In a bit of a pickle out of county

[cruiser54]

You did fine. You have it pretty well narrowed to the fuel pump.

[Jess]

2 hours ago, cruiser54 said:

You did fine. You have it pretty well narrowed to the fuel pump.

That sucks. Brand new Bosch fuel pump (like 3k miles).

 

Btw shouldn't the fuel pressure increase when I pull the vacuum line on the regulator? Could it be bad too or is that also a side effect of a bad fuel pump?

[cruiser54]

Could be the hose......

Double check the ohms reading on the ground wire at the fuel pump plug just for fun.

[scguy]

8 hours ago, Jess said:

That sucks. Brand new Bosch fuel pump (like 3k miles).

 

Btw shouldn't the fuel pressure increase when I pull the vacuum line on the regulator? Could it be bad too or is that also a side effect of a bad fuel pump?

If it's not making more pressure than the regulator set pressure, there's nothing to return. It "could" be the fuel hose in the tank. It technically could be a bad regulator also. Can you carefully crimp the return line somewhere it's rubber? If you still don't have proper fuel pressure, that rules out the regulator. 

 

With the pressure dropping off, there's only 4 things that could cause that symptom, in order of likelihood, with #1 being the most likely

 

1. Bad check valve in fuel pump 

2. Leak in fuel hose between pump and sending unit 

3. Bad Fuel pressure regulator

4. Hung open injector or external fuel leak (not likely, would run horrible/possibly hydrolock if leaking off that much pressure/volume)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gogmorgo]

Also could be a plugged filter or pickup sock. It's unlikely but possible that the gas blends this side of the border have loosened up some old junk in the tank and sucked it into the system.

I've also seen a lot of in-tank hoses fail shortly after a pump change. The stress of pulling the old hose off can compromise it if it wasn't already on its way out. It's also not uncommon to see non-submersible fuel line used which doesn't last long when it's sitting in gas. But IIRC the Bosch pump comes with a new chunk of submersible hose so if it is a problem it probably just popped off.

[Jess]

So I just unplugged the breather tube that runs Infront of the pump so it wasn't in my way of taking the pump out and water poured out of it. That doesn't seem right? Could water trapped in the vents be causing this?

 

So before this trip I was having CA SMOG issues. I had low fuel pressure (not this low) and I replaced the pump+screen+breather vents on top and all the hoses connected to them as they were rotted pretty bad and a new gas cap. I don't think that inevitably helped me pass SMOG but it was on my to do list so I figured I might as well so all these gaskets and stuff are new. Not sure how water could have got in there. There has been a lot of rainy driving here and hitting some huge puddles (so fun!)

[Jess]

6 hours ago, cruiser54 said:

Could be the hose......

Double check the ohms reading on the ground wire at the fuel pump plug just for fun.

 

I think this was it! When I pulled the pump out the hose on the outlet side slipped right off. I seated it higher up on the port and tightened it down a ton. I also re-tightened the pump side for good measure. Then spent what felt like an eternity getting the pick up to plug back into that dumb grommet in the tank.

 

I did disconnect the breather from the charcoal canister and blew on it for good measure, nothing came out so I dunno.

 

Regardless it basically started right up. I could tell there was more pressure the moment I started attaching the pressure gauge to the valve and it sprayed gas all over me, something it wasn't doing before.

 

Pressure is bang on 31psi/39 with vacuum removed. I drove it up and down the street, seems to be running great.

 

Thank you all so much, I cannot express how appreciative I am for your help and support.

[Pete M]

[DesertRat1991]

45 minutes ago, Jess said:

 

I think this was it! When I pulled the pump out the hose on the outlet side slipped right off. I seated it higher up on the port and tightened it down a ton. I also re-tightened the pump side for good measure. Then spent what felt like an eternity getting the pick up to plug back into that dumb grommet in the tank.

 

I did disconnect the breather from the charcoal canister and blew on it for good measure, nothing came out so I dunno.

 

Regardless it basically started right up. I could tell there was more pressure the moment I started attaching the pressure gauge to the valve and it sprayed gas all over me, something it wasn't doing before.

 

Pressure is bang on 31psi/39 with vacuum removed. I drove it up and down the street, seems to be running great.

 

Thank you all so much, I cannot express how appreciative I am for your help and support.

 

Well done, gents! 

[cruiser54]

I love happy endings!!