TJ won't start: Could it be my fuel pump?
- Thread starter Chris
- Start date
How fortunate you discovered that in your driveway and not 4 hours from home on a jeep trail!
I was thinking the exact same thing. Although fortunately I have the best AAA plan you can get. But still...
I may have run out of gas a few days ago on the freeway with the same half full fuel gauge.
Apparently it's a TJ thing. Mine seems to be just stuck at the half way mark. Last time this happened (after installing the GenRight fuel tank) it was just stuck on E.
Mine worked perfectly until I put in a new pump, either I've screwed up or there's an issue with the new one or the wiring connector. Banking on me screwing up at this point.
Mine worked perfectly too until I put in that GenRight tank. All I can figure is that I installed the fuel pump wrong into the new tank, but I'm not really sure how that's possible. There was really only one way to install it, and I made certain that there was nothing in the way for the float to catch on.
You probably thought you were getting some really good fuel mileage on that tank of fuel......
Haha, no kidding!
It was sitting at the shop for a month, so I sort of lost track about where the fuel level really was since the last time I filled it.
:roflmao:
You should have made up something better than that. Glad it was easy
I think this time around I'll just order a brand new Bosch fuel pump to be safe. The sending unit is part of the fuel pump, and unless I'm wrong, I don't think you can purchase it separately (do you know if this is true @Jerry Bransford)?
Anyways, I'll order a new one and let you know when it gets here. Either way, it will be on a weekend for sure.
As always, appreciate the help! I feel like maybe we're both becoming experts on dropping TJ fuel tanks.
At least this time we don't have to worry about any of the evap lines. I'll be removing them entirely.
Chris, you can get the sending unit by itself. Here's a link. I think this is the right part number for our Jeeps, confirm though.
https://www.mymoparparts.com/oem-parts/mopar-sending-unit-5161336aa
No kidding? This is awesome. I'll confirm the part number, but if that's the case, I'll just order a new sending unit. The fuel pump has 58k miles on it, so I don't foresee it going out just yet.
Thanks for finding that!
Hopefully the sender assembly is no longer spot welded to the housing as it is on the earlier 2004 and older housings I am familiar with. You might consider replacing the whole assembly with https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000BZGCWY/?tag=wranglerorg-20 and removing the fuel pump from the existing housing to keep as a spare.
I may just do that instead Jerry.
One thing I noticed about that sending unit, it's listed as only fitting 05-06 models, so that seems to suggest that it may not be spot welded like the earlier models.
Either way, replacing the entire fuel pump and keeping the existing one for a spare may just be the better option.
If you are going through the trouble of dropping the tank to fix the sender. Might as well replace the hole thing.
I know everyone is die hard OEM people. With the problems with the inaccurate sending units it makes me wonder if someone has made a better fuel pump. Especially since Bosch is no longer producing the TJ pump. i know that there are Bosch replacements available).
At least it wont be very heavy :meparto:
Glad you figured it out.
Edit (just noticed tom beat me to it) lol
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