Wow...fuel pumps suck, or Why I should order parts by P/N

[Brian K. Ullrich]

Howdy from Texas


 

Just thought I’d throw out an opinion on replacing my fuel pump on my ’90
200tq. What a friggin’ pain. It probably wouldn’t have been so bad if I
hadn’t had a nearly full fuel tank, and if the fuel supply line hadn’t been
old and brittle
and if I’d known just a few hours earlier that Audi had
superseded my pump with a newer one, plus an updated assembly.

 

Damn thing quit late Wednesday night on a tollroad. Got it towed to my
wrench’s shop (Stett Performance in Plano, Tx) and rented a car Thursday,
thinking I had plenty of time to get the deed done on Friday. How naïve. 

 

On Friday morning, we got started and right away found that we’d have to
overcome not having the VAG tool required to remove the dang fuel
supply/gauge/sending unit assembly, which we did, but then realized that the
fuel supply line from the sending unit assembly to the fuel accumulator was
very brittle, and would not survive. After pumping out 10 gallons of fuel so
we could effectively remove the pump, and figuring out how to “unclip” said
pump assembly, it came out with relative ease. However, the pump that we
ordered (based on the car model) turned out to be the right one
and the
wrong one. It was the right one, based on Audi superseding the existing OEM
pump and assembly with an update, but wrong because I didn’t know any of
that, so I just ordered the dang pump. Blech. 

 

I figured all this out at about 5PM CDT, so I had precious little time to
research the various P/N’s that were available, and get it ordered in time
to be here by Monday. After finding and verifying that I was looking at the
correct one (that would go in my existing assembly), it was too late to get
it from the parts house on Monday. Yada yada
a weekend of no progress
awaits.

 

Got the part in early this morning, hung the gas tank, then headed out to a
local hose shop to gather up a new fuel supply line. Able Auto in Plano
fixed me up on the spot, so we fitted everything up, put the car on the lift
with my fat butt in the trunk to run the new line down to the accumulator,
and bolted everything up. Got it all re-assembled and buttoned up, and she
fired right up.

 

Difficult, but I learned to order parts based on part number, not car. And
that I now smell like gas FOREVER.

 

Brian