Sign of impending fuel pump failure

[jim_h]

Thought I would pass this observation along, it might save someone some grief. On my 2000 Boxster (112K miles) the fuel pump died a couple of weekends ago, left me stranded in the Autozone parking lot (was buying oil for the Honda). At first I thought, wow that was sudden but then I thought about it and there was a warning sign that showed up well before the failure. I usually keep the gas mileage function up on the dash and it typically varies a couple of mpg depending on where I have beed driving - freeway, stop and go, around town, etc. A couple of months ago it stopped doing that and held steady at one number - 26.1 mpg, relatively high in the usual range. Since replacing the pump, it is now back to it's previous behavior. It did that for maybe 2 or 3 thousand miles before the pump crapped out so if any of you see that same thing you might want to think about checking your fuel pump.

Jim

[logray]

Interesting. Did it go out on you all of a sudden, or was the MPG the only warning sign? (i.e. no apparent performance or running issues).

[jim_h]

There seems to be a bit more power with the new pump but the drop off was not something that I noticed. When the pump went there was some stumbling, then when I parked it and came out of the store the car would not start. I had to have it towed (flatbedded) home.

[JFP in PA]

Not at all surprising. When fuel pumps crap out, slow and almost unperceivable changes in performance are typical; many customers comment that after we changed out their pumps their cars felt “lighter on their feet” or “more responsive”. Not surprising as the both the fuel pressure and delivery volumes dropped off as the pump deteriorated, and then suddenly returned with the installation of a new unit.

As these cars are equipped with a fuel system test port, periodically checking the pressure and delivery has caught pumps on the way out before any problems were even noticed.

[crumbum]

This might be a stupid question, but how do you see mpg on the dash? I have tried turning, pushing and pulling on the two stems in the instrument cluster, but it doesn't change the display.

[jim_h]

It's the On-Board computer described on p66 of the owners manual. The lever is right under the steering wheel at 8:00, push up or down and it steps through mpg, miles until empty, outside temp, etc. The readout is at 6:00 on the tach under mph.

[logray]

It could be his car does not have the on board computer enabled or 4th stalk for controls.