Fuel pumps

phat46 · July 15, 2014, 12:40:12 PM

Does anyone have recommendations for fuel pumps? It appears the one I put in my daughters Cavalier has failed after about a year. She got it from Rockauto, I don't remember the brand. I wonder if I should just try a Delco replacement pump, but then again, the original one failed at about 80,000 miles.
As a side story when this pump died she was near Cincinnati Oh. this past Sunday so I drove down there from here in Michigan and brought her car home on a trailer, got home at 3:30 a.m., was a fun day!

enjenjo · July 15, 2014, 01:53:03 PM

I have been using Delphi pumps.

phat46 · July 15, 2014, 02:03:07 PM

Quote from: "enjenjo"I have been using Delphi pumps.

Frank, I have a bad feeling that's what's in there now. My daughter is looking for the paper work now...

GPster · July 15, 2014, 02:19:10 PM

There is the possibility that the gas tank is run a lot at the point of almost empty and the pump spends a lot of it's life without having any liquid around it to cool it. It happens to people that should know better the same as it happens to people that have relatives that will travel a long distance to rescue them. I just lost a pump in our pond. The filter would let enough water through it to keep the pump from shutting off on the float switch but not enough to keep the windings submerged on a submersible pump. When it shut off that was all she wrote. Thank GOD for a Harbor Freight warrantee. GPster

phat46 · July 15, 2014, 03:58:16 PM

Quote from: "GPster"There is the possibility that the gas tank is run a lot at the point of almost empty and the pump spends a lot of it's life without having any liquid around it to cool it. It happens to people that should know better the same as it happens to people that have relatives that will travel a long distance to rescue them. I just lost a pump in our pond. The filter would let enough water through it to keep the pump from shutting off on the float switch but not enough to keep the windings submerged on a submersible pump. When it shut off that was all she wrote. Thank GOD for a Harbor Freight warrantee. GPster

Joe, i know that's what happened with the original pump in this car, my daughter liked to run two or three days with the gas light on. After she had to pay for the replacement pump, I told her to treat the quarter full line as the empty line and she has been good about it. When it quit by Cincinnati it was over half full..

UGLY OLDS · July 15, 2014, 05:52:29 PM

Even if you can't find the paperwork , contact Rock Auto with her E-Mail addy , any other info you can provide about the purchase .. Rock Auto is good finding purchase info that way & there MAY be a warranty on that failed pump ... Can't hurt to ask .....

Bob ...

grazza · July 16, 2014, 07:28:43 AM

Mate, don't most warranties last for a year? That's when most of my stuff starts breaking down, just after about a year.

phat46 · July 16, 2014, 08:11:53 AM

Update: my nephew, who is a Master Mechanic, came over with his scan tool and it couldn't "talk" to the PCM. He chased it down to a bad ignition switch. He could get the cat to start by wiggling the switch around, but you had to hold it just right to make it start and run. Gonna put a new switch in today. I'm so grateful to have someone that can diagnose newer cars for me, he tried to refuse any payment, but I forced an hours pay on him about five pounds of venison! We were both happy.

Arnold · July 16, 2014, 10:25:32 AM

Quote from: "phat46"Does anyone have recommendations for fuel pumps? It appears the one I put in my daughters Cavalier has failed after about a year. She got it from Rockauto, I don't remember the brand. I wonder if I should just try a Delco replacement pump, but then again, the original one failed at about 80,000 miles.
As a side story when this pump died she was near Cincinnati Oh. this past Sunday so I drove down there from here in Michigan and brought her car home on a trailer, got home at 3:30 a.m., was a fun day!

One of my cars quit suddenly 2 weeks ago..a long tow from home..after I had paid someone too little? too cheap to do it myself..to replace the engine.
I had it towed right back to them.
Fuel pump.
Tank out..mice had chewed the wiring and shorted out the module so it would not shut off..burnt out the pump.
Still would not run. Turns out they chewed the wiring to the computer too.

58 Yeoman · July 16, 2014, 12:39:31 PM

Had a mouse in a lower kitchen cabinet the other day that chewed the spongy material on the handle and lid handle of an expensive frying pan and lid. Victor got him that night.

phat46 · July 16, 2014, 02:10:25 PM

O.k. Another update....the car starts and drives fine, engine wise. On the test drive we got BIG clunks and bangs from the frontend.....sounded bad enough to be a broken spring, but everything looks good under there, spring is not broken, everything looks tight. Maybe a strut mount? The car did make a big bang on that side when i leaned on it while trying to diagnose the no start condition.

enjenjo · July 16, 2014, 04:32:32 PM

Sway bar broken?

phat46 · July 16, 2014, 08:31:33 PM

Quote from: "enjenjo"Sway bar broken?

Nope, strut mount, i had my daughter turn the wheel while I watched with the car jacked up without the tire on that side. The strut was popping around in the mount. This car has been jinxed the last few weeks. I put rear struts and mounts on it about two weeks ago, then a large tree branch fell on it and put two nice dents in the trunk. It got hot in a traffic jam in Cincinatti, and then when she stopped the ignition switch crapped out, I fixed that and the strut mount died on the test drive.

Arnold · July 17, 2014, 11:39:22 AM

Quote from: "phat46"O.k. Another update....the car starts and drives fine, engine wise. On the test drive we got BIG clunks and bangs from the frontend.....sounded bad enough to be a broken spring, but everything looks good under there, spring is not broken, everything looks tight. Maybe a strut mount? The car did make a big bang on that side when i leaned on it while trying to diagnose the no start condition.

I had a broken spring do that in an Escort. It broke right near where the coils are close at the end..at about a 45 deg angle.Somehow it did get jammed together at times and was quiet for a while.

Sway bar as mentioned..late 70 to 80's full size GM. They broke ALL the time in taxi use.

phat46 · July 17, 2014, 04:51:07 PM

Quote from: "Arnold"
Quote from: "phat46"O.k. Another update....the car starts and drives fine, engine wise. On the test drive we got BIG clunks and bangs from the frontend.....sounded bad enough to be a broken spring, but everything looks good under there, spring is not broken, everything looks tight. Maybe a strut mount? The car did make a big bang on that side when i leaned on it while trying to diagnose the no start condition.

I had a broken spring do that in an Escort. It broke right near where the coils are close at the end..at about a 45 deg angle.Somehow it did get jammed together at times and was quiet for a while.

Sway bar as mentioned..late 70 to 80's full size GM. They broke ALL the time in taxi use.

Well, I was wrong again, but really I was right, It was a broken spring. I actually heard the spring break while trying to diagnose the no start issue the other day. I leaned lightly on the left front of the car and there was a big BANG from under the car. It was the last coil at the top and the car did not lean that way at all! So...THAT car is back on the road and then my wife comes home and tells me her Vue is shaking. Yup, took it on a drive and it shakes at about 55. Bring it home and you can smell the hot front tire, can't touch the wheel. This is the same one I had replaced the caliper on twice this year after it seized. I think I'll let my nephew sort this one out, I fresh outa patience.