E30 Zone

Okay, so I went to pick up my Mtech 2 door pods and skirts yesterday

It was a good 130 mile round trip. I noticed on the way down that I could here an electric sounding whine that was coming from behind me. The noise continues when the car is idling. If I turned the engine off for a few minutes then turned it back on, the electric whine would not reappear straight away, but would start again after a few minutes
So, any ideas? I have a feeling it's the fuel pump - what do you reckon?

Cheers!

agree sounds like fuel pump

okay - so is this difficult to change?

Fuel pump. Mine does this everynow and again... since I fitted the new fuel tank... Grrrr! Sometimes it gets quite loud. Had a chap tell me I can hear it because the new tank doesn't have the sound deadening put on from the old tank... those spongey things round the sides... Whoops!

Not sure how it fits, but I'm pretty sure it just 'pops' in from the top, underneath the back seat. Might be worth investigating.

No, very easy to change, disconnect the battery, take the back seat base out. you'll see on the drivers side a round cover which i think is held on with 3 screws undo them then you'll see the top of the fuel pump. unclip the wires and pull them aside. Then undo the clip holding the fuel line on. (you properly want to do this once the car has been sitting overnight so the fuel pressure is low, otherwise fuel night go everywhere) once fuel line is off twist the whole top of the fuel pump anti clockwise this can be hard if its never been taken off before and slowly slide the pump out. and as the haynes manual says do the reverse to refit the fuel pump. Hope that helps. might want something to soak up the fuel as a little did spill when i changed mine.

Jit

Cheers chaps, I'll give it a go once my car's back from the body shop - goes in Monday

Just looked on GSF site, I'm guessing it's this one I need right?

"FUEL PUMP-IN TANK BOSCH " or is it "FUEL PUMP+PICK UP ASSEMB." - maybe either will do but apparantly the first one is an original replacement.

Ciara

jitvv - You missed something important. You can't get the fuel pump out unless you remove the fuel gauge sender first. Four small nuts on the top of the pump assembly, then pull straight up.
To get rid of the fuel pressure, pull out the fuel pump fuse and start the engine and run it till it dies.

doh, I did change this a while ago i thought i missed something out. nice one Brain

Hi, iirc the first part "FUEL PUMP-IN TANK BOSCH " is just the pump and needs soldering to the rest of the unit and the second part "FUEL PUMP+PICK UP ASSEMB." is the complete new assembly.

Cheers,

Iain T

Cheers Templ8e30,

I'll get the second one then, save myself a job.

Ciara

I have the same problem after my knackered BMW tank with was replaced with a GSF one. When you save Ԛ£400 or whatever it is a pretty clean cut case.... However this noise makes me believe for a moment that I am driving a C5 at times and being a cabrio you can certainly hear it.

Just to clarify if I get a new OEM "FUEL PUMP+PICK UP ASSEMB." will this be quieter than what I have now or is there some sound deadening missing off the actual tank itself, and if so where do I get it from and is it easy to fit or does the tank need to come back off again?

There is no sound insulation on the standard petrol tank.
It's bolted to the car body by rubber grommets, and the actual fuel pump sits in rubber mounts on it's fixing frame.
Replacement versions of both should be the same.

Before you change the pump try changing the filter.
If its dirty it will make the pump have to work harder and it will be louder.
I had the same problem in my GSI Astra. New filter and it was silent again.