Jeep TJ fuel pump help

livetorun

livetorun

Mammary Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 20, 2008
Location
Louisburg, NC
I recently replaced the fuel filter on my 05 TJ and when I re-installed the pump, suddenly the Jeep wouldnt run. Ive tested the pump and its putting out 60-70 psi from the outlet but Im only getting about 5 psi coming out of the tank. Its hard to tell in the picture below but the fuel comes out of the pump then into the plastic housing (the part right below the spring). It then comes out of the housing and up to the regulator. Best I can tell is either the regulator isnt working or the housing is plugged up. I held the pump up slightly while it was running and I couldnt see any gas coming out of the return line which makes me think there is a clog before that point. Is there a secondary filter maybe in the housing that isnt accessible? Anyone have any experience with these?


tj pump.jpg
 
Yes, the sock filter is what I replaced. Its inside the "bowl" at the bottom of the pump assembly. Im getting correct psi out of the pump. The problem is somewhere between the pump outlet and the regulator outlet.
 
Sounds like the regulator at the top of the assembly is clogged up. Pull it off, drain the fuel, and see if that helps. There is supposed to be a secondary filter in it as well. I would bet that one is clogged
 
I'm guessing the secondary filter is inside the housing. There is no getting to that without breaking it apart. Same goes for the regulator. I had to break two tabs off to get that out.
 
Does anybody sell it as an assembly? Or maybe just sell the upper regulator section separately?
 
Yes i can buy an after market fuel pump assembly but the reviews online are not great for them. Many say they don't work right out of the box. No one sells just the regulator separately. But i don't know for sure that the regulator is bad. There May be an issue between the pump and the regulator. The other kicker is i was supposed to be going to Rausch Creek Friday so there isn't a lot of time.
 
Any chance that there is a leak somewhere between the pump and the outlet? Pump may be running, but dumping the fuel before it can leave the assembly? I know there are seals on the older TJ and WJ pumps that would degrade over time and cause internal leakage that would cause long crank times and low pressures.

For what it's worth, my bro in law in Raleigh keeps Walbros on the shelf if it gets to that point.
 
RockAuto lists the entire ass'y, complete. Carter, Delphi, Airtex, Bosch, Denso, etc. They're all about $120-200, except for the Carter, which is $300.

If there's a filter in the assembly, the fuel pump probably filled it up with impeller parts when it died. Ditto for the regulator.
 
Whatever was inside the housing was clogged. The out put of the pump goes into the mid section of the housing, and then up to the pressure regulator. He bypassed the housing and went straight to the pressure regulator and added an external fuel filter. So what ever is inside that mid section is no bueno.
 
The fuel pump didnt die. I ruled that out pretty early. Also through process of elimination, the regulator is fine as well. I bypassed the internal filter (thanks Black Bear and Transman for the idea) and installed an external inline filter. It is running fine now and hopefully will hold until I can replace the entire assembly. Im a little leary of RockAuto parts. I bought a fuel pump before I ruled that out and not only did it only put out about half the necessary psi but it didnt fit in the housing that the stock pump was in either. Now that I have a temporary solution in place, I have time to shop around more thoroughly for one.
 
I order all sorts of stuff from RockAuto. The nice thing about them is it's pretty clear what brand of part you're actually buying. The only problem is that you've got to wait for it to show up... so you've got to plan ahead. Which means I still end up buying plenty of parts at CQ and NAPA. Heavy stuff that I'm likely to need warranty replacement on later (steering box, for example), I just buy at Autozone.
 
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