How long should it take to replace the fuel pump on a 1999 Isuzu Rodeo?

Answer 1

Isuzu Rodeo Fuel pump and Sending UnitIdeally, it should take you about 2 hours.

Disconnect the negative side of the battery in the engine compartment and press on the brake pedal several times to get rid of any electrical discharge. I belive it's a 10mm wrench to disconnect the battery.

First you need to jack up the side of the car where the fuel pump and fuel tank is located. This is usually on the driver side. I changed the fuel sending unit on a 1999 and 2001 Rodeo and the tanks were on the driver sides. The fuel sending unit on Rodeo's goes bad and usually needs to be changed. This will cause you to get trouble code 463 amonng others which I had as well as your fuel gauge not working. It's really hard to find just the sending unit by itself but keep looking around and you can find it. It's a lot cheaper than buying the whole fuel pump. I found it here. http://ahi-parts.mobi/contact.HTML

YOU SHOULD HAVE SOME MECHANICAL EXPERIENCE BEFORE UNDERTAKING SUCH A JOB. I would say any grade D+ or above mechanic can do it.

BEFORE YOU GET STARTED MAKE SURE THAT THE FUEL TANK IS NEARLY EMPTY BECAUSE THE EXTRA WEIGHT WILL MAKE IT VERY DIFFICULT TO REINSTALL THE FUEL TANK AGAIN AS WELL AS IT'S REMOVAL.

Take out the 5 or 6 bolts and one nut that are holding up the tank to the frame of the car. Get under there and see which bolts are holding up the tank and which ones are just holding the tank together. We're just interested in the bolts that are holding up the tank to the car. Make sure that you put a jack under the tank before removing the bolts so you can lower the tank slowly to avoid any damage to the tank.

Once the bolts have been removed, slowly lower the tank with the jack. Not all the way because you have some lines that need to be undone. Enough to feel that the tank will not go down any further by itself. First you need to remove the tank filler tube/hose. This can be done by unscrewing the clamp that is holding the line to the tank. I believe it's a 10mm socket or a Philips screw driver. It's a tight squeeze. The hose is located at the back of the tank. Next disconnect another hose that is much smaller from the tank. I Don't know what it's for but can easily be removed by pinching the fastener that is holding it in place, you may need some plyers, again its in the rear of tank and it's a tight squeeze.

You may need to use a crow bar to gently push both hoses off the tank, once the clamps are off.

Next disconnect the electrical connections on top of the pump. Use a screw driver to gently unhook the side clamps and push out. Gently.

Lower the tank a little more. You will notice that 2 fuel lines come out of the fuel pump. These are hooked to fuel lines attached to the frame. These need to be disconnected from the lines on the frame. There should be some clamps by the frame of the car that can be taken out. You might need to use some force to disconned these lines but be gentle. Some plyers will come in handy as the plastic tabs usually fly out over time. Keep a record of which line goes to which line as you will need to reconnect the same lines.

Now that everything that was attached to the tank and the vehicle has been removed the tank should come out really easy.

Once on the ground you will notice that there is a metal ring kind of hooked onto the top of the tank to hold the pump down. You will need to use a screwdriver and a hammer to undo or make this ring turn counter clockwise to undo it, but first clear out any dust or debri from the top of the tank or fuel pump. You don't want anything to go into the tank once you take out the pump.

When the ring is finally unhooked from the top of the fuel pump than the fuel pump can be removed very easily. Just remove the ring and pull up on the pump slowly as it may have gas in it. You will need to clear the float and filter from the bottom of the pump so be gentle and take it out slowly.

Install the new pump and reinsert the metal ring. You should use a new gasket before installing the new pump. Removing the fuel lines from the old fuel pump, you will need special tools sold at any parts store. You can take your old and new pump to the store and they can show you how to take out the lines after you buy the special tools. Should cost you around $10. This tool is also good for replacing A/C line.

If your replacing the pump, than the sending unit should already be attached so go down to step II below to continue.

If your just replacing the sending unit, than you don't need to take out the lines but do disconnect them from the frame makes things easier but it's not really necessary.

Once you have the fuel pump out you will notice the sending unit on the side of the pump. Notice that the little metal fingers have all been eaten away or corroded away. Compare to the new sending unit and you'll see why it had to be changed. Anyways....there is a little clamp holding the sending unit to the pump. Gently, gently pinch these together and push out. Once that is out the sending unit itself has some hooks that need to be pinched to push out. Disconnect the float from the sending unit and attach it to the new one. Once that is done, install the new sending unit in it's place and reinsert the clamp holding it in place.

ALERT: The sending unit I got was a little different than the one in the tank. One of the connections was a little smaller than the one in the tank and wouldn't fit right or not at all. So what I did was cut the wires and I spliced it to the old connector. The wire coloring and everything else was the same. NOTE: Do not splice wires together with electrical tape inside the tank because the gas will melt the tape, instead used some electrical connectors. Don't worry that the electricity will be exposed to the gas and will blow up the car with you in it. The voltage is very low and not hot enough to make the gas explode. Don't believe me? Look at the sending unit and notice the wire connectors are completely exposed as well as the wires that go into the other connectors.

You can be done at this point if you just cut the purple wires coming from the sending unit and connect them to the existing wires but why when your so close? Than again, you don't have to figure out how to unhook the connectors.

Undo the other 2 connectors attached to the pump, gently. Study them carefully to figure out how to disconnect them. Check out the new sending unit connectors to see what needs to be pulled from the old one to disconnect it.

II

Once that is done, gently put the pump back into the tank and reinstall the metal ring. Make sure that the pump is positioned in a way that the fuel lines line up perfectly with the fuel line clamps on the side of the tank. Reinstall the metal ring. You just need to get the ring in the righ position than you can use a screw driver and hammer again to tighten it by making it turn clockwise. Be carefull that all the tabs of the metal ring are going under the locking mechanisim.

One of the bolts that hold the tank to the car is a nut. This is used to position the tank in it's proper position so it should be the first thing that gets attached.

Gently raise the tank up again and line it up so the hole in the tank is lined up the screw for the nut. Screw in the nut with fingers and don't tighten. You will need to spray some WD40 or some sort of lubricant to the hoses so they will slide in easy.

Reattach the hoses as well as the electrical connecters as well as the fuel lines. After that is done than reconnect the battery for a second and turn the key to see if the "check engine light" went off and to see of the fuel guage is showing anything. If the light went off and you can see some life in the guage than you did it correctly and you can proceed with inserting the remaining bolts and tighting and your done.

If nothing has changed than add some gas to see if the gauge goes up. If the light hasn't gone out than read the codes again to see if the trouble code relating to the fuel gauge has dissappeared.

If you still have the same trouble codes and the gauge isn't working than you either did something wrong or the gauge itself is faulty. You can go through the steps again.

Another thing you can do is: Consult a technician or go to your local junk yard and look for some grease monkey you can talk into taking a look at your vehicle for you while the tank is still on the ground.