To make sure that the pump will continue to operate without any leaks, there are some necessary steps in order for you to replace fuel pump seals. Most often crafted from rubber or silicone, these small little seals are responsible for keeping fuel inside of the system at connection points throughout your engine’s fuelling set-up. Their lifetime will be short and it can cause fuel leakage, pressure drops down or even hazardous. Typically, these seals should be replaced every 50K miles or sooner if signs of wear (cracking/hardening) are present.
Technicians start off by disconnecting the battery to insure safe conditions as most of these fuel systems runs at about 12 volts and any mishandling can lead into some sparks. They also disconnect the battery, and to keep gas from spraying them when they remove their pump assembly, they crack open (but do not take off) the fuel cap; this depressurizes the whole fuel system. This is especially important for cars with fuel systems working at up to 60 PSI, as any residual pressure left in the system can cause fuel and its associated fire dangers to burp out.
With pressure relieved, the technician removes bolts holding other parts in place until finally loosening and removing a fuel pump assembly from inside of the gas tank by getting to it through an access door located under rear seats or trunk. The pump assembly is fragile and contains the fuel filter as well as a level sensor so you certainly should treat it with some care. To access the pump assembly, techs remove old seals from around the pump and line connections. The result is that these seals get more compressed as time goes on, forced deeper into their channels and impossible to take out easily. It is very fragile and can be broken which will cause leaks, in most cases a seal puller or flathead screwdriver is used to remove the stationary face without damaging it.
Once old seals are removed and new ones—generally $5 to $20 apiece—are in place. The seals need to be lubricated with fuel-safe grease for a tight seal and no wear. Misaligned Seals can cause up to a 10% drop in Pressure resulting in less Fuel coming into the engine and with it Efficiency of your VAGfuel Pump & Engine Grover Tuning could be effected. Then the assembly is replaced and fuel system pressurized again to check for leaks, validating that the seals are doing their job.
As Benjamin Franklin once phrased, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Properly maintaining fuel pump seals means that you can keep your system running well, without costly repairs later on. By providing the steps, a properly installed and sealed Fuel Pump ensure uniform fuel supply so that engine performance is maintained and improved as well as safety.