C4 Corvette: bad fuel pump dissassembly

I had the car serviced at a stealership for other problems when the fuel pump died at the stealership. I let them replace the pump because they did not want that much money to do it. I found out why, it is an incredibly easy job on a C4 Corvette. I could have done it in their parking lot and saved a few hundred bucks.

This is the old fuel pump. When disassembling it, using a cutoff tool like that is VERY risky. The pump was dry on the outside, but you never know how much gas is on the inside. While it won't(generally) spark on the aluminum, you can see when I hit the steel case that it sparks and you also see the little bit of fuel that drained after I pulled it apart. Even a little fuel can make a pretty big fire.

I think the 3 year old gas might have contributed to the failure, but you can see the culprit in this video. One of the brushes hung up and I couldn't even dig it out with a screwdriver.

I did finally get the bush and spring out. The spring was overheated and collapsed to about 2/3 the length that it was supposed to be. I believe bad gas caused the brush to become sticky and then the added current overheated the spring.

This pump had, I'm assuming, just under 120,000 miles on it and it looks pretty good except for that bad brush. I replaced a fuel pump on my late '90's Suburban with under 90,000 miles on it and in that case the fuel pump literally wore out. The brushes wore right through the commutator. Everyone I've known with trucks those years had to replace the fuel pump, tho, so I think it was a production problem with those vehicles.

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• C4
• Corvette
• fuel
• pump
• 1984
• 1985
• 1986
• 1987
• 1988
• 1989
• 1990
• 1991
• 1992
• 1993
• 1994
• 1995
• 1996
• Chevrolet
• GM

[l337pwnage]

@apn818 The fuel pump just comes out the top, but when I work on the car I back it up a pair of Rhino ramps and use a floor jack and jack stands under the front sub frames. I avoid the seam and lift on the flat part and use pieces of plywood so the jack won't scratch the paint.

Unfortunately it is really difficult to get these cars high enough to work on. I was thinking about a Kwiklift (If I can find one, the web site is down).

I suggest hitting up online corvette forums for info also

[apn818]

How did you Jack the car up

[l337pwnage]

@apn818 well, when mine failed it was already at a dealer, so I had them do it. However, yours is probably like mine. Disconnect the battery. If you open the fuel door, there are four screws that hold it on. Take those out, take the lid off. take fuel cap off, carefully take off filler neck boot. There are about six bolts, a few lines, and electrical connectors you take off the fuel tank, then it pulls right out the top.

The Corvette Forum can probably help you also.

[apn818]

Is it easy to get the fuel pump out I have a 84 vette