Replacing fuel pump from regular to SVT

656 Views 17 Replies 8 Participants Last post by Dudley, Nov 1, 2005

Petik

Discussion Starter · Oct 23, 2005

Every now and then, now maybe every couple of weeks, when i start the car and try accelerating, i get very serious stuttering and hesitation to the point that she won't accelerate at all. If I pull over, turn her off and sit for a few minutes and start her up again, she'll drive just fine. Heard that this is probably my fuel pump going.

Since I need to replace it, I have been looking at going to the SVT fuel pump. How much needs to be modified to do this? Also, i've never replace a fuel pump on the focus before, do i need to drop the whole tank or is there a hatch somewhere?

1 - 18 of 18 Posts

orangeZXT

· #2 · Oct 23, 2005

not sure how hard its going tobe but u do have to drop the whole tank

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Petik

Discussion Starter · #3 · Oct 23, 2005

oh that will be fun...

anyone have any idea on the modifications to fit the svt pump?

CrazyWella

· #4 · Oct 23, 2005

try replacing your fuel filter, i had the same problems and replacing it fixed the problem.

Gigaherz

· #5 · Oct 23, 2005

hey, I put an svt pump in my spi a few years ago. I believe it was a direct replacement. I could be wrong but I don't remember it being that difficult. Unfortunately, I had to use the sock filter and canister from the regular focus since the svt canister didn't fit. I would have had to have swapped to an svt or maybe a newer foci's tank to swap that stuff as well so all I swapped was the pump itself. I have an 00' btw, good luck.

P.s. all you might have to do is clean the sock filter on your pump to fix the problem. I had the same trouble and that fixed it. The filter doesn't have much surface area and it doesn't take much to grime it up.

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orangeZXT

· #6 · Oct 23, 2005

did u get the recall pump put in

Petik

Discussion Starter · #7 · Oct 23, 2005

fuel filter only has about 5k on it, so i'm pretty sure it's fine, i may try replacing it just in case though.

i think if i end up going to all the trouble of dropping the tank, i might as well put the svt pump in if it doesn't require re-tuning...

mine's a late 02, so i don't think there's a recall on it and it's out of warranty, too.

Dudley

· #8 · Oct 24, 2005

I'm 99% sure that the SVT pump in NOT a simple drop-in replacement for the non-SVT ZX3 pump. But maybe you could use the old canister, like Giga said - I vaguely remember somebody (Tom?) saying that the canisters were different.

If it CAN be done, you might want to consider cutting an access hole under the rear seat to avoid the hassle of removing the fuel tank.

FSWerksVP

· #9 · Oct 24, 2005

Peter,
I replied to your thread in the FocusSport/SCT Pro Racer forum.

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Petik

Discussion Starter · #10 · Oct 24, 2005

Thanks Randy.

I talked to Randy and Steve at Tousley Ford whom I ended up ordering the pump from and they both said the it's a much better idea to go with the 03-04 pump which is a direct swap to my late model 02. So I ended up ordering that one and got a great deal on it, too...

Will let you guys know how the swap goes Friday.

ScaldedApe

· #11 · Oct 24, 2005

If it CAN be done, you might want to consider cutting an access hole under the rear seat to avoid the hassle of removing the fuel tank.

Question what all is involved in cutting this access hole?

Dudley

· #12 · Oct 24, 2005

I dunno - I've never done it. I think Phillip did, because I seem to recall that he accidentally created a pinhole leak in his evaporative emissions line by drilling into it. I could've sworn another 'Jetter did it, too.

Phillip

· #13 · Oct 25, 2005

I dunno - I've never done it. I think Phillip did, because I seem to recall that he accidentally created a pinhole leak in his evaporative emissions line by drilling into it. I could've sworn another 'Jetter did it, too.

Yup, that was me (also fixed the leak). When I went in for the pump recall, the techs thanked me for making it easy.

I also cut an access for Peter's (Cosworth) ZX3. Second time was a snap.

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Petik

Discussion Starter · #14 · Oct 25, 2005

So which line did you accidentally cut exactly (so i can avoid it)? Also, is it possible to just cut the hatch without dropping the tank first time around?

Petik

Discussion Starter · #15 · Oct 31, 2005

Thanks for the pics Philip, I ended up doing the exact same thing. The metal there is really thin so my dremel went through it all the way around in maybe half hour.

The fuel line was a major pain to detach from the top of the pump. I managed the break the tabs holding it in place so I had to tap it back in place with a hammer when installing the new fuel pump - was worried that it would leak, but seems to be just fine.

Here are some pics of cutting the hatch and the new fuel pump.

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Dudley

· #16 · Oct 31, 2005

Nice work.

So now my only question is if the 03-04 pump is a drop-in replacement for the 2000 and 2001 Foci, or if the gas tank is different.

I think Randy has said that the "revised" pump is the same as the 03-04 pump, but I could've sworn that the revised pump is different, i.e. that there is a "new old-style" pump out there for the 01 and older Foci. For instance, a few months ago Rod had his pump replaced under recall and the dealer apparently did not re-flash the PCM.

Ugh, this is so confusing! The reason I care so much is because if I get a new pump under recall, and the dealer reflashes the PCM, it could cause some big headaches. For one thing, my injectors and MAF sensor are not stock, so the car will run horribly (if it runs at all). On top of that, my SCT flash tuner might stop working, and if I ever want to "return to stock", the fuel pump settings will be wrong. (The SCT flasher stores the stock program and then becomes VIN-locked. To unlock the flasher, I first have to re-install the stock program.)

The only sure solution would be to re-install the stock MAF and injectors, return the PCM to the stock program, and disable the turbo by detaching the wastegate actuator. Then I could have the pump recall performed, save the new stock program in the SCT flasher, re-install my MAF and injectors, and re-flash the PCM with my turbo tune. That's an awful lot of trouble to go to.

A mod-friendly dealership would save me a lot of trouble. Then I could skip all the physical mods and just do the flashing and re-flashing at the dealer while the car is being serviced. But I doubt a dealer would be willing to let a customer "work on the car", so to speak.

I'm gonna' PM Tousley Steve to see if I can get a definitive answer on the re-flashing.

Oh, and my babbling notwithstanding, I think this thread ought to be in the FI stickies, since fuel pump upgrades and recalls play a key role for boosted Foci.

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Petik

Discussion Starter · #17 · Nov 1, 2005

I talked with Steve at Tousley - that is who i ordered my new pump from and he said that this pump will fit since i already had the new tank (my car is a late 02). From that, I'm guessing to your car it would NOT be a direct swap.

Dudley

· #18 · Nov 1, 2005

Peter - you're right about it not being a direct swap for the earlier Foci. I PM'd Steve and here's what he said:

Hey Chris, there most certainly are two totally different pumps and tanks.

The major split is in 2002 so yours is the revised recall pump, the late '02-04 style pump will NOT fit properly in your tank.

The tanks are externally identical but the interior is very diferent. If you wanted the later pump you would need a tank to go with it.

Big thanks to Steve for clarifying this whole issue.

If I had decided to upgrade to the newer pump, it sure would've sucked to cut a hole in my floor only to find that I needed to drop the tank anyway!

This also means that the whole re-flash is a non-issue for me, unless I decide to upgrade to the newer tank and pump.

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