Hello all.

Need to replace the fuel pump in my 2004 Ranger Edge XLT 3.0.

Assumed I can do this by dropping the fuel tank but not so sure, now. The tank is long and narrow sitting on a frame member in the front and held by two steel "straps" near the mid and back section. Appears the pump is located in the middle with a vent hose at the rear. With the two straps removed the tank only drops down a few inches at the rear. The filler hose is jammed up against the upper support for the bed.

I will keep working on this but I need to know if anyone has done this by dropping the tank in this model. I know some need to go at it from the bed and that's why I'm asking.

Thanks for the help and please don't just tell me to look in the manual... which I do not have.

 

I haven't done it, but every commenter I have read says that they remove the bed

 

When I did mine 500 miles from home I went the bed removal route. Very easy, just 6 torx bolts and a couple 10mm for the fuel filler and comes right off (with 2 people of course). Very easy job IMO. Took me all of an hour and I was back on the road.

 

Most people find that the job is faster and easier when the bed is removed.

 

I'm doing this repair all alone so dropping the tank was really my only option. The trick is to do it in stages lowering the rear section enough to disconnect the vent hose, first. In my case I could not reach it to squeeze the lock so I just cut the hose and will splice it back together later.



With that rear hose free, you can lower the tank some more so you can reach the top of the fuel pump. Once the three hoses and the electrical connector are disconnected, you can lower the tank all the way onto some wood blocks. The tank is plastic so if there is not too much gas inside it will not weigh all that much. You will need to keep sliding it towards the back until it is free of the steel support at the front. Then it will drop down fully.



Then just side it out from under the truck to remove the pump.



The fruits of my labor. Applied power to the motor leads and nothing so I know for sure it is dead.

The option is to replace just the pump motor, for around $150, or the entire assembly for around $210 as it is here. I will go for the whole deal and not have to worry about any mismatch of parts. As it is, I've saved myself around $500 over the labor cost I was quoted by two garages. Not to mention their markup on the parts.

 

That fuel filler hose is very suseptable to cracking on older trucks, and since you've probably bent & kinked it while removing the tank, be sure to keep an eye out for fuel leaks while you fill up in case it has acquired a crack. They're not cheap.

 

Mine is a 94 but I got my pump and filler hose from autozone and have had no issues with either one. About $200 for both if I remember correctly you might want to check them out 1st before going to another source.

btw, pulling the bed will make it easier to get everything set up right particularly the filler hose. Only need to raise the front and block with a 2x4 to hold the bed up. So would tell ya to try it to replace the tank and stuff.

 

My filler hose was perfectly fine. No cracks, no need to replace it.

We can argue all day on how to remove it. Just showing it can be done easy enough, and by one person, from the bottom.

Since I was in there and the tank was out of the way I decided to also replace my muffler, which had a crack the entire length of the canister. I was able to sit up and do the removal and install.

 

Wow!

What a difference a new fuel pump makes. No more having to prime three times to get it to "try" to start. One quick twist of the key and we are off to the races, now. I've suffered that issue since getting this truck, used, about three years ago.

I also have way more power than before. My hill to the house is very steep and she had all she could to to make it up at around 15 mph and then with all kinds of noise coming from the engine. No more. We are up with power to spare and no engine noise.

What is interesting is, you need to give the parts dealer the wheelbase measurement. Apparently these pumps are rated by pump power and will vary depending on the size of the truck.

Another issue is how much fuel you leave in the tank. From what I've read, the pump, which draws around 7 amps, needs to be sitting in gasoline to stay cool. The motor sits at the bottom (you can see in the pic, above) so from now on I will be keeping my tank at least half full all the time.

 

Different length wheel bases use different size tanks that use different pumps and hangers and fuel level senders.

 

Although owners manuals never seem to make mention of this, it's quite true (and seemingly not well known/realized/understood) that when people drive around low on gas all the time, they are shortening the life of their fuel pump and as such, compromising the reliability of their vehicle.

 

For future searches, I did a bed "removal" by myself using the red-neck method pictured below. It's actually pretty stable like this since the right side bottoms out on the tire and can't really move anywhere to easily.

As others have mentioned, I also found that the fuel filler hose was in need of replacement.

 

I was forced to lower my tank, too. It was on a 2003 Ranger Edge 3.0L. I used to live in an apartment complex where working on vehicles on the property is forbidden. Plus, I had on-going disputes with neighbors, so I didn't want to give them any leverage to get me into trouble with property management. I had to make it to my drill weekend in 2 days, too. I did it all by myself. Circumstances vary for everybody. I had posted about the situation on another site back then specifying all this and there always has to be that one A-hole that insists that the other way should be the only way to go about this job. No doubt moving the bed may be easier and less time consuming, but not everyone is able to depending on their situations.