Fuel pump bad or what's wrong?

Asked by CarAC2424 Mar 17, 2017 at 01:56 PM about the 2003 Dodge Caravan SE FWD

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

Is my fuel pump bad or something else? I recently
got the fuel pump replaced (airtex model)  a month
ago also had the ignition coil and cable wire
replaced as well head gasket but my fuel gauge still
goes crazy and when I pump at the gas station the
pump nozzle spikes up so I can't fill the tank as
much what's wrong? Need asap answer thank you

3 Answers

No it does not I took it to auto zone and they said it could be a gas leak possibly needs a new gas cap but already replaced it and still the same

540

The fuel pumps almost never fail. The “sending unit” in the tank has the float arm and rheostat that control what you see as the fuel level. They *do* go bad. The only thing that makes a fuel pump shut off is back pressure from a full tank. I could find a way to put something down a filler neck to make that happen as a practical joke, but i’ve never heard of anyone doing it, it’s just not very funny. My guess from a gauge that goes crazy and a pump that shuts of “too early” is the pump is fine, the filler neck is fine, the cap is fine, the tank is full, and the sending unit or wiring is failing and sending erratic readings to the computer which is then setting unexpected gauge positions. The dashboard gauge is *not* directly connected to the tank. A scan tool with “live data” can monitor the sending unit while filling to be sure. Iirc you have to disconnect the sending unit and drop the tank to change the fuel pump. If someone was lazy and didn’t disconnect the sending unit and damaged the wiring that could be your problem. Likewise if they did disconnect and reconnect the sending unit but was being lazy and didn’t clean the connectors carefully. The connectors and the entire area gets covered with road dirt that falls inside while it’s disconnected and the tank is lowered and raised again. If the gauge was good before the fuel pump swap, i’d bet on the wiring or a dirty connector being the problem. Of course if you could be sold a fuel pump, my guess is they’ll try to sell you a fiel tank.

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