Fuel pump again??

[underclassman]

Hey guys, encountered what seems to be a fuel pressure problem today as I was driving a friend home. Took a fun right corner and didn't use much throttle. After I straightened out, I was cruising and started to lay into the throttle a little bit. The car fell flat on its face. The whole 20mi drive from there on was a struggle for the car. Every stop light the car had a hard time moving away from--there is nearly no power when I give throttle while under load. The engine died one time on the way to their house. It misfires when I apply throttle with a load on the engine, and I get a misfire or two when free revving it. I am also noticing more fuel pump noise than usual, with the key in the on position as well as with the car running.
Now, I replaced the fuel pump (Airtex) at the time of my car club's annual cruise, which was only two months ago.. I thought they made good products. Fuel filter was done in January. I checked my hybrid VAF and the hardware is still locked in place; nothing came loose. Nothing looked disconnected or torn. I pulled all four plugs to check on them, and the electrodes were pretty white which indicates a lean condition.
What should I do?

[underclassman]

I was left stranded today thanks to Airtex and their carelessness. I was towed home and found my issue. The nut that held the fuel pump to the return line inside the tank walked its way loose. The fuel pump was laying in the bottom of the tank. Now I have to find a new nut--no dice looking in the tank :/

[Mazda_Powered]

wow, that's rough man! Bad way to find out what's causing the issue...any luck finding a nut?

[underclassman]

Got the nut out of the tank and bolted the pump back together. I now need a new tank O-ring (because it expanded when soaking up gas) and possibly a locking ring.. this could be bad.

[underclassman]

So in an effort to save money and time, I took the fuel tank o-ring inside my house and evaporated all the gas out of it with a hair dryer. Let it sit overnight. It shrunk substantially--back to the size and shape it should be. Will be trying to install later.

[underclassman]

Pictures tell a better story.
First off, I pulled the pump out and it looked like this:


Whoa! That's seriously crazy right? pump is hanging on by its wires!

If you look closely you can see the tear in this grommet. That is from the fuel sending unit detaching. It had a sharp edge on the tube.



Next is the picture of what came apart. The little nut wasn't torqued down enough. Had to search the fuel tank for the nut and little washer. I made sure they aren't coming apart again.



And finally for anyone that's done a fuel pump may have had to deal with the lock ring and o-ring. My gasket soaked up a ton of fuel and looked really bloated, so I dried it out in my house and set it on the lock ring to bring back its shape.



Anyway, gonna head out and clean up the top of the tank and get Hoopty back on the road!

[underclassman]

Just did the easiest install ever! It's amazing how much of a difference just drying out the fuel tank o-ring and bending the tabs down slightly on the lock ring did for installation. Literally took two minutes from the time I got in the back seat.

[Mazda_Powered]

:d