To day on the way to school the fuel pump started acting up agin, it needs to be replaced. My Machenic friend told me that the van was not holding fuel pressure. he said it is suspose to be about 50psi, im not sure but it was something like that, and when i give it the gas pressure would drop dramiticly. The pump has been acting eraticly makes the engin run like ony 2 cylinders are fireing.. Can any body give me the expected price on fuel pumps or does any body think that the pump is not the problam. i just did a tune up in may, filters, plugs, wires, cap and button.


Thank you.

Jeremy Vickers

90/91 Aerostar Body number of a 90 but all motor partes, hoeses and gaskets are for 91. anbody else have that too?

 

It may not be a fuel pump problem, but rather a fuel pressure regulator problem. Fuel pressure should be 40 psi, at least on the 4.0L engine. The fuel pressure regulator is referenced to manifold vacuum, so make sure the vacuum line to the regulator is hooked up. Those people I know who have had fuel pump problems said that when the pump ran, the engine ran OK. Usually, the problem was that the pump wouldn't run at all or it would run intermittently, especially when it got hot.

 

> It may not be a fuel pump problem, but rather a
> fuel pressure regulator problem. Fuel pressure
> should be 40 psi, at least on the 4.0L engine.

> Usually, the problem was that the pump wouldn't
> run at all or it would run intermittently, especially when it got hot.

That was my experience ('89, 3.0l): when hot, the fuel pressure would drop off to about 25 psi, and I'd lose the idle. Took me about a week to figure out that my fuel pump was dying.

You have to drop the (plastic) tank to access the pump, it's a bit of work but not awful, IF you get most of the fuel out first.

I had to drop my tank twice: the fuel filler neck fits to the tank through a large rubber grommet, which was too hard to seal right after removing and reinstalling the tank, so the first time I filled the tank, I experienced some leakage, it was quite obvious.

IIRC, the grommet was about $24 at the dealer. I dropped the tank much faster the second time!

Pump is easy to replace, once the tank is on the ground. Don't do like I did and buy cheap aftermarket, because now (15k miles later) I find that the damned thing won't start if I'm parked on a steep downhill with "2" gals indicated on the digital dash. Twice, I've had to coast down to a flat area and crank again, because the fuel pressure won't come up with the rig parked steep nose-down. Weird, but true.

Regards,
Al S.

 

The fuel pump is cooled by fuel load. Insufficient fuel around the pump (low level and parked on a hill) would likely trip the sensor designed to protect the pump from just such a situation. Sounds like its working correctly. The one gallon reserve is designed to protect the pump when the tank is empty. It is also the reason why you need to add 3-4 gallons, if you run the tank dry on less than a level surface, before it will restart.

 

> The fuel pump is cooled by fuel load. Insufficient
> fuel around the pump (low level and parked on a
> hill) would likely trip the sensor designed to
> protect the pump from just such a situation.

> Sounds like its working correctly. The one gallon
> reserve is designed to protect the pump when the
> tank is empty. It is also the reason why you need
> to add 3-4 gallons, if you run the tank dry on
> less than a level surface, before it will restart.

If the fuel system uses a Reserve, I expect it to be demarcated as such. If the fuel capacity reporting system indicates "2" gallons are available, I do NOT expect a "no start" condition. Parking on a 8° downgrade is not that unusual a condition in many parts of the country.

This problem (found in fuel tanks with large horizontal area, where a change in attitude and low fuel conditions will meet to produce no fuel delivery) has been overcome in other designs by utilizing roving pickups and/or dual fuel pumps, the primary pump merely pumping to a sort of elevated cup in the tank, from which the secondary pump can feed. VW Vanagon comes immediately to mind, the latter method is what they chose.

I'm blaming the non-OEM pump I installed. At the time, the budget was tight, I had lots of 'free' time, <insert your favourite excuse here>. You'd think I'd have learned this lesson long ago, but apparently no . . . .

Regards,
Al S.

 

I replaced the pump on my '93 3.0 a few years ago because I thought it would cure a problem. It was an aftermarket pump. Drove 50k mls since then, runs nicely all seasons, all countries, all conditions.

Regarding OEM parts I recall my vanagon diesel camper 7 years ago. The starter was bad so I had Bosch replace it with their OEM starter. They installed 5 starters over 2 months before one would work permanently.

Tom Ucen
1993 Aerostar 3.0 XL Ext.
Munich, Germany

 

Hello, Tom:

> replaced the pump on my '93 3.0 a few years ago because I thought
> it would cure a problem. It was an aftermarket pump. Drove 50k mls
> since then, runs nicely all seasons, all countries, all conditions.

Well, there's "aftermarket", and then there's "aftermarket". I'm embarassed to say who I bought mine from, but I can rightly say that I wasn't in my right mind at the time, and far from home.

Have you had a problem, as I have, when parked on a steep downhill with "2" gals indicated via the digital fuel capacity system, and a no-start condition? I don't think that this is a mis-indication issue, as I've run it down to Zero on several occasions -- sometimes it can't be easily avoided. Well, maybe it can, but anyway I've done it > Coast it down to a flat area, it starts right up.

I'm living with it, which is easier now, as I've moved and don't have that particular parking location to contend with anymore.

Your experience is contrary to mine. In general, OEM parts cost quite a bit more than third-party, but almost always bolt on without having to file, bash, bend, or otherwise "adjust". Having purchased and installed tens of thousands of dollars of aftermarket parts (I did Fleet Maintenance for a while), for my own stuff, and for non-commodity items (spark plugs, oil, wire, tires, etc.), I usually call the dealer first. After catching my breath when hearing the price, then I start calling around. I'll often go back to the dealer for the part -- but not always.

> Regarding OEM parts I recall my vanagon diesel camper 7 years ago.

I'm sorry to hear that -- I've worn out TWO of those engines. I'm sorry to say that I really don't like the 1st generation VW diesels, and I'm a fan of diesel. I had one that upon teardown had almost .030" (yes, thirty) bore taper, the worst I've ever seen. I don't even know how that one ran, but I'd driven it the previous 8k miles and it went from a good runner to unstartable in that time, and I'm a Grandma on the road.

The other one was tired when I got it, and I ran it about 12k miles before Oregon's "no-self-serve" gasoline law nailed it -- it was my second diesel to fall victim to an attendant pumping it full of unleaded. The station's insurance company bought that car from me, but it had gone from "pretty tired" to "very tired" over the course of my ownership. That was the LAST pre-85 VW diesel I'll own.

> The starter was bad so I had Bosch replace it with their OEM
> starter. They installed 5 starters over 2 months before one would
> work permanently.

That's a really bad track record, I agree. I like to like Bosch, but the quality seems very variable.

Regards,
Al S.

 

HAHA I feel that we are linked here by Fuel pumps and Vanagons, I my self have a 81 VW Vanagon air cooled. I just got it started aging and running good for the shap it is in expect a bad oil leak when running on the right<distrubter>side of the block, dont know what it is but I haft to sell it do to Financhel problams, I trans is good and it has what appears to be New< shiny> heads on it, all glass is good, body rusty and no doors lock, Im asking $200 bucks for it and I live near Charleston WV, I would love to keep it and drive it around but I have no time money or resourses to fix it.

 

No, I did not have the problem of bad starting when standing on a hill. My Aerostar was running too lean. Amongst other parts I strongly suspected it was the MAF. Several Ford dealers in the US told me: "Oh no, it cannot be the MAF sensor, it never goes bad, we don't even stock it, bla bla..." They said it must be the fuel pump. Unfortunately the car was already here in Europe so they couldn't see it. Anyway, I replaced the pump (don't know what brand) and it did not cure the problem. In the end I did buy a new MAF sensor and the problem was gone. That much for the competence of Ford service people.Now I have a perfectly working Ford pump in my cellar that ran for only 20K mls.

Obviously some of the 50hp Diesel Vanagons found their way to North America. It was awfully underpowered and I wished I had bought the turbodiesel instead. But it never failed on us on a trip and I loved its economy and the Westfalia equipment with the pop-up top. If having to buy a diesel car I'd stay away from VW and prefer a Mercedes anytime.

Tom Ucen
1993 Aerostar 3.0 XL Ext.
Munich, Germany