Think i need a fuel pump...after a couple hrs of driving the car dies as if runningin out of fuel. i've changed/checked all the 'tune-up'/maint stuff (plugs, fuel filter, air filter). also, when it dies, the pump continues to groan along (with some serious oscillation in pitch...i listened to it w/ a stethescope), so I'm thinking that it's not a problem w/ a crank sensor sending a faulty code....anyway, it sounds like a fuel pump, no? if so, is there any online resource as to how go to about changing the fuel pump. I gather the access is behind the drivers' seat & will be pretty straight-foward once the trim is removed. Is it that simple? any pitfalls? thanks in advance.
What year is it? You are on the right track. On the 1990 - 1997 models, it is located on the parcel shelf in between the two seats. I am not sure if it is the same on later year models.
The hardest part is depressuring the system and getting the interior trim out of the way. After that, it is a few easily accessable bolts and the fuel lines, which can be stubborn on a 10+ year old car, but it hasn't been too bad on the two that I have taken out.
The only other thing that I can think of is to be careful when switching them out. It fits into a fairly large hole that goes directly into the gas tank, and dropping bolts or something in there is just the type of thing that I would tend to do. :-/
I made a mistake, I have no idea how to you go about depressuring a fuel system, but I do know how to release the pressure on the fuel system. Spell check can be my friend.... :-/
oops..I broke the golden rule of posting on car forums! It's a 2001 (or 2?) model. From looking at it extensively on a lift, I can't see any way other than like in the earlier models to access the tank/sender/pump. I read somewhere else that turning the car on w/ the fuel pump relay disconnected (relay w/ yellow plug under steering column on the early cars, from what I read), depressurizes. I suppose I would have been wise to do it at the same time I was replacing the fuel filter yesterday. Of course, that was when I was still thinking wishfully that the problem could be a bad filter only....
Are you just trying to make me jealous? If you have access to a lift, then I think that you are good to go and can handle this job, not that you need a lift for the fuel pump swap.
I have dreams of either owning or having unfettered access to a lift, but it is not likely to ever happen.
LOL...for a second, i thought it was the fiancee with the Miata of whom you were jealous. Yes, having a lift, compressed air, a welder, etc. etc. are wonderful things in a guy's life. So wonderful, in fact, that it comes pretty quickly to question how you got along without them for so long. That said, I usually work on my own cars - which are all
25-35 yr old FIATs & the diagnosis (or potential mis-diagnosis possibilities) on the modern Miata seem daunting even if I can scratch my head in question with the car in the air :)
Well, that too, especially a woman who drives a miata.
Women come and go. Good tools are for life. ;-) Seriously, best wishes on the marriage, and the fuel pump. Be sure to let us know when that ball & chain snaps on......
BTW, 5 years seems like a short lifespan for a factory fuel pump. I removed one from a 1990 model with 128,000 miles that was working perfectly. Have you done any tests on it to see if the fuel pump is definitely the problem?
My Miata was my first car with fuel injection, and I felt the same way at first. But there's really little to go wrong. The computer runs everything, and is very reliable. No more leaky carbs! No more distributors! I sure don't miss valve adjustments, either.
The miata.net Garage section has illustrated tutorials for nearly all maintenance and repair tasks.
I've been able to re-create the problem a couple times now...the most recent time w/ my buddy (who was working late in the shop anyway) leaving it running for almost 3 hrs last night until it finally started acting up. The pump groans & changes pitch as it starts to have problems & there appears to be no switching of voltage (ie, no clicks of relays, etc.,nothing noticable at the power leads at the pump) when this is happening. Further, the pump area became extremely hot when this was happening...of course, that was the first time I know of it running w/ the pump/tank uncovered...so maybe it gets that hot all the time? I also noticed that at some point earlier in the car's life, someone must have yanked on the pigtail attached to the fuel pump relay because the housing is cracked. Obviously it works, but I thought that it could be building heat & thus current resistance after running for a few hours. I'm replacing the pump w/ a Denso replacement unit & the relay w/ a very expensive unit from the dealer. .
Thanks also for the nod to miata.net....i'm sure I'll be perusing it in the future. I have a couple fuel injected FIATs & since I always do my own maint. work, I'm not entirely unfamiliar with the cars....but I guess I am still thinking 'old school' that a sports car ought to leak a little, smell a little like fuel, be noisy & rough & be a little finicky in general. I felt more at home test driving it with all the interior removed from around the fuel tank...so I got more supsension noise, road noise, the hum of the fuel pump, etc......LOL. Thanks all for the thoughts/help.
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