Difficulty of fuel pump replacement? - on street repair

[ant.xlt.96]

Hi guys,

I parked my 96 xlt after work and it wouldn't start in the morning. I'm thinking this is the fuel pump. So far I've cranked it with starting fluid (runs then dies), replaced the fuel filter, and replaced the fuel pump relay. Still no start.
I'll be able to check pressure at the fuel rail this afternoon, but I only heard a small click when listening at filler tube so I think I'm SOL.

Is this a job I can do solo? I'm working in the street, so no bed off for this one. I'm total shadetree,but have torn it down in the road before to change head gaskets.

Any tips? I'd rather do the work myself than bring it in to a shop, but I'm not opposed to that either.

Thanks!
Ant

 

[Lone-Ranger]

If all is well under the hood and you've got power to the pump, I'd say its time for a new one. One way to check it is to smack the bottom of the tank (close to the bottom of the pump) with a rubber hammer or something (but not too hard) while a friend sits inside cranking it over. Sometimes the jolt from hitting the tank will wake it back up, however if it does run, this is NOT a fix, for it will peter out again. As for changing the pump on the street, that's a one man job. If the tank is full though, I would try to get a floor jack under the tank to lower/raise it back up. Even a half tank of fuel that wants to slosh around can be awkward to handle. Other than that, its a simple job to drop a tank and change the pump. Ive never understood why people go to all the trouble to take the bed off the truck to change a fuel pump when more often than not all that holds your tank up is 2 metal straps(sometimes less, I've seen some scary things holding up peoples fuel tanks), each usually held with one bolt or nut. Undo the straps(support the tank with the floor jack first), undo filler tube, lower it enough to undo your fuel lines and electrical connections, and its on the ground my friend. Be sure to clear away all dirt/rocks/debris from the locking ring before you loosen it though. Then again after you loosen it. Don't want any of that garbage in your fuel!!

 

[RonD]

There is a 30amp fuse in the engine compartment fuse box for the fuel pump, FP Fuse

Yes a few 5 gallon cans and a siphon hose will lighten the load if you need to drop the tank

 

[ant.xlt.96]

Thanks for the tips, guys! After testing fuel pressure (0psi), listening for the pump to whirr through the filler tube, and switching out the relay fuse I ended up pulling the bed back with a buddy and accessing the fuel pump that way. With such a tight working space we just slid the bed back onto the bumper and wheelsI thought it'd be a lot harder than it actually was and that's with a camper shell and liner to remove on street. I ended up holding off working until a parking spot was open behind me, I used that to store the topper and liner while working on it. Total time (including a trip to Autozone for a tool) was around 2 hours.

Ant

 

[RonD]

Good work

Thanks for the follow up post

 

[jco77on]

Good to know, I see this happening on my ranger in the near future as well.