So I go to the store this morning to get milk. Car wouldn't start when I got back in it from the store. It started for one second and then dead. Turns over, won't fire up. I pull the back seat and put my hand on the pump and nothing, nada, dead. My car has 146k miles.
I had no symptoms up to now, no warning, it is just dead. I have seen this time and time again. My last car pump died around 150k miles, same exact way. People on the forums have it happen, people I know have it happen, people who's cars I fix have it happen.
And it is one of the few things that will leave you stranded wherever you are at. So I highly suggest you add your fuel pump to the list of things to do BEFORE it leaves you stranded.
I won't even mention that in my case I forgot my cell phone at home and my wife didn't answer her phone and left me stranded for 2 hours when she was only 5 miles away. :thumbdwn:
I can't remember where (maybe Mike Miller's Tech Talk), that a few well place bangs on the bottom of the fuel tank by the pump is enough to get the pump working again to get under way and either home or a repair shop. Hopefully, I'll never have to use that technique.
I can't remember where (maybe Mike Miller's Tech Talk), that a few well place bangs on the bottom of the fuel tank by the pump is enough to get the pump working again to get under way and either home or a repair shop. Hopefully, I'll never have to use that technique.
I just replaced bad sender unit (117k mi) & was debating doing fuel pump at the same time, but then thought, Nahhh, I'll wait until it breaks. You may have just changed my mind.
I just replaced bad sender unit (117k mi) & was debating doing fuel pump at the same time, but then thought, Nahhh, I'll wait until it breaks. You may have just changed my mind.
I highly recommend doing it BEFORE it breaks. I missed church today as a result of my misfortune. I still can't believe the ONE TIME I leave my cell phone at home my car dies.
EDIT: Had I known it was an easy DIY, I would have saved a lot of money. An independent mechanic charged some $600 for a fuel pump, fuel filter, and labor. Skipping details, I didn't pay for it.
I had my fuel pump die at 73,000km (46,000m) on my 2004 325i. I changed my fuel filter at the same time. I think after so many years these pumps go dead.
Mine was the same as KrisL. I got a "warning" from mine, as I made it ~100 miles from home, but max MPH was ~50. Babied it all the way. If I tried going faster, it would cough and sputter. The next day (I'm so Scottish that I drove it again, the next day...), it left me stranded on the interstate. Finally got it started again and drove it EASY on the way home, and it never moved again until I got the part from Max at oembimmerparts.
It's so easy it isn't even funny. Took me about 15 minutes. You remove the lower back seat, remove 4 10mm bolts that hold the cover on, unsnap the electrical connection, remove a clamp and a hose and then hammer the retainer ring out. It is a joke. So on a scale of 1-10 it is a 1.
It's only easy if everything comes off as planned. When I installed the M3 fuel pump baffle into my 330ci, it took quite a bit of effort getting the lock-down ring to come loose even though I did it exactly as demonstrated in the video.
I have had two no-starts in the last 6 months, this may be the culprit. I just checked for pumps on-line, it looks like there are two, one on the left (drivers side), and one on the right (for 2001 325 XI). The video shows the one on the right being replaced, it is also the expensive one. I assume that is the one to go with?
Thanks!
The fuel pump is on the right had side (passenger). The left side pump isn't a fuel pump exactly, it is called a sucking jet pump. It sends fuel to the other side of the tank, rarely do they fail, but if you order a "fuel pump" it will be for the back passenger side. :thumbup:
The parts distributor I bought my fuel pump from also requires you to buy and install a new filter to get the full warranty. My old filter only had about 4000 miles on it so I put the new one in my spare parts collection.
Any idea of the brand and type of gas used contributes to the pump failure? Or if the tank has ever run dry which my cause the pump to overheat from an empty fuel tank?
Perhaps this is something that should be added to the Wiki? I didn't see anything in there on fuel pumps, other than a mention that replacing your fuel filter will help prolong the life of your pump. But with so much emphasis on a cooling system that will fail like clockwork every 90k miles and leave you stranded, might be a good idea to note the same thing for a fuel pump that will fail like clockwork every 140k miles and leave you stranded.
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