Fuel Pump story with a DIY

**J-jizzle** · 07-16-2008 10:00 PM

My buddies and I were on my way back from MD today after picking up my sister's new/used car and visiting family. I made it to Knoxville Tn. (about 60 miles from my house) when the car started to act up. Everytime I hit the gas slightly hard the car would just cut out then suddenly lurch forward. It eventually got to the point where I couldn't keep up with interstate traffic so I decided to bite the bullet and go by the dealer since it was right there. City driving was a nightmare if I hit a red light, because not stalling from a stop was almost impossible. I hobbled into the dealership (well rolled because the car shut off) to see what was up - even though I figured it was the fuel pump, although there was no humming.

A nice technician checked the car out for me. No Charge! He confirmed that it was the main fuel pump, apparently there are 2 and this one did not hum when worn out. The unit was $366 with tax and the new washer. Labor was going to be $200 so I said no thanks and went across the street to a parking lot and did it myself in about 45min.

Here is the fuel pump cover in my trunk of my 2002 fwd 1.8t. Quattro's are under the seats I believe and it sucks if you have a full tank. All you need to do this is a phillips and flat head screw drivers and a hammer.

Take the cover off and unplug all the hoses and connections. Fuel hoses come off just like the ones on your fuel filter. Also you might want to take off the gas cap to release some pressure. One of the hoses will still shoot gas so be careful. It will stop eventually though.

After that is done you now need to take off the retainer that holds the pump down. Take your screw driver and hammer and tap the retainer counter clockwise until loose. Be paitient it will come off.

Here is the retainer off. Note the white arrow on the fuel pump. This arrow will need to be pointing to the arrow on the car (pictured in the upper left of the last image) when putting the new pump on to be correct.

Now reverse and install but don't forget to install a new rubber gasket. You will need to put it on the car and slide the pump over it for the easiest and best fit. There is a small trick to this but you can do it.

It is fairly straight forward and that's finally all.

**AudiA4_20T** · 07-16-2008 11:45 PM

nice man thanks for the DIY

**aaaudiprotein** · 07-16-2008 11:49 PM

Nice, thanks.
So how to get under the seat if u got Quattro?

**audiminiac** · 07-17-2008 02:55 AM

Why is so dirty there?

**dougyfresh** · 07-17-2008 05:26 AM

Originally Posted by audiminiac

Why is so dirty there?

Exactly.

Holy Filthy Car Batman!

**Papachristou** · 07-17-2008 07:20 AM

most hated job ive done! i didnt take any pics as i was covered in gas up to my elbows (yes my tank was full, go figure)

**kpatz** · 07-17-2008 01:04 PM

Originally Posted by aaaudiprotein

Nice, thanks.
So how to get under the seat if u got Quattro?

Just pull up on the seat, it'll pop out (it's held in with plastic snaps).

**04QuattroTurbo** · 07-17-2008 01:49 PM

Can someone do a DIY Fuel Filter writeup or is there one already, with pics like this one. Great job, BTW, you make it look easy.

**J-jizzle** · 07-17-2008 11:41 PM

Originally Posted by 04QuattroTurbo

Can someone do a DIY Fuel Filter writeup or is there one already, with pics like this one. Great job, BTW, you make it look easy.

It was much easier than I had expected having no Idea what I was getting into. Quattro is more difficult from what I here cause of the different location of the gas tank. Anyone with any automotive skill can do them though. O and there is a fuel filter DIY. Look in the DIY section on the B6 page or search for it, it's around somewhere.

Originally Posted by audiminiac

Why is so dirty there?

79,000 miles of build up I guess. I keep my car clean but Im not going to drop the tank to clean it too.

**brewmastr** · 08-02-2008 08:15 PM

i just did mine today, a few things i noticed in the write up, there is a siphon pipe that snaps into the fuel pump that you have to remove off the pump to get it out of the tank, really easy to do, you just pull up slightly on the pump and you will see it, unclip it and pull it out of the tank then you can get the pump out, i had ordered mine from genuineaudiparts.com (miramar vw/aud) and the pump they sent me must have been the wrong one or a later model pump (although they looked it up by vin) the bottom section of the pump which is everything important was the same but the top electrical section was diffrent, i had to take the top section off my old pump and put it on the new pump, no biggie as the upper section is just the connector and wiring down to the pump and sender which are located on the lower section, was rather easy, disconnect one hose, disconnect wiring from upper section to lower section, remove one clip and comes right off. you should not have to do this, but i figure if anyone runs into this kind of hassle like i did this post might give you an insight, as like i said before the lower section of the pump is the part that contains the pump,sender and screen and the upper section is just wiring it was a good fix for me being i was at the shop and the dealer i bough the part from is over a 1,000 miles away.

**Collin** · 04-01-2009 02:44 PM

I'm having trouble getting the electrical connector off, any tips?

Also there are 3 fuel lines. Is one pressurized to the engine and the others the vent lines from the filter?

**audistheonlyone** · 04-01-2009 03:00 PM

would the fuel pump have something to do with my car not starting on the first start? it always takes like 2 times to get it running.

**diagnosticator** · 04-01-2009 03:41 PM

To disconnect the electrical connector, first, push the connector toward the engaged direction to remove pressure from the retainer clip, then press directly down on the release tab, toward the connector body, while at the same time pulling the connector off the mating part.