After changing my fuel pump, my van start giving me problems

Tiny
BRENDALGONZALEZ
  • MEMBER
  • 1993 MERCURY VILLAGER
  • 154,200 MILES
First of all sorry if my english is not that great. Hope you understand!

After my fuel pump got changed, everything was great(so I thought). After I changed the fuel pump, my gas reader would always show full, so I had no idea of knowing when I needed gas. This problem, I found later after noticing the gas wasn't going down. Well my trip was the next day, so I kept track of the miles and went on my 4 hours drive to TampA(my van had always take me there with no problem). After 3 hours and 55 minutes drive(5 min from my destination), I got to a red light and my car rmp dropped and van turned off(yes, I put gas on my car). It turned on right away but turned off again. When the light turn green I drove to a parking lot very slowly and rmp dropped again. I needed to be somewhere, so I could not wait. I called a tow truck and left. Later on, they called me telling me the van is running fine. I could not believe it. The mechanic drove the van for an hour and no problem. They also did a diagnostic and no problem. They could not find anything wrong. They removed the fuel pump and changed the fuel filter. Eventhough, we paid to have the problem fixed the van gas reader never drop. Again no way of knowing when I was running out of gas. On my way back, my car started hesitating again, so we turned off the van and waited for one hour and that did the trick. She was driving like a champ. I am planning to take the car back to Good Year since I have a warranty for a year. But I would like to know. What's wrong with my van? She never ever gave me problem until the fuel pump got change. Could it be water on the fuel tank? Thank you!
Wednesday, October 10th, 2012 AT 1:30 PM

9 Replies

Tiny
KHLOW2008
  • MECHANIC
  • 41,814 POSTS
The sending unit seems to be stuck in the full position or the wire is shorted to ground resulting in the fuel gauge indicating full all the time. When removing the fuel pump, they should have noticed the problem.

The stalling and non starting could have been something else or the fuel pump itself.

What was the reason for replacing the fuel pump? Was it for the same symptoms?
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Wednesday, October 10th, 2012 AT 1:41 PM
Tiny
MATTTYW20
  • MEMBER
  • 113 POSTS
Sendind unit is what controls the fuel level on dash either that or maybe a gauge problem you payed for the warranty soo make sure you get them to fix it correctly
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Wednesday, October 10th, 2012 AT 2:28 PM
Tiny
BRENDALGONZALEZ
  • MEMBER
  • 5 POSTS
The fuel was changed because it will take 3 tries to turn on. Now is perfect. I noticed that the van will only stall after 2 hours of driving. Maybe is overheating?
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Wednesday, October 10th, 2012 AT 2:37 PM
Tiny
KHLOW2008
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  • 41,814 POSTS
There is a possibility the replacement fuel pump quality is suspect. After running for a long period of time the pump overheats and fails to work.

The other thing that can cause this, if related to the fuel pump circuit, would be loose connectors for the fuel pump wiring. Any loose connections would overheat resulting in high resistance and failure of circuit. When cooled it would start to work again.
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Wednesday, October 10th, 2012 AT 2:42 PM
Tiny
BRENDALGONZALEZ
  • MEMBER
  • 5 POSTS
It was not for the same symptom, I only changed the fuel pump because it took three tries to turn on. The van was working great prior to that.
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Wednesday, October 10th, 2012 AT 2:48 PM
Tiny
BRENDALGONZALEZ
  • MEMBER
  • 5 POSTS
I think I should check for the fuel pump circuit because when coming back from tampa it started to hesitate on me again so I turn off the van waited for an hour and it was fine.
So I should I tell the mechanic to check for the fuel pump circuit? How come the diagnostic did not find anything?
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Wednesday, October 10th, 2012 AT 2:58 PM
Tiny
BRENDALGONZALEZ
  • MEMBER
  • 5 POSTS
I also bought the fuel pump at autozone and they did the labor.
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Wednesday, October 10th, 2012 AT 2:59 PM
Tiny
KHLOW2008
  • MECHANIC
  • 41,814 POSTS
Delayed ignition due to low fuel pressure can be a fault with the fuel pump, leaks in pressurised lines or a faulty fuel pressure regulator.

My previous reply indictes you should be checking the fuel pump.

Since problem is intermittent, you might be able to test only when problem arises and during this short time frame you need to verify it the fuel pump is working. Remove the gasl cap and get someone to turn the ignition switch for a few seconds while you put your ear to the filler opening to listen for a whirring noise, an indication the pump is working. It would only run for about 2 seconds so you would need to turn the ignition off and on again if you wish to confirm.
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Wednesday, October 10th, 2012 AT 3:01 PM
Tiny
KHLOW2008
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A failed fuel pump circuit would not show anything on diagnostics and problem being intermittent is never easy to detect unless it occurs when the mechanic is having it.
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Wednesday, October 10th, 2012 AT 3:03 PM

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