doing a replacement?

3. Is it better to carry a Denso OEM model fuel pump as spare?

4. If the fuel pump fails on the road, is it considered impossible to replace by yourself?

5. Should I also carry the fuel filler neck and vent as spare? Do you know where I can get that?

6. Did anyone experienced a fuel pump failure on their toyota RV? I understand we drive our RV very much differently than our daily vehicle like maybe even with the same engine and setup the same part may fail at different intervals.

Again, thanks to everyone for their input.

[5Toyota]

number 5 bought my filler hose and vent hose at car quest . filler hose sold by the inch not by the foot about 35 doolors for three feet . tooreplace pump must drop the tank. never replaced a toyota pump. filler hose difficult to replace. better to do all at home. LOUD pumps can be a warning sign. KEEP AT LEAST A forth of a tank of gas at alltimes. running low or runing out shortens pump life

[stamar]

If you were trying to do maintenance you could drop the fuel tank and clean it of contaminants.

thats whats killing the fuel pump, why you wan to keep it full is because there is gum forming and when theres no gas left the fuel pump snorts straight gum.

also, fuel injecter cleaners you put in the gas tank loosen more crap up too quickly and can gum in up.

Just opinion I would never just replace it.

if you have a fuel pump that made it to 200k you might have one that will live longer than your car. You made it past factory defect, you made it past the ones that fail cause it gets too hot....

You might have the magic one. Especially if your truck was made in Japan. I dont want to digress but every once in a while I get exposed to a japanese market part that is made to last forever that toyota doesnt show to americans. Especially on those jdm imported engines ( I can show you proof of this but its some other subject)

the fuel pump replacement is no hard. What makes it hard is raising up the huge motorhome high enought and then getting a jack to lower the fuel pump.

I would not call it hard but theres way easier. you could definitely do it on the side of the road 4 hour realistic amature time.

[centralman]

Thanks for everyone's input. I guess the best course of action would be to listen for the fuel pump to get loud and then consider replacing it.

Would then like to ask who has experienced a failed fuel pump on a 22RE (Not necessarily the RV):

1. How long would the fuel pump take from having symptom (eg loud pump noise) to complete failure?

and

2. Everytime I refuel the rv it usually takes around 13.5 gallons on average, would that be too low?

Again, thanks for your advice.

[stamar]

definitely buy the chiltons or haynes manual for a toyota truck.

if you go to any junkyard theres usually a bunch of them

or buy one new.

look at the whole procedure from time to time

the pump is in the tank on top. Its not different than other pumps like it.

but anyway you need to have that manual in paper, not in pdf form.

[waiter]

CentralMan;

Fuel pumps can fail with no warning. A couple things you might do as pre-emptive.

1) When the pump takes a dump (Like that, I should be a poet) you won't hear it running. However, if you've never heard it running before, its hard to tell if its running or not, so do this:

Listen to the sound of your pump. With a full tank of gas, turn your key to the ON (run) position and listen for the pump, it will run for three or four seconds then stop. Depending on your hearing, you may need to get someone to turn the key while you listen outside.

This is a first step in every fuel pump failure troubleshooting procedure, and it applies to any vehicle that has electronic fuel injection. One important note, On some vehicles, the pump doesn't start to run until the starter in bumped, so keep this in mind. just a quick click of the starter then listen carefully and you should hear the pump running.for a few seconds. Try this on your other cars

2) Its possible to drop the tank and replace the pump along side the road. Depending on circumstances, I would certainly try this before I paid someone a few hundred bucks for a tow. You need to make sure you have the correct pump in hand. Also, the tank needs to be reasonably empty, so you may need to siphon gas and put it in containers. (three 5 gallon cans)

3) At 120,000 miles, this would not be on my worry list and I wouldn't carry a pump. If I had 220,000 I'd probably schedule some down time and replace the pump and filler hoses before I made any long trips away from home.

4) 13.5 gallons at fill-up means you have about 4 gallons left in the tank. This should be more than enough to get a good sloshing to wipe the sock and splash on the pump.

5) Download the Factory Service Manual (it 85 meg so it can take a few minutes). If you can print it and bind it, that would be nice. otherwise you might consider the Chiltons or haynes.

John Mc

88 Dolphin 4 Auto

[centralman]

Thank you gentlemen for your feedback. I guess I can consider replacing the pump when it reaches 200,000 miles - that is, if my toyota motorhome will last that long! Took 25 years to reach 120,000 miles I guess it will take another 16/17 years to reach that!

Thanks again. It's been very educational. I guess we all wanted that peace of mind when we are on the road, we can work on our own time and pace when the MH is at home but who needs trouble when you are thousands of miles away?

[stamar]

I noticed the fuel pump or fuel pressure rgulator was not in new condition in my older dolphin iwth the 20r

It had this symptom, if it had been sitting it took about 30 seconds to start. If it had been runing it started instantly, as it had a new battery and starter.

the fuel pump is hard to hear in a toyhome i dont hear it at all.

The fuel pump in my 22re model is just kaboom working great.

[Maineah]

In the several Toyota trucks I have owned (1980 to 2011) I never replaced a fuel pump and the combined mileage has to be close to 3/4 of a million miles and of the hundreds of the ones I worked on maybe 3 or 4 pumps. There is no way I would carry a parts department with me figuring some thing might break. I like to live life figuring it won't and in the hundreds of thousands of miles I have driven in 50 years I have only walked home once. Take care of your ride and it will take care of you. Stand on your head and replace those 22RE filters every once in awhile.