My fuel pump died a month or 2 or 3 ago...

My mechanic said "for me I'd use Motorcraft- for customer Airtex"- cost of Airtex 65 bucks, MC, 400....

I bought the Airtex...at idle pressure is only 32 (if I'm trying real hard to see it past 31) and I have running issues @ highway speeds...pulling a 1k pound trailer...acts like the fuel starvation it had on the highway when the last pump died...

Did I just get a bum Airtex? Is MC really worth the 400 bones? What is an acceptable pressure for a 93 SW with a 5.8 in it?

I just did a motor swap on this thing- put in a rebuilt motor, but fuel issues are plaguing me...especially mileage...less than 10 with virtually no load...

Another side issue is high idle until I kick it down- way annoying- it will idle low, but the moment I touch the gas it wants to kick the idle speed up... I've seen other posts about this, but anyone have any recommends? Are the 2 issues related to each other? The pressure jumped up when I revved the engine...could this allow the engine to get into less of a lean condition and kick the idle down? I'm confused and ready to dump it...

Thanks for any help...

 

32psi is a normal pressure reading at idle with good engine vacuum.
With less vacuum (kicking the throttle to WOT) the pressure should jump to about 40psi.

 

Why the MC cost 400 is that it comes with the Fuel module mounted on a new fuel hanger along with the fuel gauge sender and the wiring pig tail if your van needs it.
With the Airtex you are just getting the fuel module (with the fuel pump inside) and then the fuel module is put on your old fuel hanger along with your old fuel gauge sender and float.
Airtex may have made the fuel pump that is inside the fuel module that you get with MC. I have heard somewhere that Airtex makes the fuel pumps for Ford.

 

Ok, so...why the performance issues when pulling the load? Felt like fuel starvation...do I need to test volume? How does a shade tree dude do that?

OR should I look for other issues? Plugged cats? I previously had a motor that belched all sorts of oil out the tailpipe- burnt all of that off when I first put this motor in and I thought that there was pretty good flow out the tailpipes...

Timing? I have this one set right at the preferred setting...

Help!

Thanks for the replies....

 

Put a fuel pressure tester on the fuel rail and tape the gauge somewhere you can see it and go to WOT on a hill out towing and see if the fuel pressure goes to about 40psi and is holding. If the pressure drops down maybe below 30psi you have a fuel problem. But if it holds at 35psi or above the fuel system is OK.

You could have an exhaust flow problem but you can check that with a vacuum gauge.

 

Its got to be back pressure...or so, I think...other symptoms include the poor gas mileage, and engine temps climbing a lot hotter that I'm used to...radiator is practically new, brand new waterpump, etc...

The reason I replaced this engine was that the PO never changed the oil and created a mess in the crankcase...to the tune of it being so full of crud that it blew all the engine oil out the PCV at about a quart at a time...

I'm thinking my cats are all full of oil still!

1) I will test the vacuum
2) if that is the problem, is there any way to salvage the cats? these are pricey at best...

Thanks in advance...

 

To what degree will a broken EGR tube cause driveability issues? My tube is broken and I have a new one coming from Oreilly in the AM....

I have a feeling that's my problem with high idle...

Thanks...

Dave