Long story short, the electric fuel pump blew on my Escort today coming home from work. Had to get towed home about 8-10 miles and it looks like its going to be a $500-$600 job. Do I go through with the job or look for some new wheels?
Long story short, the electric fuel pump blew on my Escort today coming home from work. Had to get towed home about 8-10 miles and it looks like its going to be a $500-$600 job. Do I go through with the job or look for some new wheels?
What kinda Escort?
Personally, I've never heard of one ever going bad, to the point where I don't know if there's an access panel in the trunk/under the back seat. It's always the shiny, candy-like red button. (That's not to say it can't happen, just unusual)
wait, whaaa?
$500 for a effin fuel pump??
what year/trim is the car?
i put a 250 lph fuel pump in my mustang for alot less then that.. IIRC it was only like $200.. and that was a vast upgrade to stock!
have you looked at rock auto for parts? they are usually right about the cheapest i can find.
Its a 93 lx 5 door hatch. I was driving down the road and it started to buck and it just lost power at about 35 mph. The battery had sufficient power and kick.
how are you arriving at $500-$600?
rock auto has just the pump for $78.79 or the whole assembly for $132.89 (for Bosch parts)
(EDIT- they have the assembly made by airtex for $63.79 on closeout.. but only something like 13 left)
btw, check the impact shutoff and the electrical connections BEFORE buying a new pump.. mine ended up not being the pump, but a bad connector.
Apexcarver wrote: btw, check the impact shutoff and the electrical connections BEFORE buying a new pump.. mine ended up not being the pump, but a bad connector.
+1
If it is indeed a bad pump, there are hundreds of Escorts in the wreckers...many with good fuel pumps. Using a junkyard unit, you might spend $20. A new one, as stated above, is easily less than $100. It's super easy to install. Just remove the rear seat cushion, access panel, and fuel tank plate and it'll pull right out. The entire job might take about an hour.
Most of that estimate that I got was labor since it sounds like its a 4 hour job to do it since the tank has to be dropped.
The tank does not have to be dropped. It can all be done inside of the car. Do it yourself. It's suprisingly easy.
i dropped the tank on my mustang.. yeah it took awhile and was a bit of a PITA (okokok, it was a major PITA at the time.. first foray into serious solo wrenching, i was in highschool, had a half tank of gas, and couldnt get the fuel lines disconnected.. but i know ALOT more now and could probly do it in an hour or 2)
are you sure there isnt a access panel under the seat? (ive never poked around in an escort) if you lack caring about the car can you MAKE one? (you laugh, but mustang racers frequently do it)
oh yeah, on a ford... if it has that stupid lock ring like the mustang does.. get a brass punch to wail on it with (brass punch on lock ring, BFH on brass punch).. brass is durable enough and wont spark
The thought just occured that I have a fuel pump from the Tracer that worked when I removed it several months ago. Shoot $10 my way to cover shipping and it's yours.
+1 on doing it yourself.
I did mine by myself on the side of a busy road with just a few hand tools.
I had never replaced one before, either.
Its under the backseat.
Lift up the cushion on the front of the back seat towards the carpet and you will see these little white things you push in, then the back seat lifts up and voila! Access panel. Ive changes more than a few of these on Escorts.
Joey
I did my dad's in under half an hour. The worst part is the lock ring on the top of the tank. Lift rear seat, remove acess panel, remove sender switch pump. Installation is opposite of removal, plus some colorful words if the lockring is boggered up.
not good joe.
these guys are right, you should be able to get to the fuel pump from inside the car. Pull the rear seat and put your ear by where the pump should be. Have someone turn the car to the ON position, if you don't hear the pump want to prime than she's toast.
I had a SAAB that puked the fuel pump relay, after that I always kept a jumper wire in the fuse box. You jump the hot leads where the relay is and the fuel pump runs, you can't shut it off until you yank the wire, but it gets you home.
1.) Check all fuses and relays.
2.) Check the impact shutoff thingie.
3.) If your fuel system is not in need of fuel, even if the pump is good, it won't make that whiney "I'm trying to start here" noise. You have to bleed of gas somewhere so the pump refills that amount.
4.) I went to NAPA.com, without knowing what you have there it looks like a new pump is $104 or so dollars.
http://www.napaonline.com/MasterPages/NOLMaster.aspx?PageId=430&CatId=4&SubCatId=2
Dan
Joe, I will do it for you for $500.00! That would include the flight in from Michigan of course,
Get some voltage directly to the pump too. It could always be a $0.01 broken wire. I drove my Miata around for a month after replacing a $140.00 fuel pump that wasn't broken using a wire rigged to the battery with a fuse that would turn the pump on and off. 
A new wire to the relay solved the problem.
Just another escort experience here. I had a '91 and the pump went bad. However, when it failed, it managed to burn up the power wire to it. The fuse didn't blow...but the wire burned up (maybe the fuse blew evenutally...I don't recall, but the wire burned first). I put a junkyard pump in it and of course it didn't work because the wire (that runs along the driver side rocker/sill on thi interior) was shot. It took me awhile, but someone with an EVTM (Ford's "Electrical and Vacuum Troubleshooting Manual) told me which wire at the fuse panel it was. I simply snipped there, spliced in a new wire, ran it back along the stock routing and everything worked great.
Clem
Yeah, check the impact (inertia) switch first. I have seen them with melted wires from a bad fuel pump, too. The impact switch should be located inside the right rear trim panel, there's an oval plug that pops out and then you stick your finger in and feel around. If it clicks, it was tripped. If it doesn't click, pull the panel and check the connector. If it's melted, replace the connector and inertia switch, then replace the pump as well. +1 on the pump being an easy fix on one of those.
kcbhiw wrote: The thought just occured that I have a fuel pump from the Tracer that worked when I removed it several months ago. Shoot $10 my way to cover shipping and it's yours.
IIRC, the Tracer that year was a Mazda based car and the pump will be different. The Lynx was the same as the Escort. But, I could be wrong!
Jensenman wrote:kcbhiw wrote: The thought just occured that I have a fuel pump from the Tracer that worked when I removed it several months ago. Shoot $10 my way to cover shipping and it's yours.IIRC, the Tracer that year was a Mazda based car and the pump will be different. The Lynx was the same as the Escort. But, I could be wrong!
Nope, if its from a 91+ tracer, it will work in an Escort!
The late 80s Tracer was different from an Escort, though.
Joey
Other possibilities: Fuel filter injector fuse inertia switch rubber hose deterioration
I have this bad habit of buying discarded Escorts and can usually fix anything for less than $500.
A common problem on the 90s Ford products in the fuel area is the small rubber hose that attaches the fuel pump to the pickup/sender unit assembly.
They deteriorate and either split thus not allowing much pressure or they clog the filter with stuff.
Changing the pump is a snap...nearly any ford pump will work also. I have put a Tbird pump in a Ranger and I think I even put an RX7 pump in an Aspire.
Also, are you sure it is fuel? The timing belts on these 1.9 motors are prone to breaking or skipping a tooth. Also a less than an hour roadside fix.
Did you really expect anyone from this site to advise you to dump this car and buy a new one?
Bruce
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