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FIRST AND FOREMOST
Check the fuel pressure. It's trivial. There are three points to do it. Make sure you read all the sentences, as there are important details.
1. On the fuel rail (where the injectors connect) there'a valve not unlike the one you have on your tire to inflate it. You can use a throwaway tire pressure gage to check it - unprofessional, but hey - it works. The seals in the pressure gage will die due to gas getting in it, just throw it away when so. Use a cheap one.
2. There's similar valve on the fuel rail before the fuel filter. That's under the car, driver's side, just in front of the rear passenger seat. There'll be a small protrusion (looks like a capped pipe about 0.75" long) from the fuel line. Unscre the cap and check pressure there.
3. Remove the fuel sender assembly access panel (black cover with a couple sheet metal bolts on it) in the trunk. One of the lines has a thicker "cylinder" on it -- it's the quick coupling of the fuel line. Get it off and check fuel pressure by pressing the tire gage straight onto the shiny fuel feed pipe. It has the right diameter for the gage to fit on (luckily :). Danger: pressurized fuel might splash all around you - have paper towels and fire extinguisher handy.
Note that you need a helper to do all that because ideally you should be running the fuel pump while testing the pressure. I say ideally because if everything is all right there's pressure in the system even if the car was off for a week.
You don't have to crank in order to activate the fuel pump. Just turn the key to position 2 (all idiot lights should be on). Turn off everything that's not needed in order not to run that battery down (headlights, radio, fan).
When you turn the key to pos. 2, you should hear a click from the fuse panel (fuel pump relay energizing) and the fuel pump should operate for a couple seconds to pre-pressurize the fuel.
If you definitely don't hear the fuel pump buzzing when the helper turns the key, it means either the fuel pump relay needs fixing or the pump is dead. Listen via the gas fill tube -- get the cap off and listen into the tube.
In order to replace the pump, you *will* need to have a soldering iron and some flux-cored solder handy.
In order to remove the fuel sender:
1. Open the left trunk bay (I have a wagon, no clue how it is in sedans). Disconnect the black connector with 4 wires going into it.
2. The bundle with 4 wires goes along the gas fill tube towards the tank. Cut the wire ties that clamp the bundle to the tube, push the cable out of the car body. The cable goes outside of the body in the spare tire area. There's a rubber grommet through which the cable exits, push the grommet out together with the cable.
3. Remove the fuel sender access panel (black metal plate with sheetmetal screws)
4. Disconnect all lines from the top cover of the fuel sender assembly. There are several:
A. gas fill hose (1-1.5" thick rubber hose)
B. vent hose (next thickest one, about 0.5" thick maybe)
C. fuel return hose
D. fuel feed line (danger, it may be pressurized, read above) -- this is a quick-disconnect, just pull up on the round cylinder, it may be hard but it will come off
5. Remove the hose clamp that holds the fuel sender retaining nut
6. Unscrew the fuel sender retaining nut (the large plastic nut with small "wings" on its side). Use a thick, flat bladed screwdriver and a hammer to loosen it (same goes for final tightening).
7. Pull the assembly out. Be careful, you shouldn't loose the sock - it fits quite well on the bottom of the pump. You'll have to rotate the assembly to get it out. Use your brains and you'll figure it out.
Then you can remove the pump and put a new one in. Try to remember (better: take digital pictures :) where things went, it's a funny assembly :).
Note that when you put the plastic ring that goes on the bottom of the fuel pump back in, you should bend the small plastic snaplock inwards so that it will securely snap into place when you slide it onto the pump and the flat metal thingo. If this ring separates (did for me) due to the snap lock being too lose, the pump will slowly slide out of the damper (plastic/metal thing with two ports, ekhm, holes on it) and you'll be stuck. If your pump runs that may be the reason why you don't get any fuel pressure, but it will be obvious once you see it what has happened.
Assembly is reverse of disassembly, although note that you must maneouver the sender assembly when putting it back in since bottom of the tank has an ansti-slosh pan on the bottom. Give yourself 3-4 hours of nice weather to do it.
If you didn't check the obvious things first, I'd suggest you do sooner than later in order to save time and grief. Like whether there's 12V power to the pump on the connector in the trunk well [two thicker wires supply the pump, the other two are returns from the fuel level sensor], whether the pump currently runs, whether the relay may be faulty etc.
Cheers, Kuba
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