It bears repeating that because I have leached (def: habitually exploited or relied on... really exploited) so much information from landroverforums for years, saved myself thousands and thousands of dollars, developed new skills, and even turned my rover into my hobby and favorite car, that I am trying to give back a little. I am not a mechanic--I make mistakes ALL OF THE TIME; ask any of the gurus here who bail me out (including Abran, who bailed me out today on this very project)--so I am open to criticism.

What you need:

Carpet cutter--see below
New fuel pump
New fuel pump gasket unless you are feeling lucky
Smallish pry tool
Mallet or hammer
Big flathead screw driver
Medium phillips screwdriver
Well ventilated area
Towel
Your keys
Shop vac
Any lubricant

The problem was that my fuel pump had a tiny crack somewhere; I know this because I could smell gas and the first start up each day took longer than it should. My fuel pump was original (15 years old), so I guess it was time to do something. A year ago, what I did was find the approximate location of the leak and smear JB Weld all over it, then top it with a lucky penny. Believe it or not, that held for a solid year. But when the smell came back, and in light of my efforts to be less.... informal... about my repairs, I ordered a new one.

There are a few different kinds of fuel pumps for Land Rovers Discovery II's. If you have Secondary Air, there is only one; if you don't, there are two. Atlantic British has a great video on why the geniuses there can't even tell you what you have from your VIN. The bottom line is that you have to see the top of the pump to know which one to order.

Mine had a pressure sensor and one line to the engine. It has another little hose that has something to do with the environment. It looked like this:



I ordered the Bosch replacement. It arrived today and I was outside ten minutes later.

The videos below are the unedited process. Of course, I had already accessed my pump to repair it and find out what I needed. There are a couple of ways to do this: pull alot of stuff out of your interior so you can get the carpet back, or cut the carpet. As you will see in the video, I cut the carpet. I already have a cargo cover so it didn't matter to me. You can go either way but the easiest, BY FAR, is to cut the carpet.

Under that you will find an access plate with several phillips screws around it. Remove those and set the plate aside. What is underneath is something like what you see above (except that in the picture I had already disconnected everything).

The videos tell the tale, but the basic steps are:

1. Disconnect the battery
2. Unhook the electrical connectors (pinch where appropriate and pull).
3. Remove the fuel line (pinching). I put a towel over mine so fuel wouldn't spray out but since I already had a leak there was no pressure. It can spray all over you.
4. Vacuum any dirt up. If you don't, it will go in the tank.
5. Use a large flathead screwdriver and mallet to turn the outer ring off.
6. use a pry bar or other prying device to carefully lift the center part of the pump assembly out. Be careful because it is held in with a rubber seal you will want to reuse. Look at the new pump to see what comes out and what stays.
7. Lift the pump out and tilt left to get the float out.
8. reverse the process, putting the new pump in.
9. Take the rubber ring mentioned above and put it over the new pump... seat it on the opening to the tank.
10. Gently press the pump down... find its "spot" in the tank and press it into the rubber seal. Spray something wet on the ring so it will turn smoother (the first thing I found was "tire wet" that had been left in the driveway).
11. Twist the metal ring back on (watch the video... there is a trick).
12. Connect everything back up--battery last.
13. Turn key and be prepared to wait a few seconds for the gas to get to the engine.
14. Happy dance. Show spouse and children so they will realize what a great mechanic and provider/protector you are. Post on landroverforums so a few will know you can handle this job by yourself.

It took me an hour to do this. If I did it again it would take 20 minutes.

Okay, that's it. Here are the videos. I shot them on a blackberry and don't know how to edit videos, so the process is broken up, but they are short and to the point.

While the videos upload... what should I have done to this person? I really need some calm suggestions for next time. I plead the Fifth on this incident.

 

Okay, here is the removal .

Putting the new one in VID_20150813_163357.mp4

Note this regarding threading VID_20150813_164829.mp4

But I still; had it wrong... now this is RIGHT VID_20150813_170938.mp4

 

How can you work outside in Texas?
Is it not a heat wave now with 100+ every day?

 

It is no fun. But on the positive side you are never tempted to waste money on a tanning salon and your air conditioned house actually makes you shiver. Soft drinks taste cold even if they haven't been in the fridge. Your dog doesn't jump all over you (or move, even). Also, I basically don't sweat until the temp hits 98. We have had a lot of temps in the low hundreds and no rain for a very long time but it has actually been a mild summer for us.

All joking aside it was 107 last Monday and 110 in my driveway. As I get older I am more and more sure that I don't want to die working on my truck--what a stupid headline, obituary, and headstone that would make, and it is an actual possibility--so in those circumstances I have been known to go inside and shiver. Also, when your metal tools burn your hands, time to go in.