Replacement fuel pump Vortec 454

[T-Bone]

Hay guys I got to replace the fuel pump in my 1998 7.4 vortec I know there are lots of different brands and prices available at Rockauto. Does anyone have a brand that thay reccomend and ones to stay away from ?

 

[Christian Steffen]

I'd probably go walbro.

 

[Gramps]

Air Tex = absolute garbage.

The precision line from oreillys is made by carter -not terrible has lifetime warranty too as long as you replace the applicable filter and sock.

 

[454cid]

I installed a Denso this past summer. It's quiet, and the truck starts so much better than before. I ordered through Advance and used a coupon code. It's a drop shipment, and it will take awhile as it will come from a Denso warehouse in California.

Denso is the #2 auto supplier in the world. The only larger company is Bosch.

 

[T-Bone]

I never tried a Denso, I used A Napa brand pump rite now and it does not start as good as it should and I changed everything else in the fuel system.

 

[Ken K]

Your truck was built with a Delphi / ACDelco brand pump. Why trust others? How many miles did the OEM pump take you? Regardless, what ever pump you feel comfortable with just made sure the fuel tank is clean, terminals in connector are good and a new fuel filter is serviced at the same time. I suggest using dielectric grease at the connector even when sealed with a weather-pack type. Inspect the sock type filter on the pump you remove to see if the tiny holes are restricted or plugged. If not, go for it. Brown is normal color as gas will stain it over time. Part of doing a job correctly is to inspect the parts, diagnose if there is a problem, correct any issue before installing a new part...like your pump and the fuel that passes thru it. The tank gather anything that has been put in it and the only was it gets out is the pump or if someone cleans it.
As I tech who grew up rebuilding carburetors, I was always shocked how much dust was in the float bowl, Cut the paper filter open, let dry, then tap on it over clean shop towel and watch the dust / dirt fall out. A fuel pump is not a garbage disposal.

 

[Schurkey]

A fuel pump is not a garbage disposal.

I love that. I'll probably borrow that saying.

My 03 Trailblazer was built with a Bosch fuel pump assembly. AC-Delco doesn't make anything any more, they're a sales organization that buys from outside suppliers and put the parts they buy into an AC-Delco box. Sometimes the quality is as good as "Genuine GM", and sometimes it isn't.




When it comes to electric fuel pumps, I refuse to replace one without putting a low-ampere probe on the fuel pump power wire, and a voltmeter on the power wire, and on the ground wire. Lots of "fuel pump" problems are not pump problems, they're wiring harness problems. I want to know the amperage draw, and the voltage as close to the pump as I can get my multimeter probe. I also want to know the voltage on the ground side of the circuit.

For the record, my '92 and '93 Luminas lose 1.5 volts on the + side of the circuit due to GM using under-sized wire (16 gauge when they should have used 12 gauge.) They lose another volt on the ground side, for the same reason. If the alternator is charging at 14 volts, the fuel pump is only getting 11.5.

Corroded wiring IN the tank is epidemic, at least with my '88--'93 vehicles. The newer stuff with the single-item "fuel pump module" may be different.

 

[Ken K]

I have lost track of GM and Delphi as they may have kissed and made up. But I should in the plant for a day at Delphi. They had the plastic injection equipment cranking out parts. The EP366 44mm pump was assembled in a clean room and I was surprised. The armature was from japan, but after it was put together, the magnetic material came last. Yah, after they where put together. Two went into a bench mounted machine, closed the door, hit a button, then trough amperage induction, they magnetized the motors magnets from the outside in. Then the ran them in test fluid (Diesel fuel) and watch the amperage with no load, then 60 PSI, then dead-headed the pump. It later found its way onto the assembly line where each station had one tech, who simply put "Their" parts into a fixture, then pneumatic pistons pushed everything into place. They were also making the Harley fuel pump in the same building in Troy, MI. At the boxing station, came the next surprise. ACDelco boxes where folded to hold the pump, placed onto a pallet then loaded into a semi-tractor to head out to a plant building trucks. I had to ask!
I figured they where going to warehouse distributors, but no. Then they pulled a pallet of new boxes and open them up...they where Delphi boxes. I asked where do these go? I was told to distribution for sale. Same pump assembly, different box.
Good catch by Schurkey on proper electrical checks. If techs own an amp clamp, get used to using a fuse jumper wire to "SEE" what normal fuel pump current is. Since many threads anguish over fuel pump amps is not published, well, it's not in the factory manual or electronic service info either. Supply that fuel pump "TEST" terminal in the fuse/relay center, put the amp clamp across it then take a reading. This would help pump sales and for the guy who always says; "I am going on vacation, so check the vehicle over".
High current means plug or restricted filter, pinch line, etc. Low current means the pump is worn out and contacts are skipping over the commutator plates. This will leave them stranded. I would use a labscope for pattern.

A voltage drop is required anytime the pump is serviced. Dealer Techs plug in a halogen headlight that draws about 4 amps. Key on, they look back to see a bright light.
What is Schurkey saying? Checking the electrical side of the vehicle is more important than the pump itself.
See worn pump photo I took below.

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[Schurkey]

Oh, yeah!

Amp clamp plus an oscilloscope, you can see the amperage draw of each armature bar, and compare it to the others. In a perfect world, each "hump" would be identical to the others. In fact, they're as individual as fingerprints--exactly the same at first glance, completely different if you look closer.

The Eagle-Eyed will notice that the oscilloscope pattern repeats after a certain number of "humps", the ninth or the thirteenth hump, for example, may look remarkably like the first. The pattern's repetition is telling you the armature has eight or twelve bars.

A 'scope can be employed to discover the time it takes for the pattern to repeat. Let us say, for example, that the time difference between the peak of the first hump and the peak of it's repeat (eight or twelve or whatever number of humps later) is 10 milliseconds. Simple mathematics (60,000 milliseconds in a second, divided by 10 milliseconds for all the bars to go 'round once, equals 6000 pump motor RPM.

Given some experience ('cause, as Ken K said, these specs aren't published) you can figure out if the pump is drawing too much or too little power, has a bad bar (or three) in the armature, and what the armature speed is, compared to other similar pumps you've tested.

God bless the amp-clamp and the 'Scope.

Remember, AMPERAGE (Current) can be tested anywhere in the circuit (as long as the circuit doesn't branch to other loads) but the voltage must be tested as close to the load as practical.

If you plug in your amp-clamp to a certain fuse location, you must determine how many loads are powered by that circuit, and disable all the loads except the one you really want to test.

If you check voltage near or at the battery or alternator, you'll miss the voltage drop further down the circuit. Fuel pump testing can't be done "at the pump" since the pump motor is buried in the nasty old gas tank--but you should be able to get within a couple feet of the tank connector, which is (usually) good enough. When the pump is removed from the tank, you'd inspect the rest of the "hidden" wire harness looking for crap like this:

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The new replacement wire, compared to the swollen and corroded original in-tank wire.

 

[Tom Nassar]

I've used AIR TEX with no problems