Replacing the Fuel Pump without Dropping the Tank

[sandcrawler]

So I have an 88 FJ62 with a bad fuel pump (been whining for a while then pretty much crapped out). Anyway, looking at the FSM they direct you to drop the tank - which seems like a lot of work (especially since my tank has about 20 gallons in it!).

So my question is can I replace the pump without dropping the tank through the access panel?

Do I need to cut the access whole bigger?

Can this be done without cutting the fuel lines? Does any one have picture of this.

Or should I just simply drop the tank?

Any advice would be great!

 

[Front Range 4x4]

The access hole needs to be increased substantially to access the fuel pump but doing it w/o cutting lines would be a cr@p shoot at best. It's best to drop the tank (easily drained by plug) aand while it's out cut the hole at that time.

 

[sandcrawler]

Is there anything in this process that's going to be a "gotcha" moment? i.e. am I likely to break bolts, have issues with the fuel lines, etc? Or is this a generally straight-forward job?

 

[Front Range 4x4]

Pretty straight-forward, rusty bolts always present a problem if you deal with that regularly. PB Blaster might be in order but it wasn't for me. Watch the fuel lines at the back of the tank when lowering it, I didn't have to disconnect mine though. I did it a few weeks ago in a motel parking lot with the help of a friend and while it's not a lot of fun it's very doable.

Remove the fill line protection and filler hose first, then the straps, lower carefully and you have access to the pump. If you still have a sway bar you'll have to remove it and the mounting brackets to be able to lower it.

 

[Godwin]

Straightforward but you definitely want to drain the tank before dropping it. The tank will have to be wiggled past the framerails so you will want to make sure that you have all the fuel lines, hoses, and electrical wiring disconnected first.

Replace the fuel pump filter sock while you have the pump out.

 

[Front Range 4x4]

I didn't disconnect anything other than the filler hose and didn't have any trouble at all. Yes to the draining first!

If you want to be thinking ahead you might also wire in a bypass for a future emergency situation to hard wire the pump to your battery. I did and have the wires tucked in the left rear wheel well.

 

[sandcrawler]

Thanks for the advice guys - my 62's pretty much stock, so I'll have to remove the sway bar to access the fuel tank. I replaced the fuel-filler neck about a year and half ago so that's not a problem. I have a pump and new gaskets and a new sock.

It sounds like it's a reasonable half day job - I'm planning on doing it this weekend.

I'll report back once I get Cruiser back on the road...

 

[Randy88FJ62]

Pretty straight-forward, rusty bolts always present a problem if you deal with that regularly. PB Blaster might be in order but it wasn't for me. Watch the fuel lines at the back of the tank when lowering it, I didn't have to disconnect mine though. I did it a few weeks ago in a motel parking lot with the help of a friend and while it's not a lot of fun it's very doable.

Remove the fill line protection and filler hose first, then the straps, lower carefully and you have access to the pump. If you still have a sway bar you'll have to remove it and the mounting brackets to be able to lower it.

Front Range 4x4,
Can you elaborate more on the bypass? What usually fails on the elecrtonics? I assume the relay? I'm not the best with electronics and knowing about this could come in handy in the future.
-Randy

 

[Front Range 4x4]

Front Range 4x4,
Can you elaborate more on the bypass? What usually fails on the elecrtonics? I assume the relay? I'm not the best with electronics and knowing about this could come in handy in the future.
-Randy

Electronics is not something I'm particularly good with but owning an 88 FJ62 like you I'm learning.

It simply bypasses everything. Run one wire to the battery with a simple toggle switch to the + wire of the fuel pump, the - side of the FP to a good ground. Turn it on, the FP works regardless of any other issues that exist.

 

[Front Range 4x4]

Here's a pic of my rigging to get home from Utah after experiencing a fuel supply problem, pretty classy isn't it? Toggle switch connecting red (to battery) & green wire (to fuel pump) and vise grips on the hand throttle to give me an idle which I lost too.

 

[KLF]

Be prepared for a fight to get the spare tire crossmember out.

 

[Randy88FJ62]

That picture looks like it could tell a long story front range.

 

[Front Range 4x4]

Be prepared for a fight to get the spare tire crossmember out.

Good point KLF, I don't have one so forgot all about it.

That picture looks like it could tell a long story front range.

It was a long night preceded by about 25 miles of freewheeling w/o power down the mountain.

Funny thing is when I went to troubleshoot after getting back to CO using the codes from the "Check Engine" light I remembered mine hadn't worked. I pulled the dash, fixed assorted wires and got the light to work. At the same time I replaced the FPR because I had one handy.

Everything then worked fine. I honestly don't know if the FPR was the problem (doesn't make any sense) or the wiring (doesn't seem like dash wiring would be the issue either) or I have some intermittent issue going on that's behaving right now.

 

[sandcrawler]

Oh the tire cross member - oh yeah that's going to be fun, and since the back of my rig is pretty rusty I might be ditching it if it comes to that...

My issue seems to be totally FP related - I started loosing power under load (and the FP was making a pretty decent whining sound). Anyway, I parked it about two months ago and it refused to start from then on. I did manage to get it refired a couple days ago, but then it stalled out under load (in gear with P-brake on) then it refused to fire agian.

I'm going to try to tackle it this weekend - hopefully I won't get too bloodied...