A recent survey revealed that Americans are spending more time at gas stations these days than ever before. They’re stopping at their local gas stations at least two or three times each week in most cases to fill their gas tanks up with fuel. If you fall into this category, you’ve probably become all too familiar with your car’s gas tank. But do you truly understand how your car’s fuel system works as a whole? It needs everything from your gas tank to your fuel injectors to be in good working order to do its job. It also needs you to stay on top of doing things like fuel pump replacement to keep it firing on all cylinders. Let’s take some time to learn about the fuel pump in your car and all that it entails.
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What Is a Fuel Pump?
As long as you keep the gas tank in your car filled up with plenty of fuel at all times, you might think that that’s going to be enough to keep your car moving in the right direction. But the truth is that all the fuel in the world isn’t going to be able to help you overcome a bad fuel pump. You need the fuel pump in your vehicle to be working properly for fuel to make it to your engine.
Your car’s fuel pump is in charge of taking the gas that you put into your gas tank and moving it to the fuel injectors in your car. Additionally, it’s in charge of making sure that the right amount of gas works its way towards your fuel injectors. If it doesn’t move gas to your fuel injectors or if it moves the wrong amount of gas, it could potentially be catastrophic for your car. Your engine isn’t going to be able to do its job and power up your car without the right amount of fuel being delivered to it.
How Exactly Does a Fuel Pump Work?
Now that you know what a fuel pump is and what it’s responsible for within your car’s fuel system, we want to discuss how it’s actually able to do the job that you need it to do. It’s not always easy for your car’s fuel pump to deliver gas to your fuel injectors, but it’s able to do it through the use of a consistent process that it utilizes to get gas to your fuel injectors over and over again.
The fuel pumps that are situated inside of the fuel systems in most vehicles have an electric motor that drives them. In some cases, fuel pumps are located in a fuel tank, and in others, they’re located right outside of them. But either way, the electric motors that are attached to them allow fuel pumps to suck gas out of a fuel tank and push it through a line that leads to the fuel injectors in a vehicle. Just before making it to the fuel injectors, the gas also passes through a filter that removes any contaminants that might potentially be floating around inside of it.
This process will continue to play out for as long as you have your car up and running. The only time when it’ll stop playing out is when you need to have fuel pump replacement done. When your fuel pump goes bad on you, it won’t be able to get gas from your gas tank to your fuel injectors. This will result in a lack of fuel in your engine, which will hurt the performance of your car and potentially even put your entire engine at risk.
How Often Should You Replace a Fuel Pump?
There is really no telling how long that a fuel pump is going to last inside of a car. There are some people who don’t ever have to do fuel pump replacement throughout the life of their car. But generally speaking, you’re going to find that you’re probably going to have to do fuel pump replacement at some point if you keep your car long enough. The fuel pumps in most high-mileage cars will die out eventually.
There are, however, a few things that you can do to prevent having to perform fuel pump replacement as often as you might have to otherwise. You can, for example, steer clear of allowing your car’s gas tank to get all the way down to E on a regular basis. This will help you avoid putting too much strain on your fuel pump. You can also get into the habit of replacing your car’s fuel filter early and often. This will make it much easier for your fuel pump to run, and it’ll allow you to keep it around for a lot longer.
What Are the Symptoms of a Bad Fuel Pump?
If your car’s fuel pump ever goes bad on you, there are going to be some signs that’ll let you know you need to consider doing fuel pump replacement right away. One of the first things that you might notice is gas leaking from your car’s fuel pump. If you see gas leaking, that is a pretty surefire sign that you’re going to need to stop using your car right away and have fuel pump replacement done.
There are also several other signs that will suggest it’s time for fuel pump replacement to occur. Check them out below:
- Your car won’t start
- Your car’s engine doesn’t seem to be producing enough power
- Your car is making a lot of strange sounds near where your gas tank is located
- Your car’s check engine light has turned on
The good news for you is that it shouldn’t be too difficult to spot the signs of a bad fuel pump. It should be fairly obvious that you need to schedule fuel pump replacement. But the bad news is that you’re not usually going to have a ton of time to plan for thefuel pump replacement. It’s not out of the ordinary for a bad fuel pump to sideline a car and prevent a person from driving it.
Should You Stop Driving a Car With a Bad Fuel Pump?
Do you suspect that you might need to have fuel pump replacement done? If so, you might be wondering whether or not you should continue to drive your car around. It doesn’t seem like driving a car with a bad fuel pump would be a very good idea.
You are definitely right in assuming this. In many instances, you aren’t going to have a choice when it comes to whether or not you should drive a car that’s in need of fuel pump replacement. There is a decent chance that a car with a bad fuel pump won’t start up for you in the first place. But even if it does, you should always think twice before doing it. Your car might not be able to produce the power that it needs when it has a bad fuel pump in it, and it might stall out on you repeatedly when this is the case. It could end up leaving you stranded on the side of the road or even cause you to get into an accident if you’re not careful.
Rather than trying to drive a car that has a bad fuel pump in it, you would be better off taking it to a mechanic to have it looked at. They’ll let you know if you need to have fuel pump replacement done and take care of providing you with a new fuel pump. It’ll keep you out of harm’s way and ensure that your engine and the other important parts in your car aren’t damaged due to a bad fuel pump.
How Should You Go About Getting One Replaced?
If you believe that you have a bad fuel pump in your car and you want to have fuel pump replacement done, you should drive your car right down to an ASE-certified mechanic as soon as you notice a problem with it. Try taking your car to an auto repair shop that has at least some experience with regards to replacing bad fuel pumps.
Once you get your car down to a reliable shop, they’ll be able to inspect your fuel system and tell you if your car needs a new fuel pump put into it. They’ll also be able to tell you if you have any other parts within your fuel system that might need to be replaced. They might recommend that you try replacing the fuel filter first to see if that does the trick prior to suggesting fuel pump replacement.
Whatever the case, you should make sure that you have a reputable mechanic work on your fuel pump replacement project for you. The last thing you want to do is mess around when it comes to making repairs to your car’s fuel system.
Is Replacing One Yourself a Good Idea?
If you know for a fact that your car’s fuel pump has gone bad, you might be a little bit tempted to try to do fuel pump replacement on your own. It seems like it would be a simple enough job for anyone who has even a little bit of experience working on cars.
If you feel comfortable working on cars, you might be up for the challenge of doing a fuel pump replacement. But whenever you do any work on your car’s fuel system, it’s always essential that the work gets done right. If it’s not, it could lead to fuel leaks, other issues with your fuel system, and possibly even engine failure. You do not want to mess around when doing jobs like fuel pump replacement.
For this reason, it’s usually best to leave a job like a fuel pump replacement up to the professionals. A mechanic will be able to properly diagnose fuel pump problems before picking out the right fuel pump for your car and replacing your old fuel pump. You’ll sleep better at night knowing that your new fuel pump is going to be able to deliver the fuel that your engine needs.
How Much Does Replacement Cost?
One thing that you should know going into a fuel pump replacement project is that a new fuel pump is likely going to cost you a pretty penny. On average, people typically spend somewhere between $725 and $900 doing fuel pump replacement. This includes about $550 to $675 for a new fuel pump and about $170 to $220 for the labor related to replacing a fuel pump.
There is also a chance that there might be other parts within your car’s fuel system that will need to be replaced as a result of your fuel pump problems. That could drive the fuel pump replacement cost up higher and force you to spend a lot of money getting your car back out on the road.
Is the Replacement Cost Worth It?
If you’re planning on keeping your car and continuing to drive it around, the fuel pump replacement cost is going to be well worth it to you. It’s going to be the only way that you can safely drive your car again. You won’t really have any other choice but to replace your old fuel pump with a new one.
The only time when you might want to consider not paying the fuel pump replacement cost is when you don’t have any plans to keep your car for very long. You might be better off getting rid of an older car with fuel pump problems as opposed to doing fuel pump replacement. It won’t be worth spending a bunch of money on fuel pump replacement only to part ways with the car in the near future.
Can You Sell A Car With A Bad Fuel Pump?
Do you want to get rid of a car with a bad fuel pump rather than doing fuel pump replacement? You might have some trouble selling your car the traditional way. But you should know that there are companies that will pay top dollar for your car in spite of the fuel pump issues that you’re having.
Cash Cars Buyer will put cash directly into your pocket when you sell us your old car. Even though it’s in need of fuel pump replacement, we’ll pay you handsomely for it and arrange to pick up your car so that you don’t have to bring it to us. It’s, hands down, the easiest way to unload an old car that you don’t want anymore. Contact us now to get an offer for your old car on the spot.