I replaced my pre-pump this morning on my 83 B23F and boy what a difference it makes !! This was one of the main problems with the hesitation and cutting out I was having. Now under hard acceleration - not a wimper !! And I can actually hear it running in the tank. Loud but who cares - it works !! The old one was the original and lasted 300K before it died so I can't complain.

Here's a few things I found for anyone that hasn't replaced one before like me:

I thought about cutting the fuel return line on top by the connector as recommended, probably still a good idea for those who don't want to hassle with the connector under the car. I didn't feel I could get to it very well from the top to cut it and I wasn't sure I'd do a very good job reconnecting it with my big old hands. So I bit the bullet put the car on jacks and DC'd the connector from below. After about 20 minutes of struggling , I soaked it with PB Blaster and came back in an hour - presto came right off. (so soak it the night before and avoid the hassle) Once off tape over the hose connector - it gets filled with gunk trying to put it through the access hole on re-install. I found out the hard way and ended up having to clean the hose connector out.

I only had 1/2 inch bar stock so I made a bung ring removal tool out of that - bad move, it twisted and didn't work well. Stick to the 1 1/4 inch bar stock as in the DIY plans. So I just used a hammer and screwdriver and it eventually came off.

Once removed check all the connections with a VOM. I found the ground lug on the top of the assembly so corroded no current would pass. Cleaned and sanded the lug and replaced the push on terminal which was also badly corroded.

Replacement of the pump was pretty non-eventful. I sanded all the contacts as a white residue builds up and replaced the hose with a standard fuel grade hose. replaced the filter. Don't overtighten the nuts on the pump. Luckily the original nuts fit on the pump terminals, so I didn't have to go on a metric goose hunt this morning. Re-tested all the connections.

On reassembly I used a new o-ring and put a lot of silicone gasket grease on as I had to use a hammer and screw driver to get the bung ring back on. Since, I didn't have the tool to compress the new ring it took a while but it worked.

Total cost was about $73 for local parts. I know I could have done it a lot cheaper if I ordered it from FCP Groton, but still better than the $220 the repair shop wanted. Total time was about 3 hours - 1 hour was waiting for the PB Blaster to work. It took me 17 hours to totally rewire the engine compartment so you can assume I am very, very slow, take a lot of side trips working on every other related and unrelated thing, and checking all work 3 times - LOL. I would guess that a normal wrench turner could do it in less than an hour.

Next up - clutch replacement........

Morph
Original owner of "Frodo" -'83 240DL 2DR, 300K. '05 S40 T5.