Hope you guys enjoyed this one! A few comments about checking the fuse! THIS is a must.. Not sure how we spaced on including it in the video, but that one is 100% on me! LOL Luckily my buddy is back on the road with a new pump and filter
Yea true often times though the Fuse goes bad because of the relay causing extra load trying to power a bad pump. So keep that in mind. Often you will still need the pump replaced. and or the relay behind it. Pump, relay, Fuse, Filter all should be checked. if you have just a bad fuse. I forgot to mention the fuse in my comment too.....MY BAD
Thank-you for this video HM. You did verify pump was getting power with power probe and volt meter; however, agree verifying fuse is WAY easier early steps, almost as easy as checking air in my tires ;-). Actually changing the pump would be way out of our wheel-house but the diagnosis part is really useful, and good to understand all the work a mechanic has to go through to execute the part change.
Top tip: When removing stubborn dust or dust from nooks and crannies with a vacuum cleaner, use a paint brush to stir up the dust while hoovering so the suction can get a hold of it.
You got to love rear seat fuel pump access covers! That was a piece of cake compared to my dad's Buick. That required dropping the fuel tank to get at the pump. It was also -5F when the pump died. Also imagine trying to balance a fuel tank on a floor jack while trying to reconnect fuel lines, tank venting, electrical connections and tank hangers. What an absolute nightmare! Thanks for the video Charles! BTW - betcha you walked and talked funny after all the gas fumage! 🥴
Oh man. Similar thing happened to me with my old Honda CRX. You have to drop the tank to replace the pump as well. I did mine in the middle of winter, it was freezing, I had a sinus infection, and I did it all in this cramped corner of my parent's garage with the garage door closed because it was so cold. I breathed in all those fumes for hours, and it's all I could smell even several days while I was recovering from being sick. It was miserable and I'm sure I lost a ton of brain cells.
If you want a real nightmare, try doing this on a Mk2 TT Roadster as it requires dropping the tank since access and fitment through the bulk head is impossible.
A tip I learned long ago that can get you home, is when the pump goes and the brushes are worn out, make sure there's gas in it and bonk the bottom of the tank a few times. It can jostle the brushes in the pump past the worn spots on the commutator and can get it running enough to get you to safety. Works about half the time, which is enough to make it worth trying. I use this trick to get cars with dead pumps into the shop.
I drove a car with that problem brushes in the pump we’re worn and sometimes car would stall out when that happened I just bang on the underside of the tank then car fire up again it lasted 3 more years like that until the pump finally died
If you change the fuel filter, make sure to remove the fuel cap first. I unfortunately forgot about that when I recently changed mine and people say that it lets off pressure and causes much less dripping when you detach the lines.
I’ve legit never even thought of this. Lol thanks now I feel dumb. I’m thinking the main reason is, when I’m gonna do a fuel filter the car is up. I’m not going to lower the car, the. Raise it back up because flatrate. But gonna try that. I like it
@@HumbleMechanic I mean, in theory it makes sense. The fuel loop should be a closed system and some (if not most) of the pressure that the pump creates towards the engine will be on the return line as well, which will pressurize the fuel cell somewhat. It's worth a try and takes little time if you remember to do it before the car makes its trip up in the air :)
By that theory couldnt we just power the evap purge valve through software? Not familiar with modern VW. But on vida for Volvo you can open the purge valve with a click of a button. Or we would just unplug the relay and let it stall.
I had a similar issue in my 2012 Beetle Turbo. Died while driving, wouldn't start. Turns out it was the fuel pump control module (the harness that plugs into the top of the pump). It was easy to diagnose - the housing of the module was melted! Several forums noted that was common. Yikes! It was a very easy fix and far cheaper than a new pump.
“These like to break when you look at them”😂 glad I found this video my r32 died on me yesterday, it would cut power/bog/misfire on the highway every now and then for the past week until the idle went back and just didn’t start, same symptoms
Glad I’m pretty glad I’ve been looking for the vid for especially 4WD how to “ FUEL PUMP”. This one is GREAT as hell, now I’m confident to tackle this job myself now soon ! Thank you so much you are god help for me ! Great detail VID As always
Hey Charles - love seeing you work on mk4 r32s. Started following you when you flew to Miami for your blue one! Let’s hope the next black mk4 in your shop is your own! Excited to see that come together again.
friend saw the O2 go bad/telling the ecm I'm lean deal, GM said buy an ecm, luckily he picked up that the O2 could be bad cause GM's troubleshooting chart missed it, he uses a wooden handle wire brush to tap the pump ring off,
GOOD POINTS IN THE VIDEO.....Change your fuel filter with the pump. One of the indicators that your pump might be failing is before it happens your fuel filter plugs up. So if you see a new fuel filter and suspect low or no pressure, and have No testing tools best guess is that the pump has failed. Also like Charles says, Replace the Relay. Often before the pump goes out there is additional stress on the contacts inside the relay. Many times the relay will go bad soon after the pump because the relay was running a pump with high resistance. These pertain to all makes and models on a fuel pump install......GOOD JOB CHARLES AGAIN.
The difference in changing a fuel pump between your country and mine is that when you change it in my country, you can guarantee that the fuel tank is almost always nearly empty 😂😂😂 Amazing video, my friend! God bless you!
my mkv ring was nearly rusted on and started bending so I just hit it with the air hammer, it worked lol. I don't recommend sparky air hammers, sharp metal and fuel components. My MKIV actually killed that relay once on the side of the road, but I had a spare.
I don't even own an r32 but I love watching these videos. Are you working on a video of the recent changes to the mk8? Like the wheels new springs and what not
Thanks! luckily this process is the same for basically all MK4 cars(other than ALH) Putting a hold on MK8 content for a minute. seems the community at large is not feeling it
When I replaced the fuel pump on my TT I cheapened out on the 12eur rubber gasket and it leaked massively. If DYIing the fuel pump, when you're done don't put the black round cover back, go and put maybe $20-30 of gas, it will leak from the top while being filled if you haven't tightened the round holder well or didn't seat the gasket properly... Also, press the pump down while tightening the big round holder plastic nut.
Before I got my '82 Scirocco, somebody bypassed the fuel accumulator as part of diagnosing a no start issue. They never hooked it back up and I think they also messed up the level sensor. I'm waiting to mess with it until I have lots of free time, space, and patience. Should probably also grab some vanilla or mint extract to put under my nose...
@@eurodriven2507 my scirocco was the same colour as yours 👍🏼 I loved that car. Put over 300k kms on it. One clutch, one radiator, standard wear and tear items. My left leg was bigger than my right with the cable clutch, but good clutch feel. 😎💪🏼
Had to do this very same job on my Audi A3 3.2. Takes around 1 1/2 hours . Not too difficult but be very careful when working with combustibles. It was roughly the same mileage when it failed.
My r32 had a bad fuel pump but I still started and ran mostly fine. Took years of troubleshooting. Worst symptom was it would have really rough warm starts.
I can name that tune in 2 notes! I got lucky and guessed it in the first few seconds. Had same thing happen my Touraeg - can't complain as it was almost 250k miles and 14 years when it gave up. Pita to replace the pump and filter on the Touareg though! Props for the quote from mall rats ;)
Usually fuel pumps go bad after filling with fuel. One theory says it’s because of the fresh fuel being cooler than the one inside the tank, so, difference in temperature can cause a catastrophic failure in a worn out fuel pump. I’m my experience every fuel pump I have replaced has a full tank of gas in it 🤦🏻♂️
THE ARROW on the pump has a correspondent on the fuel tank. MAKE sure you align corresponding to the tank not referring to the car. Misalignment with a few degrees can give you false level readings or in some cases maybe some air in the fuel intake
The missing PCV hose that you capped on the valve cover: Is that a vacuum leak? I thought it was just basically a breather for the valve cover, and could be run to a vented catch can.
IT probably will not cause a vac leak, just vent. but wanted to cap off either way to be sure. Im thinking about it from the point of "maybe you don't know the engine you're working on super well, lets address this known possible issue."
Over the years I’ve had a bunch of people tow their cars in when they were just out of fuel. One customer insisted his fuel pump was bad and the fuel gauge isn’t working properly. Put a few gallons in and it started up. Customer said that makes no sense I put 5 bucks in the tank and didn’t even make my 30 mile round trip for work. Come to find out he just bought the vehicle which was a full size pickup truck his first one he had been driving a Toyota corolla for 20 years he thought the fuel gauge was broken on the truck because he had no idea a pickup truck was so much worse on fuel haha.
VW VDO fuel pumps are so reliable they fail without fail. The one nice thing is that there are usually tell tale signs of a pump going south, delayed ignition/ extended crank and you can check the pump duty cycle with the code reader, a new pump at idle is about 55% and goes south at >70% at idle. Thats just for normal pump wear, this was a worn motor, less common and could go without warning.
Makes perfect sense to me. Turbo car vac leak in boost, boost leak = rich, car is reporting more air then it's receiving. Turbo car in vacuum with a leak, vac leak = lean, car is under reporting air coming in. NA car generally an air leak causes a lean condition in every scenario. Maf cars use the flow of air cooling the element and changing frequency to correspond to a measurement of g/s or kg/h to tell the ECU how much injector cycle to use. MAP cars don't measure the air flow but the air pressure inside the manifold to calculate necessary fuel. Then relies on the o2 to tell the ECU how much unburnt fuel is left after combustion. Stft or short term fuel trims use this O2 voltage to make constant corrections to the fueling. The ltft or long term fuel trims are based on an avg of the short term to make broader corrections. Most ECU can make a + or - 25% correction. When it reaches it's limit it throws a cel. When modifying and tuning a car you always try to get your trims as close to 0 as possible. However as long as AFR look good and short term trims are decent it's not an end all be all.
Love VR6 related content as the blue R32 series is one of the reasons I bought my A3 3.2(Mk4 R32's are expensive here in New Zealand and I don't like the look of the Mk5)
Don’t know if anyone else asked or mentioned but what are the trigger states on the fuel pump? Door handle, ignition, ECU, etc. that drawing in the wiring is a mess of stuff and there are many things that run/don’t run that pump and can cause issue. Unfortunately the Bentley doesn’t spell it the flow chart of stuff that says what controls it running.
Hey Charles, I have an electric humming noise what I believe to be from the fuel pump. My car runs fine (for now), is this electronic noise coming from the fuel pump? I know it's not from the amp as I disconnected that, and on VW Vortex there seems to be consensus that it's the fuel pump and I should "not worry about it", famous last words. Is the humming noise a warning sign of an impending fuel pump failure or could it be something else. Your thoughts please, you are the authority on everything VW, especially the R32. Thanks, and yes, another awesome video!
I love how vw designed it so you don't have to drop the tank..I hate how they designed the opening to be the exact size of the body of the pump, it can be a struggle getting these in and out. I always feel like I'm going to break something
Mind adding some clarity on how you can do similar voltage tests for pulse-width modulated fuel pumps? Currently have a p0089 code on my B7 Audi A4 2.0T FSI, when I read channel 106.2 I get 0% for the low pressure fuel pump duty cycle, which makes me think its related to the fuel pump control driver, and not the fuel pump, but not entirely sure, The car starts and runs fine, only symptom is the code coming on after a few cold starts.
As always, great video! You mention erroneous fuel level sensing if the pump is installed out of line. I’m experiencing something similar, my gauge only reads 1/2 at max fill. My pump is working fine, connector looks clean and seems to be aligned properly. Before I order a whole new pump have you or anyone here messed with the float sensor to fix a similar issue?
I had once the VOX Autodoktoren on a Transporter T4 2.0L gasoline not starting, a bad coolant temp sensor was the issue... Oh BTW, my MK IV Variant 1.6 FSI runs the fuelpump when you open the drivers door after unlocking it (Oh, TDI's will glow the glow plugs)
Love the beard! Just a little worried that it may kill you eventually ( god forbids), also you know when the fuel pump starts when you open the switch in vws because they are super noisy! Love the vids
Thanks!! I’m honestly not sure what to do anymore. I was hoping this older type stuff would perform better(it’s what everyone said they wanted). Yet the video performance isn’t reflecting that. 🤷♂️🤷♂️ luckily I gotta fix broken stuff either way. I’m just confused about the ecosystem right now
@@HumbleMechanic The only thing I can say is that I watch several Youttubers from Tavarish, Hoovies Garage, to Emelia Hartford and many more. I think those that are continuing to grow have one thing in common...they stick to what is a natural progression of their main topics while keeping viewership up based on their personalities. They all have a great sense of excitement to what they were doing regardless what it is. I'm not saying you don't as clearly I tend to watch most of your videos and am greatful for the many tutorials that have helped over the years. Having seen some of these RU-vidrs in person, they are very much full of energy just as you see them online. How that translates to increased viewership on your channel...I don't know. It may be that they show more of an experience rather a "how to" and a broader crowd is in it for the experience. Either way, you have my support!
What happens when you don’t connect that plastic piece back . Just did this job and getting that clip off was easy but can’t get it back on not sure how it clips . Does it matter ?
Its good preventative maintenance to change the fuel pump at around 200.000 kms before it goes and leaves you stranded on the side of the road. Also easier to do this way with the fuel tank almost empty. Theres also a half pump (the bottom part) sold by VDO at half the price.
Fuel pumps aren't super expensive/difficult or anything, but I don't think I'd classify them as a preventative maintenance item on most cars. Are you specifically referring to Mk4's?
@@eurodriven2507after 230.000km and 21 years, fuel pump was getting lazy, after leaving the car for 3-4 days it wouldn't start with first try. I bet it wouldn't supply the full 4 bar of pressure anymore. Replacing it fixed it.
Why couldn’t you have made this video back in December? My tt mk1 fuel pump died on New Year’s Day. And I couldn’t find any good info videos. For changing a fuel pump . So I made my own video . But it’s the same as your video . No room and the pumps only die when they are full of fuel
What do you call SUBSTANTIAL and KNOWLEDGEABLE the answer is HumbleMechanic Sharing what you know with us great video outstanding tutorial 👌 👏 👍 Thank you, take care and have a great day HumbleMechanic From Nick Ayivor from London England UK 🇬🇧
I recently replaced my fuel pump on a 2002 GTI1.8T. The arrow at the pump pointed to the rear of the car to the back seat. I also did not have any connections in the tank nor did I disconnect any on the one I replaced. I just disconnected the top lines and the wires. Does this seem right?
First, love the shout out to Dogma. LOL Second, if only GM/Saab were as good to their customers as VW when swapping a fuel pump. On my former 2002 Saab 9-3 the tank is also under the passenger seat, unlike the VW there is only a port large enough to unplug the pump and fuel lines, getting the pump out requires dropping the tank or, for many self-repair owners, like me, you make two cuts to the pan and bend the metal back just enough for the pump to squeeze out. Crude, but make it a simple job you can do in a few hours, especially when your pump dies almost immediately after you filled your tank with gas. On my current ride, a 2013 Lincoln MKT with the 3.5 EcoBoost, when the engine cut out and I thought the pump has died, a quick search on the MKT forum revealed that the likely issue was the pump relay, which unlike the pump is a 20 minute repair you can do on the street next to your apartment with a socket set, screwdriver, and pliers. I made a video about that at my channel.
I had the pump die on my 4.2 A6 in the best way, started fine to move it out of my driveway and when I went to move it back it wouldn't start and I just there and was like yup that seems about right lol
My Mk4 Jetta died while driving for a while at 90Mph, couldn't start right away, until I waited for about 40mins then it started normally, what could it be?
Would it be helpful to have a bucket to place the fuel pump in when you take it out? Great step by step demo! Also, these aftermarket air intakes that are stuck inside the engine compartment will only suck in hot air, seems counter productive, they may increase air flow but hot air has less density than outside air, theoretically less power. But whatever makes you happy is OK?
Hey Charles I’m hearing a loud hum whine almost sounds like it’s coming out of the rear driver side speakers. Could this be a fuel pump issue? Noise goes away whilst foot is on the gas pedal.