A while ago, I had a walbro pump installed because my fuel pump died.

The guy at the shop said the return hose didn't fit into the walbro - and he just left it in the tank, and he said it should be fine.

I noticed my fuel pressure drops right back to 0 psi after I turn the ignition to "ON" and hear the fuel pump prime.

What can I do to fix this? Do I need to block off the return hose some how? Is there a provision on the walbro 255lph pump for the return hose to go back on? Why would he leave the return hose hanging?

Help!

 

That is beyond me. The Walbro pump (the pump itself) only has one fitting on it, and that's the pickup line. The return line is a small 90 degree elbow that protrudes from under the round fuel tank plate that the lines pass through. Which line exactly did he leave disconnected? Your mechanic sounds like a moron if he decided it wasn't important to reconnect a FUEL line, of all things.

 

hmm.. i'm deciding I'm going to have to cut a hole in my hatch and remove the fuel pump to take a look - looks like I'll have to replace a couple things anyway.... I don't know how to drop the rear end/tank, and I can't afford to take it into a shop to get raped on charges.

So once I open up this fuel tank and see a return line just sitting there.. what do I do with it?

Right now, I turn the ignition to "ON", hear the fuel pump prime, and i watch the fuel pressure guage go up to about 30psi, then it drops right back to zero.

is this a bad fuel pressure regulator? or is the gas not pressurized enough, and is just dribbling out the unconnected returnline?

 

ramair95ta:

sorry, didn't see your question!

I'm not sure which line he left disconnected - the impression I got was that the old pump had a sending line and a return line..

the walbro only had one fittiing, so of course, the sending line went on. but my mechanic didn't know what to do with the return line.

and yes, he is a moron, i am *never* taking my car back there again. he also did something to the fuel floater, so once i drop below 1/2 tank, the needle gets stuck unless i take a hard corner or hit a bump pretty hard...

 

If you're going to cut into the floorpan, you can use my guide if you choose.

There should be four lines that run to the top of the fuel pump. One goes to the rails, one comes from the rail, one is a one-way vent, and the last connects to the carbon canister in the left rear quarter panel. If the return line was disconnected, you'd be leaking fuel all over the place. If he left anything disconnected, it would most likely be on top of the tank (either the quick-lock fittings or the slip-on barbed fittings); you should be able to smell a whole lot of fuel.

And the sending unit shouldn't need to be touched, unless he broke it. It uses a simple pivot and foam float, and shouldn't bind on anything if correctly reinstalled on the fuel pump assembly and inserted into the tank properly.

If it was a bad regulator, you should be able to smell fuel, as the rubber diaphram in the regulator would most likely be torn, and fuel would leak out the vacuum line on the rear of the regulator. How fast does it drop back to zero? Don't rule out faulty injectors if it's a slow leak.

Once again, if anything was left disconnected, you should have a very strong fuel odor.

 

ramair95ta:

thanks for the help!

The hose that was left disconnected was actually "inside" the tank - the 4 lines going to the top are intact. I am leaking no fuel, and I don't get a smell of gas.. except from the exhaust, from my car running a bit rich and having no cat. I also get horrible mpg...

but yeah, he told me some hose in the assembly had no place to go... I'm guessing the fuel is dribbling out of there after my fuel pump primes, which is why my fuel pressure drops to 0psi right after the pump shuts off when i turn on the car..

edit: and yeah, the pressure drops to 0psi in about 2-3 seconds.

 

Could be leaky injector or bad regulater also Much easier to check than your fuel pump..

Cody

 

its not a leaky injector I removed my rails with the injectors still on them, and turned the key to "on".. no dripping whatsoever.

as for the pressure regulator, i'm beginning to suspect that as the culprit.. how can i be sure? the fuel pressure regulator doesn't seem to be leaking gas or anything, as far as I can tell...