au falcon wagon fuel & starting trouble

[dcburton78]

G'day guys,
just after some help, i have a stock 99 au wagon & lately its becomming harder & harder to start.
i keep it serviced regularly & only recently changed the fuel filter to try to fix the problem, (no such luck)
i found that if i leave the ignition on for 5-10 seconds it will start, but today that stopped working. i noticed that the fuel pump would only kick in after 5-7 attempts of turning the ignition on & off, even then its lucky to start.
any help would be much appreciated
cheers

[auIILTD]

If your fuel pump is not working as soon as you turn the ignition to 'on' then I would get that sorted first. You should hear it as soon as you turn the ignition to on.

Also, check the voltage at your fuel pump with ignition on to isolate whether it is the pump of the electrical supply to the pump.

Good luck.
Stu

[dcburton78]

cheers stu,
she is at the mechanics now.
just got off the phone with them, the charge is $375- ($150 for the pump, the rest for 2.8hrs labour)
im not impressed at all

[XRGhia]

Should only take 2 hours max to drop the fuel tank, replace the pump and reinstall the tank...... And a std replacement is only usuall $120, not $150...

[auIILTD]

Originally Posted by dcburton78

cheers stu,
she is at the mechanics now.
just got off the phone with them, the charge is $375- ($150 for the pump, the rest for 2.8hrs labour)
im not impressed at all

Walbro High Volume from Tuff Car parts under $120. Not hard to change yourself. Do you have to drop the tank in a Wagon? Sedans have the access hole in the boot.

Bit too late now to offering the advice as it is already at the mechanic. $375 is not too bad. Nearly $500 from Ford for them to do mine originally (bought it through a Ford dealer and was under warranty - I thought!)

At least it will be sorted. Good luck.
Stu

[XRGhia]

Yeah, drop the tank in a wagon... I did cut a hole and install a sedan plate in the floor so I didnt have to drop it again in the old AU wagon...

[dcburton78]

i changed the fuel pump in my old sedan without any dramas, i knew that i needed to drop the tank & didnt want any headaches, i priced a new pump at the local ford dealer & they are asking $370 just for the part!!!
i dont feel so bad now & im back at work tomorrow so needed it right for the mrs
cheers fellas

[fordfan23]

Hi all,
This is my first post.joined today to see what I could find out about my noisy fuel pump.I have a year 2000 AU Ford wagon on fuel fuel. The has tank is a donuts or toroidal type and apparently my problem could likely be caused by running around with less than a quarter tank of petrol leaving fuel pump hanging in mid air causing a hernia. I have purchased a fuel pump unit and module on the advice of repcI salesman .He told me it was pretty easy to put in. Once been told you need a special took to access the fuel pump but when I lifted back compartment could not work out what they were talking about.From what I can gather from the forum you have to drop the tank. Also drain and clean tank to avoid voiding warranty.Any thoughts here would be helpful.would like to Fergus fixed as soon as possible as car is getting harder to start. Re has - Car was burning heaps of oil till gas conversion place installed small part with smaller hole that stopped it blowing oil out. I was impressed and relieved as I thought wrongly my engine was on the way out. I would like to keep my AU going as long as I can. Best car I have ever had.
Cheers,and happy motoring.

[dcburton78]

G'day fordfan23,
if you want to change the fuel pump in your wagon you will need to drop the fuel tank & then you can gain access to the pump. The Au sedans accommodate for this by having an access plate in the boot.
As MRGHIA suggests while the tank is out it would be wise to take advantage & cut an access in the floor then.
cheer.

[xy2502V]

I have done this recently for a dual fuel wagon. The problem I had with dropping the tank was getting to the tank bolts. The factory donut lpg tank was in the way. So rather than touch the lpg tank which I didn't want go near I cut the access hole through the boot floor. Used tin snips so no sparks. This worked very well and I made a plate to seal the hole afterwards. Just make sure you make the hole big enough to get to the fuel line hoses for removal. The locking ring came off with a gentle tap from a "drift" and hammer. No special tools required although I did have one of those fuel clamp removal tool from auto supplier.

[fordfan23]

Thanks very much to xyinterceptor

and 78 Burton appreciate your advice.Assume there is a drain hole to get the petrol out first before dropping the tank. ? Would be interested to know type of Tin snips.Assume they would be good quality.Extra special thanks on the no Sparks angle-I'm to young to die!.
Guess cutting a square opening about 300mm ?side length would do it
Cheers and thanks again,
Fordfanninthprimenumber

[xy2502V]

Hi Fordfan here's a bit more detail as far as I can remember. Use good snips like RH Wiss or similar. There is no drain hole. You have to siphon the fuel out of the inlet pipe when the tank drops down a bit which was another problem foe me because I had more than half a tank of fuel in the tank. But back to what I did. I sent this to another aff member as well who wanted to know more:
I can't measure the hole because the job was done as a favour and the car is 1.5 hours away now. I only guessed the size of the hole and got lucky as it was exactly right. I do remember that the left hand edge was just beside the high side of the hole for the fuel pump power grommet. That way the grommet hole was untouched. I removed the grommet out of the way when cutting though. You can see inside after you remove the grommet to give you an idea where the pump is. Use a torch if necessary. Then I measured how big I needed based on the size of the pump. You need a bit more width to give room to knock the lock ring off and a bit more length to remove the fuel lines. I think I took out about three ribs across and long enough to give room to remove the fuel lines. Drill the corners of the rectangle first to have nice rounded corners. You can start your tin snips there too. Smooth off the edges so you don't cut yourself. I also hammer and dollied the edge to straighten it up. The plate I made from 0.8 panel steel. Shaped the edges a bit to fit the ribs then sealed it with body sealer and 6 tek screws. Had some factory paint so now looks like it was always there. Don't forget to connect the fuel pump power and reinstall grommet before you seal it all up. I forgot. Another thought, have a vacuum cleaner handy to vac up all the crap before you undo the locking ring and lift the pump. Seriously I found the hardest part of the job undoing the fuel line connectors. Just kept working at them until they came free but never really knew what I did to make them free.

[jk5954]

I have just done this in my car but I am having problems getting the lock ring back on. I can't get the fuel pump module to sit low enough to turn the lock ring. I have given up for today as I have run out of light. Did you have any problems getting the module back in and locked?

[jk5954]

Never mind.

I figured out what I was doing wrong. I am an idiot

[fordfan23]

just wanted to say a big thanks to interceptor and other folk that helped me do the fuel pump job on my AU. Also thanks to the repair shop in Inverloch that lent me a pair of tin snips that did the job.
The whole job went well even though I was on a steep learning curve.
Major motivation was to save dollars which I did(about 500).

NowI have a overheating problem that is most likely connected to a broken temperature sensor that fits into the back of the engine block at the back up near the windscreen.it is very difficult to get Ssout. I replaced yesterday with a secondhand one but figure I damaged it putting it in.it is v very awkward to get at.took needed is19 mm spanner.
Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[pinkywillis]

Awesome info here. Thanks. Just gotta find my Tin snips. Cheers