Hi Folks,
I wanted to post some info here hoping that it might help somebody.
My 99 RAM1500 was having some intermittent problems where the engine would quit, but then it would start again. Finally, my son had the truck at work and started it on his break to move it. When he got off work the truck would not start. We ended up towing it home with a tow strap.
I did some diagnostics on it and it had spark, but then I found that there was no pressure on the fuel rail. I swapped the fuel pump relay with one of the other ones, still nothing. I pulled the relay and shorted the 12V across the contacts, still nothing, and I could not hear the fuel pump. At this point I was pretty sure that the pump was bad.
I checked the price at a local parts store and they wanted about $250 for the whole drop-in assembly. I found a pump (pump only) online at http://onlyfuelpumps.com/ for about $70, so I ordered the pump. Shipping was quick...I think it arrived in 2-3 days.
In order to change the pump and/or the assembly, you have to drop the fuel tank. For the tank removal, take off the fill tube and vent tube at the tank. These are rubber hoses and they are attached with hose clamps at the tank. You must also disconnect the fuel and return lines. These are attached with quick connect fittings and you have to squeeze the plastic tabs and pull the lines off. These lines are a bit difficult to access, since they are located on top of the tank. You also have to remove the electrical connector for the pump. The connector is a little tricky…first you have to push the red tab out to the right and then you squeeze down on the top tab and pull it out.
I recommend that you remove all the lines and connectors before dropping the tank down, but you might be able to drop it a couple inches to get better access to the lines, etc. The reason I say this is because I dropped the tank about 6” to get better access to the lines and ended up kinking the plastic line that heads up the fuel rail. Luckily the line did not split and it was okay after I got the connector off. After everything was disconnected I put my ATV jack under the tank and removed the two straps. I lowered the tank and then used my floor jack to lift the truck high enough to pull the tank from under the truck.
There is a threaded ring that holds the assembly in the tank. It’s kinda like the ring on a masonry jar and you will probably need a strap wrench to remove it. Be careful not to let the assembly rotate, i.e. only turn the ring. After removing the ring, the whole assembly comes out of the tank. Be careful for the float and float wire when pulling the assembly. Luckily my tank was only 1/8 full of gas, so after taking out the assembly we dumped it into a clean bucket and then into a gas can (no smoking during that part).
Now for the fun part. After removing the assembly, you have to take it apart to access the pump. There are three plastic pieces to the assembly. You will have to remove the electrical connector inside the top piece and the fuel line that goes to the filter/regulator. Note: this might be a good time to replace the filter/regulator, but I did not replace mine. To get the top plastic housing off, you have to stick a long flat screwdriver or something flat between the top and bottom housings in order to release the three tabs that hold the two pieces together. You can then pull them apart. Now, the bottom housing is where the pump is located. In order to separate these two pieces, there are some catch tabs that have to be squeezed together and they are located where the wires for the float sensor come through the housing and up to the connector. I pushed a tweezers up through the bottom to push the tabs together. You can then pull the inside housing out of the bottom housing. Now you have access to the pump. Just cut the red and black wires (leave at least a couple inches near the connector so you can butt splice the wires from the new pump) and pull the pump out.
The new pump came with two new seals, a hose, hose clamps, and a scavenger filter that goes on the bottom of the housing. There is another filter on the pump that was not included. You will have to pay attention to how the seals go on and how all of this comes apart, etc. It might be a good idea to take some pictures as you are taking things apart.
Now you can install the new pump, filters, seals, etc, the same way it came apart. The kit did not include the butt splice connectors; you will need two red ones. The whole reason for this write-up is that I could not find any instructions to disassemble the pump housing. I had to figure it out and found it a little challenging, mainly because of the hidden tabs that hold the inner housing into the bottom housing where the pump is located. The fuel pump does not come with any installation instructions, but it had all the things needed and it was a perfect fit.
Now that the new pump is in the truck runs great. I could swear that it was running pretty sluggish before, but now when I hit the pedal, it hauls ***. In retrospect, I should have taken some photos of what I described here…sorry about that. I hope this will help somebody who is having fuel pump issues. Of course the easier way to do this is just pay $250 for the whole assembly, but I figure that it was worth the extra headache to save myself $180 and just buy the pump for $70.
Good luck!
I wanted to post some info here hoping that it might help somebody.
My 99 RAM1500 was having some intermittent problems where the engine would quit, but then it would start again. Finally, my son had the truck at work and started it on his break to move it. When he got off work the truck would not start. We ended up towing it home with a tow strap.
I did some diagnostics on it and it had spark, but then I found that there was no pressure on the fuel rail. I swapped the fuel pump relay with one of the other ones, still nothing. I pulled the relay and shorted the 12V across the contacts, still nothing, and I could not hear the fuel pump. At this point I was pretty sure that the pump was bad.
I checked the price at a local parts store and they wanted about $250 for the whole drop-in assembly. I found a pump (pump only) online at http://onlyfuelpumps.com/ for about $70, so I ordered the pump. Shipping was quick...I think it arrived in 2-3 days.
In order to change the pump and/or the assembly, you have to drop the fuel tank. For the tank removal, take off the fill tube and vent tube at the tank. These are rubber hoses and they are attached with hose clamps at the tank. You must also disconnect the fuel and return lines. These are attached with quick connect fittings and you have to squeeze the plastic tabs and pull the lines off. These lines are a bit difficult to access, since they are located on top of the tank. You also have to remove the electrical connector for the pump. The connector is a little tricky…first you have to push the red tab out to the right and then you squeeze down on the top tab and pull it out.
I recommend that you remove all the lines and connectors before dropping the tank down, but you might be able to drop it a couple inches to get better access to the lines, etc. The reason I say this is because I dropped the tank about 6” to get better access to the lines and ended up kinking the plastic line that heads up the fuel rail. Luckily the line did not split and it was okay after I got the connector off. After everything was disconnected I put my ATV jack under the tank and removed the two straps. I lowered the tank and then used my floor jack to lift the truck high enough to pull the tank from under the truck.
There is a threaded ring that holds the assembly in the tank. It’s kinda like the ring on a masonry jar and you will probably need a strap wrench to remove it. Be careful not to let the assembly rotate, i.e. only turn the ring. After removing the ring, the whole assembly comes out of the tank. Be careful for the float and float wire when pulling the assembly. Luckily my tank was only 1/8 full of gas, so after taking out the assembly we dumped it into a clean bucket and then into a gas can (no smoking during that part).
Now for the fun part. After removing the assembly, you have to take it apart to access the pump. There are three plastic pieces to the assembly. You will have to remove the electrical connector inside the top piece and the fuel line that goes to the filter/regulator. Note: this might be a good time to replace the filter/regulator, but I did not replace mine. To get the top plastic housing off, you have to stick a long flat screwdriver or something flat between the top and bottom housings in order to release the three tabs that hold the two pieces together. You can then pull them apart. Now, the bottom housing is where the pump is located. In order to separate these two pieces, there are some catch tabs that have to be squeezed together and they are located where the wires for the float sensor come through the housing and up to the connector. I pushed a tweezers up through the bottom to push the tabs together. You can then pull the inside housing out of the bottom housing. Now you have access to the pump. Just cut the red and black wires (leave at least a couple inches near the connector so you can butt splice the wires from the new pump) and pull the pump out.
The new pump came with two new seals, a hose, hose clamps, and a scavenger filter that goes on the bottom of the housing. There is another filter on the pump that was not included. You will have to pay attention to how the seals go on and how all of this comes apart, etc. It might be a good idea to take some pictures as you are taking things apart.
Now you can install the new pump, filters, seals, etc, the same way it came apart. The kit did not include the butt splice connectors; you will need two red ones. The whole reason for this write-up is that I could not find any instructions to disassemble the pump housing. I had to figure it out and found it a little challenging, mainly because of the hidden tabs that hold the inner housing into the bottom housing where the pump is located. The fuel pump does not come with any installation instructions, but it had all the things needed and it was a perfect fit.
Now that the new pump is in the truck runs great. I could swear that it was running pretty sluggish before, but now when I hit the pedal, it hauls ***. In retrospect, I should have taken some photos of what I described here…sorry about that. I hope this will help somebody who is having fuel pump issues. Of course the easier way to do this is just pay $250 for the whole assembly, but I figure that it was worth the extra headache to save myself $180 and just buy the pump for $70.
Good luck!