re: Fuel pump problems - continued

[Phil and Judy Rose <pjrose@servtech.com>]

>New update:
>- - Lost 'contest of speed' w/'95 z-28.  Should have lost, but not *that*
>bad.  It was obvious at high speed/high fuel demand conditions that I was
>not getting adequate fuel.
>- - Took out fuel pump.  Found it was clogged by combination of peeling inner
>fuel tank liner, as well as parts of the latex gloves I wore last time I
>replaced the pump (this is called 'shooting yourself in the foot').
>- - Thinking I was going to finally fix this, I cleaned out the tank,
>replaced the fuel filter, and replaced fuel pump *again*.  Yes, that's now
>$450 of friggin' fuel pumps I have put in that car.
>
>AND THE (#&(*#$ NEW PUMP WAS NOISY RIGHT OUT OF THE BOX!  I'M TALKING A
>SWARM OF BEES HERE!
>
>Sigh.  Other than selling the car, anyone got any more ideas on fixing
>this?  Thanks.........SLM
>
>
>Steve Manning:  stephenm@ix.netcom.com
>...Physical home: Metro D.C. area, USA

Steve,

As a '91 200q owner with a similar "swarm of bees" (*) fuel pump noise, I
see your problem at two--possibly independent--levels.

First, flow. There obviously was (is?) crap in the fuel tank that
interfered with adequate flow. Cleaning the tank, if possible, ought to
keep that from recurring. BTW, what did the Audi TSB on the fueltank
problem recommend--was there a cleaning procedure for the tank, or just for
the FP itself?

Second level of concern is the _sound_ of the FP (uh, let's start calling
this the FP "sound", OK?). Other much more experienced Audiphiles than I
take "noise" as convincing evidence that a pump is on the verge of failure.
But in any case there seems to be agreement that the important thing is to
be alert for significant _changes_ in the FP sound. From what I've read and
heard, certain sound levels and characteristics may need to be accepted as
"typical of the breed". Otherwise you may drive yourself nuts trying to
have a silent FP.

You say your first repacement FP was initially quiet (for about a month)
but then started being noisy? This raises the obvious question of whether
the noise began only after enough crud from the tank had clogged the FP
screen. If so, might it be reasonable to expect that a cleanup would be
able to make that pump quiet once again? Did you try that before replacing
it? Have you kept that pump? If so, maybe some experimentation is in order.

Phil
'91 200q (it ticks, it whirrrrs, it growls, but mainly it buzzzzzes*)

(*) actually, "swarm" might be an exaggeration in my case--I'd say it's at
the two-, or maybe three-bee level.)

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         *  Phil & Judy Rose     E-mail:              *
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