Need help....I'm planning on replacing the fuel pump on my 1986 SE 2.8L V6, auto. I'm getting the following ACDelco stock fuel pump items from Rockauto: 1. Elec. fuel pump, 2. Strainer, 3. Pulsator. I already have a fuel filter. What else would I need? Does this model have a pulsator? What is the purpose of the pulsator, anyway? Are there gaskets, o-rings, etc.. that I need to replace other than what comes with the items I'm ordering? Are there other maintenance things I need to do while I have the fuel tank down? Lots of questions here, but there are lots of experts in this forum. Your advice will be appreciated. Thanks!

I recall that there are some rubber(ish) pads under there to cushion the tank. They will probably fall out when you drop the tank. Reuse or replace. I used some RTV silicone to 'glue' them in place whilst I replaced the tank.
You might want to throw some rust blaster/whatever on the bolts to the tank holding staps a day or so before you start. They get pretty crappy under there. Clean em up afte removing and lube em with anti sieze/grease etc to kep them good for the next time !!

You will probably need a new rubber "isolator" that goes between the fuel pump and pulsator. See my previous thread on this subject for pictures and more information. The fuel pump package should include the huge o-ring you need that goes between the pump assembly and tank.

quote Originally posted by FieroCT: What is the purpose of the pulsator, anyway?

The pulsator damps pressure pulses at the output of the fuel pump and has two major effects. 1) It provides a "soft" load for the fuel pump, which can make it last longer. 2) The fuel pump runs quieter. The pulsator is not essential, however, and many people just replace it with a short length of hose. Me? I prefer to keep the pulsator in place as originally designed.

[This message has been edited by Marvin McInnis (edited 10-06-2006).]

Make sure that one from rock auto has the strainer--the one Iooked up said it was sold seperatly, no biggie, I thinks its a couple bucks, take you time, when removing & re-installing the sending unit in the tank. I don`t use a pulsator, there are some that do and don`t , after 3 bad delphi--same as gm pumps and some other mis-haps, I did away with the idea, its really not any louder that I can tell , but each person has a preference, the bosch unit doesn`t use them..Replace all your sending unit hoses, you`ll see them on top. When you let the tank down. A little vasoline (just enough to say you put some on) the hoses on re-install will make the job alot easier. If your able to get all 4 wheels off the ground , thats helpfull also, but not mandatory...

A friend of mine is a mechanic,he says that they replace the pulsater with a small piece of high pressure fuel line and metal hose clamps,the metal clamps will prevent the fuel pump from poping off (High pressure fuel line ,expensive:about $5.00 for 1 foot).Im currently working on my fuel pump (diffrent car) and the regular fuel line that I used as the pulsater still looks good.As ltlfrari says,be sure to put the tank pads back,because they help surpess the fuel pump noise (helps prevent the sound from traveling through the body), send me a pm if you need some extra tank pads.There is a very large O ring at the top of the tank and should come with the new fuel pump,just befor installation put a thin coat of oil or grease on the O ring this will prevent the metal lock ring from kinking the O ring.You'll probubly want to use up as much gas as possible befor starting, from what I remember 1 gallion of gas weighs 4 pounds.I think you will need to disconnect the wireing harness at the firwall (for the fuel pump) to remove the tank.When I did my pump for the first time I clipped the tank wires and baught a wireing harness at Home Depo so I could disconnect the wireing in between the tank easyer.When installing the new pump,read the instructions carefully,some pumps are reverse wired, Example:Big prong--(ground)and Little prong+(hot)an aftermarket pump may be like this:Big prong + (hot) and Little prong--(ground).You can't allways go exactely how the old pump was wired.If you have a hand held greaser,grease the lower ball joints while you have the car in the air.

[This message has been edited by James Bond 007 (edited 10-06-2006).]

Ah...this is so fresh in my memory! Just replaced my fuel pump last weekend, 86 GT. Hardest part for me was that the fuel pump finally gave out at the service station after filling it up. So on the advice of other threads, I jacked up the entire rear end pretty high and put it on jacks. I was then able to slide off the large filler hose and use a Mighty Vac from Sears to syphon out the gas. Worked better than expected, got almost all the gas out except for about two gallons. (Its impossible to syphon out gas from the fuel cap.)

Purchased all my parts from Rock Auto. The rubber isolator that goes between the fuel pump and the pulsator is called (at least by Rock Auto) a "Fuel Pump Mounting Kit," Part number A43 25004553. Not wanting to do this job again, I changed everything...fuel pump, strainer, pulsator, and the isolator. If you order the AC Delco EP240, it will come with a rubber "thingy" that goes between the fuel pump and the bracket at the bottom. It can only go on one way, so can't mess up. I put the rubber "thingy" on the bottom of the bracket, then the fuel pump, then the isolator, and then the pulsator, which holds everything in place. The EP240 also comes with a short, 2" hose that you can use in place of the pulsator, but I chose to use the pulsator. The last thing I did was to press on the new strainer onto the bottom of the fuel pump.

As for the wiring, the hot wire is the only thing that may need some "assembly." The original fuel pump does not use the newer, plug-in socket, so you may have to exchange the hot wire. The ground wire (black) is already installed, and simply plugs into the sender unit. Throw out the old black wire. The EP240 comes with three new grey wires, each with a different connector to the top plate. Just remove the original white wire from the circular top plate, replace with the appropriate new grey wire, and the other end slides into the new plug-in socket. When you put the terminal end into the new plug-in socket, you have to first use a small screwdriver to take the blue clip out, then put the terminal in the hole, and replace the clip. Sorry, no pics, but you'll see what I mean. The instructions that come with the EP240 are very confusing, talks about soldering, etc. On mine, no soldering was required.

The EP240 also comes with two large o-rings (different sizes), just use the appropriate one when putting everything back into the tank. Take your time and be careful when removing and replacing the unit so as not to damage the float sending unit. Before raising the tank back up, I also replaced the three smaller hoses. Went down to local Napa store, bought a foot each of fuel lines (three different sizes), and put on new s/s clamps.

If you're so inclined to test the new fuel pump at some point (as I was...didn't want to replace everything with a possible bad unit), turn the key on for only a second, you'll know instantaneous if it works. (Run it too long without being submerged in gas will ruin it!)

Being the first time I did this with a Fiero, took me about four hours. But that included draining the gas, a few smoke breaks (way, way outside of the garage!), one beer break, and one stop to the Napa store for the hoses. Good luck! Tom

Forgot, I you still have gas in the tank and want to get rid of it, use the orange cigg lighter wire under the center consol , run a jump wire from it to the aldl connector, there will be a purple/violet wire running to the back (they really look tan/wht stripe) plug into both leads, this will turn on the pump with out the keys, you can run a small rubber hose down by your fuel filter (pressure line) to a container sitting out of harms way---no mess--well ok a little, inspect & clean the tank while you have the unit out of the car...

quote Originally posted by Fiero-in-Paradise: ... The EP240 also comes with a short, 2" hose that you can use in place of the pulsator, but I chose to use the pulsator. ... ...Before raising the tank back up, I also replaced the three smaller hoses. Went down to local Napa store, bought a foot each of fuel lines (three different sizes), and put on new s/s clamps. ... ...

Do you know the size of the in tank hose and the 3 smaller hoses that connect outside? I'd like to have all new hoses bought and ready to go before I drop the tank. Thanks.

Maaan....I forgot to order the "isolator mounting kit"...I wonder if I can order this from AutoZone? Thanks for all the advice.....I'm feeling confident in doing this task now...Thanks to ya'll..Keep the advice coming...you can never get enough...knowledge is power...it also prevents screw ups!!!

Fiero CT: I could not find the "fuel filter installation kit" (aka isolator) anywhere, ended up buying it altogether from Rock Auto.

Rrazz: The vent line that goes back to the cap is 1/4". The main supply line going to the fuel filter is 3/8". The return line from the engine is 5/16". I bought the minimum from Napa, one foot each, but you'll only need to use about half of that. Make sure they're good quality, mine are all Gates XL fuel lines. I also replaced the small clamps since a couple of them were rusting. I spent a little extra for the stainless steel clamps...don't expect to do this job again for awhile! I had looked under before, and the large, L-shaped filler hose (and there's a smaller hose that's molded to it) was in very good condition, so I didn't change it.

The tip from 3800 on draining the gas is excellent. However, my fuel pump was completely shot, so that would not work for me. I ended up syphoning the gas from underneath.

After I had removed the sending unit/fuel pump from the tank, I completely emptied out the tank to remove any crud. I must be one of the lucky few, the inside and outside of my tank was in great condition.

Hope this helps!
Tom