On Mar 3, 12:58 am, Berry wrote:
In article .com,
"Bob Kuykendall" wrote:



These electric pumps, according to an informal survey of friends and
acquaintances, fail with alarming frequency - usually within ~50K miles and
each 50K thereafter.

That's counter to my personal experience. I've done four fuel pumps
for my Volvo tow vehicles; none of them let go prior to the 200,000
mile mark. All of the replacements outlasted the vehicles.

Once you are on the roadside, you will find that no matter how
good you may be at fixing cars, there is nothing you can do but call a tow
truck since pump replacement requires a high bay hoist where the gas tank
can be removed. It just isn't a DIY job.

Disagree:

A) Everything is DIY for the resourceful and motivated.

B) All of the cars for which I've replaced the in-tank pump allowed
access through a panel in the trunk or under the cargo deck. None so
far have required dropping the tank.

C) For many cars with Bosch K-Jetronic, LH-Jetronic, and similar
systems, there are actually two pumps: an in-tank centrifugal pump and
an external constant-displacement pump. The in-tank pump just delivers
fuel to the main pump, and is critical only at 1/4 tank fuel level and
below. The usual sign of a failed or failing in-tank pump is poor
running below 1/4 tank, and whining noises from the main pump.

D) In my experience, failure of fuel pump relays is far more common
than failure of the pump. Usually they can be fixed by peeling them
open and resoldering the crack-prone joints where the heavy relay
frame meets the circuit board.

My tow vehicle is a '92 Dodge full size hightop van, 6 cylinder. It only
has one fuel pump and it's in the tank. No access to it from on top. The
tank has to be dropped. The fuel pump failed at 140k miles - exactly at
the halfway point of a 350 mile trip - on Thanksgiving day.

Nearly every system on this van has had a failure. I think I've replaced
everything but the engine block and one of the hubcaps. I really enjoy
the hightop room, but this thing is a piece of crap. Glad I didn't pay
much for it. Oh, and take a look at the repair manual for these things.
Dodge full size vans had essentially no mechanical changes from 1977
through at least 2001. So much for innovation and improvement. If Toyota
ever makes a full size van, I'm gettin' one.

Bill,
why the sudden concern about landing out? and finding any reason
possible to avoid it at all costs? Mechanical breakdowns are a
possibility no matter what we drive (or fly). Its something we may
have to deal with and a risk we take.