I ran my Civic for a few months really low on gas due to a gas tank leak that I was too cheap to fix, and now if I don't turn the key to "On" and let the fuel pump prime up before starting it takes a few chugs over to get going.

So I'm just wondering, could my fuel pump just be "weak" because it was sucking from the bottom of the tank, or is a fuel pump either sucking or not sucking, with no in between? I've got a new fuel filter I'm going to throw on when it stops raining, and an extra fuel pump, just wondering if I'm wasting my time changing the pump.

 

Technically yes, electric motors can wear out or get weaker with age. Granted it may take a LONG time , but it is possible.

 

Do it sooner than not; And I'd change out the fuel pump, sounds like its no good anymore.

 

Thanks for the quick replies. That fuel pump has about 350,000 km's on it, plus the few months running really low on gas, so it's no doubt worn out by the sounds of it. I think I'll do the fuel filter one day, and the pump the next just to try and pinpoint why it's doing this.

 

The fuel filter is a really fast removal/install. Should take about 20 minutes, threading back in the one bolt can cause problems..

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ke98248 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The fuel filter is a really fast removal/install. Should take about 20 minutes, threading back in the one bolt can cause problems..</TD></TR></TABLE>

What kind of problems can this one bolt cause? Are you talking the banjo bolt? I've never really done anything with a banjo bolt before, is there anything I should know before I screw something up?

 

I think he means one of the hard fuel lines can be a bitch to restart w/o cross threading it.

Make SURE you break the fuel lines loose with a line wrench, not a regular open-ended wrench - regular wrenches can round off the fuel line, which would be a disaster.

Make sure when you swap the ful pump out to swap the sock out too, and make SURe the sock is secured very well or else it can come off and the car won't run with anything less than 1/2 a tank of fuel. the sock doubles as a pick up and strainer.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by B18C5-EH2 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Make sure when you swap the ful pump out to swap the sock out too, and make SURe the sock is secured very well or else it can come off and the car won't run with anything less than 1/2 a tank of fuel. the sock doubles as a pick up and strainer.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yeah, I removed the pump from the sending unit on my extra setup here, and I noticed that the sock is just held on with a crappy-looking little metal clip-type thing. Is this clip reusable, or should I try and find another one? And if it is reusable, should I bend the tabs a little bit so that "grab" better when it's reinstalled?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by andy_sayers &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Yeah, I removed the pump from the sending unit on my extra setup here, and I noticed that the sock is just held on with a crappy-looking little metal clip-type thing. Is this clip reusable, or should I try and find another one? And if it is reusable, should I bend the tabs a little bit so that "grab" better when it's reinstalled?</TD></TR></TABLE>

You can always buy a small screw-type clamp like sold at auto parts stores. They usually tighten with a flat blade screw driver, or 6/8mm socket.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by B18C5-EH2 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

You can always buy a small screw-type clamp like sold at auto parts stores. They usually tighten with a flat blade screw driver, or 6/8mm socket.</TD></TR></TABLE>

It's not a hose clamp, but rather a tiny round clip-like ring that just slides on to hold the sock on. It's maybe only got a 1 or 2 mm opening (sorry for the metric, I'm from Canada).