How reliable are fuel pumps in Ztech?

[gdk771]

I have a Ztech powered Contour with 113k miles on it. It runs fine but I was thinking of replacing the fuel pump as I was concerned about the pump with that much mileage, whether it is original or not, etc.. Does anyone know how reliable fuel pumps are in Ford ZTech's from the 1996 year? Should I not worry about it?

[BrApple]

typically fuel pumps are not an issue in any contour unless its a later 99 or 2k with the returnless fuel system. but then still I haven't heard of zetecs having that issue.

btw my 95 has the original pump now at 216k. although I think its starting to have some issues.

I saw drive it until it needs to be replaced.

[striker2]

I too had over 220K miles on my pre98 Zetec fuel pump before i decided to replace it with a walbro 255LPH pump, not because the stock one was failing, but because i had plans for the car and the pump was needed.

[BrApple]

I too had over 220K miles on my pre98 Zetec fuel pump before i decided to replace it with a walbro 255LPH pump, not because the stock one was failing, but because i had plans for the car and the pump was needed.

what where the signs that the pump was failing? I have noticed in the last year that when the engine is cold, ie first thing in the morning or when leaving work, I will get bucking if I am moving at a moderate speed and constant rpm. The other day is was particulary bad when I left for work, and I also was almost out of gas. Other then that my gas milage has seemed to increased. I am getting near 350 per tank more consistantly where it was always 300 before. But i have done some more highway driving recently. only other thought was if the pump is getting weak and it runs rich from the factory its leaning out some and running better.

[striker2]

i didnt notice any problems with the car at all, i just wanted to go ahead and replace the pump for when i eventually turboed the car.

[cetroutt]

i'm a tick under 179,000 and my fuel pump still seems to be fine.

[PurdySVT]

garbage in the tank is the most common cause for fuel pump failure.

had a few vehicles fail a pump...

and it goes along like this you start up and drive fine for a while and then you lose power you can push on the gas pedal and the car will die or want to die and you just keep slowing down last pump failure was my fault dumped some old gas with some junk(that I forgot about) in my explorer because it had a 23 gallon tank and I could thin it out but the filter sock plugged up..

you may notice problem with a low fuel level at first but eventually it will get worse until it does it with a full tank
at least contours are easy to change so don't change it till it acts up usually you can limp home. things such as rapping on the tank can get a bad pump going and or shutting the car of and restarting it can get it to work better by temporarily unclogging the fuel sock.

[amc49]

Fuel pump life heavily dependent on how many times you run out of gas. Pump is lubed/cooled by fuel running over it. Dry running can kill one in less than 1 minute of dry running. When they go bad, lots of time they will get noisier.

[striker2]

Fuel pump life heavily dependent on how many times you run out of gas. Pump is lubed/cooled by fuel running over it. Dry running can kill one in less than 1 minute of dry running. When they go bad, lots of time they will get noisier.

considering that my pump was still running strong when i replaced it (over 220K miles), and the tank was run almost dry every time (dad worked in Cincinnati and we live near Louisville so he ran it down every tank) i wouldnt worry about it dry running.

[amc49]

I sell pumps along with other parts. The warranty flatly states that ANY dry running is cause for voiding warranty. That's every brand we sell. We have voided warranty on BRAND NEW parts because someone couldn't figure out you need a certain amount of fuel in tank when bringing a new pump online. Pump would be torched, impeller totally destroyed.Also, why not look at the Focus recall from pump dry running because of strainer stopping up from ethanol drawing water based product into it. Thousands of fuel pumps replaced because dry running screwed them up. Look at most owner manuals now. They clearly state that you should not RUN OUT OF FUEL, can damage both converter and pump. To the guy who said garbage in tank screwed them up, correctimundo. The garbage blocks the strainer and pump dies from no fuel going through it. That warranty I spoke of before requires you MUST change fuel pre-strainer with a new pump to keep warranty in effect, again for same reason.