My Fuel Pump Experience

["Buchholz, Steven" <Steven.Buchholz@kla-tencor.com>]

Well, that noisy fuel pump on the '85 5kSQ started making not so healthy
sounds on the way home from work the other day ... so I thought I'd better
get it swapped out.  I got a Bosch unit from Didi at Carlsen on the quick
yesterday ... one of the questionable Czechoslovakian units.  I figured it
would be a quick install so I gave it a shot last night ... what I found was
that while the replacement looked identical the inlet fitting was a larger
diameter, so I had to run to a local auto parts store to buy a foot of 1/2"
fuel line to be able to reassemble.  Fortunately the car has the in-line
fuel filter in the feed to the pump, so I didn't have to worry about
draining the tank to be able to change the line.  Once I got it all back
together again I fired up the car ... at first I thought the pump wasn't
spinning, but finally the engine fired and I went back to check for leaks
... that pump is incredibly quiet!  I drove the car to work today, and it
seems that the new pump has resolved the car's loss of power for a fraction
of a second upon hard acceleration in second and third gears.  

So, to any other 4kQ owners, if you get a new pump you might want to think
about buying a short length of 1/2" fuel line and a new hose clamp for the
larger diameter fitting just in case.  If anyone needs the Bosch number from
the replacement and original pumps send me a direct e-mail ... I didn't
think to write them down last night.  

HTH!
Steve Buchholz
San Jose, CA (USA)