The filters on the fuel pump are pretty flimsy. Car sits for an extended period of time (think six months or more). Take a look whenever you remove the fuel pump out of a car with 50,000 or more miles on it, you will see plenty of debris floating at the bottom of the tank. If it does, there’s a good chance it will clog your fuel pump. Another good reason, and one to specifically worry about with older vehicles, is that your fuel pump may pick up some of that crap at the bottom of the tank. If the tank is being run dry frequently you will eventually cause the fuel pump to overheat. Gasoline acts as a lubricant for the fuel pump in the tank. Even on new cars, it is never recommended to wait until your vehicle is flashing a red low fuel light to fill up the tank. Twenty years is plenty of time for some mineral deposits to be created and fall to the bottom of the tank. Running the car with a very low fuel level.Īt this point, E36s are usually going to be at least twenty years old. Here are some common causes for an E36 fuel pump to go bad prematurely. However, I have also seen quite a few that rolled over significantly sooner than they should have. I said previously that BMW fuel pumps are extremely resilient. Causes of BMW E36 premature fuel pump failure It did not make it half a block before the fuse blew again, the car died and I got stuck in the very next parking lot down the street. At that point I prayed that the car would make it a half-mile to the house. I replaced the fuel pump fuse and the car started right up. I diagnosed it as the fuel pump after noticing that the fuel pump fuse was blown. When my brother’s fuel pump went out on his E36, it went out in a DVD store parking lot. The vehicle starts, but dies when the system is put under a heavier load, such as driving the car.The car doesn’t want to start when the engine is warm but sometimes it will start when the engine is cold.This is the most common symptom I see and it means that your fuel pump is on its last leg. An electronic motor whine sound coming from the rear passenger side area while you are driving.If you do have a failing fuel pump you may notice: This means that you usually won’t have too many symptoms until you’re stuck in a parking lot on the wrong side of town (happened to my baby brother). Typically when fuel pumps fail they die in an all of a sudden manner instead of a slow burn. Well, the most obvious symptom of a bad fuel pump is a no-start. You can check out an inexpensive new BMW E36 fuel pump here. I made a video on diagnosing BMW E36 fuel issues, the video is located at the bottom of this article. You can access it in a matter of seconds by simply pulling up on your backseat. No dropping the fuel tank, or removing lots of parts to get to the E36 fuel pump. How is fuel pump replacement so easy? Primarily because the fuel pump on an E36 is extremely accessible. Whether you are a full-blown BMW mechanic or just trying to save a few bucks on labor, fuel pump replacement should not take longer than thirty minutes or so.
Bad fuel pump module how to#
In this article, I will discuss symptoms of a bad BMW E36 fuel pump, how to test the fuel pump, and how to replace the fuel pump.īMW E36 fuel pump diagnosis is easy, and replacement is a walk in the park. E36 fuel pumps typically last well over 100,000 miles, and they usually won’t have trouble until around the 150k mark. As these cars age however and rack up miles you are bound to have a failing component eventually. Fuel pump issues are not a common problem on BMWs, especially E36s.