1988 F-150 4x4
5.8L, 5speed manual
133" WB = Reg cab and 8' box
dual tanks. Front tank = 19 gallons and rear tank 12-13 gallons.

The problem.

The front tank was replaced 4 years ago with a new steel tank. My money was short then so I had them re-install the old fuel pump assembly. 2 years ago I started having starvation issues from the front tank but no issues with the rear tank.

I took the truck back to my favorite mech. and he performed all the tests and he determined that the pump was shot. He replaced the pump with a Carter pump from CARQUEST. The pump lasted about a month and the failure re-occured. He put in another carter pump from CARQUEST. Same symptoms the same day. He then replaced the electrical connector to the pump. The truck ran great for just over a year and now the failure has re-occured. I can no longer hear the pump running and the truck dies just moments after switching over from the rear tank.

Today, I called Auto Zone for pump info. The sell the AIRTECH pump for $110.00 and have 12/12000 warranty.

Carquest and NAPA both carry BOSCH and CARTER pumps for about $150.00. Again 12/12000 warranty.

Ford sells the MOTORCRAFT pump for $206.00 and it carries a 12/12000 warranty. Ford will not disclose the actual manufacturer of the pump.

These Carter pumps have not impressed me.

Is the Motorcraft pump at 25% higher in cost really any better than Bosch or Carter, two top names in auto parts?

I'm a bit of a dummy here on this one and really need some assistance.

Sorry for the long post.

Tim

 

The pump that Ford put in there at the factory lasted from 1988 until 2005. That's 17 years, and the replacements have lasted a month and a year, respectively, and you aren't sure if the money for a Ford pump is worth it?

Not to say that you don't have some other problems going on, like a bad ground or faulty wiring somewhere that's contributing to the failure, but the money is definitely worth it.

 

I hear what your saying but isn't the MC pump a rebuild or are all pumps new?

Tim

 

Auto Zone pumps work great also. Theyre not expensive and they last.. And theyre also warrantied. I got one. Been fine for over a year.

 

I put a NAPA pump in the rear tank of my '87 in '99 or 2000 and I've had no problems over 100000 miles, although split equally between front and rear would be half that.

 

Aside from the fact that the OE pump lasted 17 years, I need to know why the MC is 25% better than the rest before I buy anything.

One thing to note. The parts guy at Ford was the only one of the four that I called that asked the wheel base of the truck as the alternative pump to mine fits a 17 gallon tank which was installed on different wheel base trucks.

Tim

 

either pump will work, it goes by the depth of the tank, not by the length. I would clean all the grounds before I bought a new pump, I've been through this with my 89, and the pumps apear to be bad, but bad ground was the real problem.pay close attention to the ground on the inside of the core support on the driver's side behind the headlight. that's where mine usually goes bad. I also added a 10 guage wire from the neg battery post to the bolt that holds in the radiator.

 

i agree with cleaning the grounds. i had to replace the pump gasket and while i was down there i cleaned them. notice reaction time was better when you put the key in. aslo thanks for the tip on the ground i have had issues with the grounding of the hole truck.

jake

 

Before you go out and buy another pump you could try a new fuel pump relay. They're only like $11 at the parts store, easy to change, and if the condition does not change then you can just return it to the parts store.

 

while you have the relay off, look inside the plug, they get green corrosion in there, usualy a dose of wd40, and a little scrubbing cleans it up. that could be a problem too

 

I had a Carter pump that only lasted about a year as well.. seized solid.

 

The wheel base determines what the depth of the fuel tank is and what pump to put in the tank.
I have been told that the Ford Motorcraft pumps are made by AIRTECH.

 

That's funny as hell if it's actually the case. The MC pump from Ford is nearly $100 more than the pump from AZ which is made by airtech.

The fuel pump relay is in good shape no corrosion.

The electrical connectors to the pump were replaced last year.

I will however take all of this great advise and act on it and give everything a good double check.

The pump runs long enough to get me a couple of miles down the road and then she starts to die. I have to switch tanks to get her right again.

Tim

 

does it do this with a full tank? usually if it only does it after the tank reaches 1/4, the pump is bad. the weight of the gas bypasses the pump until that point. if does it all the time, I would siphon the gas out, and see if it has water in it. usually when an electric pump goes bad, it quits, and don't come back to life.

 

Hang on a second.

This is an 88, right? So you have the two in-tank low pressure pumps, and one external high pressure pump. There is no way that an internal low-pressure tank pump should cost you that much. It sounds to me like you get getting the price for either the external pump or the high-pressure internal pump.