Bosch 5kcstq fuel pump death after 2.5 years

[Wallace White]

Jim -

I'll take another look at my tank for debris at the bottom. I noticed
none previously, but if it's the same color as the tank bottom, I
suppose it blends in. I'll wipe a rag down there.

I'm thinking of doing some flow rate measurements. I intend to put the
pump in a tub of gas and pump into a separate tub. That won't simulate
the pressure that the pump must generate in the car, but still might be
useful. I'll measure volume/time for
(1a) Czech pump as is (with screen still on, 2.5 years use)
(1b) Czech pump with screen cut off
(2a) German pump as is (with screen still on, 13 years use, 2.5 years
sittin')
(2b) German pump with screen cut off

Let's see if I can manage to do this without spewing gas all over
myself... may be best to loosely reinstall the test pumps in the tank
for this experiment...

- Wallace
   '87 5kcstq 190k


james accordino wrote:
> I'm interested in this as well.  Mine is also in this
> time window and is also an early Czech pump.  I think
> they probably had some QC glitchs when they first
> cranked up the factory.  The workers weren't fully up
> to speed, blah, blah.  Hopefully Bob has ironed out
> the kinks by now, but who knows.  I don't think the
> tank level is an issue, as long as you don't have alot
> of debris in there.  I always put in at least 19 gals.
> and have done as much as 20.8.  I can make two
> complete trips to work and back on a tankful and buy
> at a cheap place that has pretty new holding tanks.
> This is big factor.  I've seen the insides of 15-25
> yr. old tanks removed.  Not pretty.  Every time they
> remove the cap to refill, all kinds of crap falls/blow
> down the hole.  They DO have filters, but...  Good
> luck and let us know.
>
> Jim Accordino
>
> --- Wallace White <wallace at stanfordalumni.org> wrote:
>
>>Fellow listers -
>>
>>As I mentioned earlier, pretty sure my 5k's fuel
>>pump has died. The pump
>>has been noisy since installation two years and five
>>months ago, and it
>>was getting steadily noisier. Then, the car lost
>>power and died once at
>>low speed and, ten minutes later, repeated that on
>>the freeway. The pump
>>made louder, undulating noises as the car slowed.
>>Seems _pretty_ sure to
>>be the pump.
>>
>>I pulled the pump. It's a Bosch unit, built in
>>everyone's favorite
>>nation for fuel pumps: the Czech Republic! Note that
>>the original,
>>German-built unit lasted 13 years and was still
>>working fine when I
>>replaced it pre-emptively. Grr... All Bosch fuel
>>pumps for this car are
>>built in the Czech Republic now.
>>
>>(1) I've read in the archives about Pierburg pumps.
>>Are they a direct
>>swap--and are they any more reliable than the Czech
>>Bosch ones? The
>>archives have a few stories of Pierburg pumps
>>failing or making lots of
>>noise from the get-go and getting replaced.
>>
>>(2) A good local supplier (Kohlweiss in Redwood
>>City, CA) lists Bosch
>>($256), Beck/Arnley ($240), Carter ($276), and
>>Python remanufactured
>>($103). I wonder if I can cherry-pick a Python
>>rebuilt pump that was a
>>German-built Bosch originally... that might be more
>>reliable than a new
>>Czech one!
>>
>>(3) Good ol' TPC--where I bought my last one--had
>>the Bosch on sale for
>>$160 yesterday... surely I'd get more than 2.5 years
>>the next time,
>>right? Archives have many stories of noise on Czech
>>pumps but I didn't
>>see many <5-year failures.
>>
>>Two possibly important caveats:
>>
>>(a) I didn't remove the screen from this last
>>pump--maybe should have.
>>The tank's interior still looks fine--no obvious
>>areas where coating has
>>flaked off, etc. The old pump's screen didn't seem
>>blocked, though it
>>did have some residue. The 2.5-yr pump looks
>>similar, though I'll have
>>to verify it dry, in the morning. Could try removing
>>the screen and
>>sticking the Czech one back in...
>>
>>(b) I am guilty of running the tank way down
>>regularly. I usually put
>>17~18 gallons in at a fillup--i.e., I drive up to a
>>gallon past the auto
>>check warning. The tank allegedly holds 21 gallons.
>>I might have to
>>convert to the theory that the pump needs to be
>>fully immersed to be
>>properly cooled. Pathetic design, then, if you ask
>>me.
>>
>>Thanks, all.
>>
>>- Wallace
>>   '87 5kcstq 190k
>>
>>P.S. I appreciated all the thoughts on breakdowns.
>>I'll see if I can get
>>this pump fixed and then summarize the responses,
>>which were plentiful,
>>helpful, and sometimes hilarious. This list is, for
>>me, a big part of
>>the discipline and the pleasure of driving an Audi.
>>Thanks.
>>
>
>
>
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