Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Three Wheeler & Super 3 Fuel pump failure

Just seen this on a us web site
Saturday, August 29, 2015
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The big news right now is regarding high pressure fuel pump problems in various BMW models. The fuel pump issue is on the rise and it has been reported among drivers with 1-series, 3-series, 5-series, x3, x5 and x6 vehicles.

BMW is working hard to come up with a fix to the problem, however that has not prevented consumers from having to return to the shop countless times to address the situation. The company has extended the warranty on the part to 10 years/120,000 miles, but there are instances where the service adviser is blaming the problem on "bad gas", which we do not feel is a suitable explanation.

Regardless of whether the service department can duplicate the problem or not, it is essential that they give you a repair invoice each and every time you complain of the problem. Fuel pump failure can lead to stalling so it is essential that you continue to bring the matter to your dealer’s attention if you feel it is not being properly addressed.

If you have been back to the shop several times for this problem, or any other, or your car has been in the shop for an extended period of time for a specific situation, you may want to investigate your rights under State Lemon Laws or Federal Warranty Laws. You could be entitled to a full repurchase, a new vehicle or a partial refund plus continued ownership of your vehicle. Contact a lemon law attorney in your state, for more information.

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Have just read earlier thread properly. Only the retaining ring is BMW so im barking up,the wrong tree

Just for the record, the fuel filter is a Mahle KL167. Available for under £40 on eBay.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mahle-Fuel-Fil...=item27efa80f4e
That still seems like daylight robbery just for a fuel filter (or am I out of touch...)

Lots about fuel pump woes on this thread:
http://www.talkmorgan.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/278044/2

Fuel pumps will have to work harder if the filter gets blocked, which I doubt is the problem. They will also fail early if allowed to run hot as would be the case running the fuel low all the time. Interesting to see that some people have put longer fuel senders in to use more of the available fuel, ie not show 0% when there is still half a tank. Putting a longer sender and running a lower fuel level might cause a shorter pump life. Is this a pattern?

Not for me
I always tend to fill at 0 with the old sender.
Wonder what sort of pump it is?
Have just removed the black cover. Bugger of a job but at leat I can get at the pump if Morgan wont do it for a much reduced price. Loosening the wiring loom helps a lot.
Have found one online at £166 ex vat
Thanks bunny for info on filter at £40.

Ok
Will follow the earlier posts on how to remove fuel pump

Good instructions. Some comments though.

The black plastic cover is a bit of a bugger to remove.
There is a very small self tapper that is used to hold the inner section in place while some sort of sealent has been used to join this inner section to the outer portion. Its a very bad bodge job. A small hobby type knife is the best tool for cutting the sealent join between the two sections. It is a tight space to work in.
I used a full size stanley knife and it was not easy.
Then remove the two bolts holding the wiring harness to the sender unit. This will make removal of the black outer cover easier.

Underneath you will find an amazing amount of crud. My car does have 18 k on the clock. The black outer cover does nothing more than hide all this crap from view. I understand why Morgan fitted it. The pump unit is designed to be accessed from a dry area such as the rear floor pan or boot(trunk).
They should have used a separate pump although a submerged pump is meant to be a lot safer than a remote type unit.
I will not be refitting the cover and instead will hoover the area after every ride in future.
I thoroughly cleaned the area and used a brass bar and dead blow plastic hammer to unscrew the retaining ring. You dont want any sparks at this point.
The ring was very tight and lots more crud was displaced during this operation. Constant vacuming and cleaning is required.
The ring was removed and more vacuming undertaken.
I did something really stupid at this point and I am almost ashamed to print it.
I had previously removed the in / out fulel lines so decided to pump a small amount of fuel onto a rag to assist with final cleaning. I momentarily switched the ignition on to do this. Very bloomin silly and I am lucky to still be here to write this.

Really battery should be disconnected and terminals covered to stop this sort of behaviour. I really do know better.

Area clean, it is reasonably easy to remove pump. A bit of fiddling and twisting is required.

Pump is a modular design and I not that you can acquire a repair kit( basicaly the pump and motor) for a lot less money than the whole housing.

This would seem a great idea as the housing contains no essential moving parts. It is basicaly a support bracket. It is spring loaded to allow it to sit as close to the bottom of the tank as possible. As a result it does rub against the bottom of the tank and wear marks are visible as a result. Whether some flexing of the tank in use or movement of the pump assembly when turning the retaining ring cause this is anyones guess.
At this point you are also faced with a big hole and alot of fuel. In hindsight you may argue that the tank should be drained for this procedure. However vapour maybe more dangerous than liquid fuel. You pays your money and takes your choice.

The retaining ring took alot of cleaning with a wire brush. The threads on the tank were cleaned with industrial q tips and rag.

I smeared a small amount of silicon grease on the inside of the retaining ring and re assembled all parts to make the car safe.

Now the hard bit. Getting Morgan to pay something towards a new pump.
The pump is common to the landrover discovery and a pattern and original is widely available.
The pattern pump is around £200 inc vat while,the originals are over twice that amount. Thoughts please.
Im not exactly impressed with the OEM part but you pays your money and takes your choice I suppose. If Morgan do the decent thing and pay half the OEM would be the best option.
If you can get the OEM pump as a repir kit that will be the second option and the pattern part as the worst case scenario.

Important to flag the safety lessons (even if already know) as somebody might miss that.

Been looking on web
Under that part number there are a multitude of pumps available
The american spec unit I have found for £175 whereas the british spec for £35

http://www.island-4x4.co.uk/fuel-pump-sender-unit-9398-britpart-esr3926-p-2334.html

Not sure what we have fitted to ours but britpart have a two year gurantee.

http://www.island-4x4.co.uk/fuel-pump-sender-unit-spec-esr3209-wfx101020-p-7622.html

American spec unit