Hello all! This is my first time posting to the board. I have been a Volvo owner for about a month now. I have a 1988 240DL with 190K miles. I have a question regarding the fuel pump. I noticed some leaking around the pump at the electrical connection. The line to the pump is dry and the line to the filter is dry as well. The only leaking I am getting appears to be around one of the electrical connection. I have not noticed any noises indicating the pump going bad. Has anyone heard of the pumps leaking?

I am not a mechanic, but I am pretty mechanically inclined and not afraid to get my hands a little dirty (which it seems I will with this job!) Any imput would be greatful.

-matt

If it's the original pump you might want to replace it just on the basis of this indication that it's going south. At 180K you're about due; they don't last forever. A fuel pump is not that difficult to do yourself (even in your garage on jack stands), and it's not too expensive. If you get stranded because your pump failed it could cost you a lot more than you'll save by trying to squeeze a few thousand more miles out of your old pump. And while you're at it, definitely change the fuel filter.

I've never heard of a pump leaking at the electrical connectors, but in my experience, my prepump went bad at around 190k or 200k, and since I neglected to replace it asap, it slowly caused more wear & tear on my main pump, which then needed to be replaced a couple thousand miles later.

I replaced my main pump a month or 2 ago; took me about 3 hrs because I couldn't see one of the damn square nuts (stupid bolt kept spinnng). I took it to a local shop (I'm on a AFB) and put it up on a lift, so I don't know if you can get to it as easy if it's just on a jack/support. A piece of advice; I would've been done a LOT sooner if I had just taken everything apart (I was lazy, and tried to get by with not taking 1 or 2 bolts/nuts off). Mind you, you don't have to disconnect the filter or anything with that, but I think you might have to unmount it to get to another nut you have to remove.

FYI, I bought my pump from FCP Groton, they've got excellent prices. Also, the main pumps come with a fuel pump check valve, so you don't need to buy one separate (it's already installed for you too).

Good luck!
Seth
'92 244, 216k