Kymasabe

Well, my midship tank sprung a leak so I ordered a new tank. Truck is new to me so I have no idea how old the pump in the tank was, all I knew was sender was inop, gauge didn't work, but the truck ran fine.
So, I'm in my local pick-n-pull junkyard yesterday pulling a really nice trailer hitch off another truck like mine and I see that it has a fairly new looking midship tank as well. I dropped the tank and took out the very clean looking Spectra fuel pump/sender assy. When I dropped my tank to day to replace it, the pump that came out was a 10 year old Motorcraft upper part, tubes look like they were not pointing in the right direction, there was an extension on the fuel output side for some reason (as I'm writing this I'm wondering if that was an added-on check valve of some kind) and the thing was wired in with Scotchlocks, is a miracle it ran, dirty fuel sock, pump was discolored, turning yellow, looked old. Anyway, installed the junkyard fuel pump took a while to prime the line. Now, truck runs, but is hard to start, cranks a long time like it's loosing fuel in the line, has low power, and is surging. I'm thinking my boneyard fuel pump is crap and I wasted a couple hours and $20 on it. What are your thoughts? Junk pump?

Kymasabe

I'm so tired of working on this thing and not knowing what the hell I'm doing. Looks like the extension thingy I say on my old pump was actually some kind of external check valve. If I get a new pump, do I still need that inline check valve? IF I do, should I get a new one from Ford instead of using the old one?

Kymasabe

I decided to play with the Motorcraft pump that came out. Turns out, only the upper part of the assy is Motorcraft and dated "manufactured 2007" The pump itself is an Airtex. Iwas considering pulling the Spectra assy I installed today, and removing the pump, and swapping this one over to it, since this one worked and the truck ran fine with it, but having read horror story reviews about Airtex, I'm reluctant to reinstall it.
So, should I just buy another Spectra pump and install it on my Spectra assy that's in the tank now?
And, do new pumps come with internal check valves? Or do I need to reinstall the crusty inline check valve that was on the pump I removed?

raski

First, I wouldn't waste my time with any junkyard fuel pump regardless of its brand. Second, Airtex is known for poor quality, short lived fuel pumps. If I am going to go through all the work of pulling down the tank, I would go for a new Motorcraft unit which will outlive the truck.
The pumps I have replaced were complete units. If the check valve is to be reused, it should be fine if you had no prior issues holding pressure.

Chris_1

iTrader: (1)

2 things; pre 93 I6 in-tank fuel pumps had a problem with blowing check valves. The warranty fix was to install an in-line check valve. By 93 1/2 or so, they lowered the pressure required down to the same level as the V8's to solve the issue.
2nd thing is related: V8's operated at 30 to 45 psi, early I6's required 45 to 60 psi. So the truck you took the pump off looked like yours; but was it a V8 or a 6 ?
Check your fuel pressure with a gauge, for starters.
As far as the electric motor in the module goes you want something high quality like a Walbro or Bosch.
But as for the rest of the module, they have a check valve and a shuttle valve in there so if the module isn't high quality it's only a matter of time till you're right back doing it all over again.
There's a reason why some pumps only cost $100 and others are so much more.
Also usually a reason why trucks are in the wrecking yard; bad fuel pump is a common one.

Kymasabe

Ok, rented a fuel pressure gauge today, pump I installed yesterday was running at 36psi. Dropped the tank, reinstalled the Airtex pump I took out, mounted it on the Spectra assy, put the Spectra fuel sender on it and put it all back together and reinstalled the tank. Retested fuel pressure, is running between 46 and 48psi. I was hoping for 50+ but i'll settle for what I have for now. Truck runs well again, no leaks, reinstalled the inline check valve. So, I'll run it the way it is until it fails, and then I'll invest in a good pump assy.
Side note: when it was done, drove it to local auto parts store to return rental fuel gauge and....something in the column broke, truck is stuck in drive, got the wheels blocked to keep it from rolling down my driveway. I can't catch a break.

Chris_1

iTrader: (1)

You might have broken the shift tube, but more likely the 2 torx bolts at the firewall end of it have loosened off. There's writeups and pictures about it on here, but just lie on the drivers floor with the gas pedal stuck in your ear and look up; you'll see the end of the shift tube and the plate that attaches to it (the end of the cable clips to the plate).
Does the end of the shift tube move with the shifter ? Does the plate move with the shift tube ? Is the cable connected ? Like that.

Kymasabe

Confirmed, shift tube is broken. Went to my local pick-n-pull today, all the 92-96 trucks are missing the steering columns. So, I yanked the shift tube out of a '95 E250 van. Looks the same as my truck one, with the exception of a slightly thicker/reinforced area in the place mine broke. I'll take it with me to Ford dealer tomorrow, and if the new one is identical, will just use my used one and just replace the bushings with it.