Wife's '02 MCS, with just shy of 18K miles, has a dead fuel pump. The other day she goes to start up and motor turns fine, but no ignition. I was thinking no spark or no fuel. Being that I'm not really mechanically inclined, we had it flatbedded to IA MINI here in SE Wisc. My Wife received a call that her car needs a new fuel pump The car is out of warranty, as it's an '02, but it only has ~18K miles. She was quoted $625 for parts and labor.

Since when does a fuel pump fail with so few miles? Is it that the car isnt driven enough and some seal may have dried out? The car is driven daily, but not many miles.

 

sorry about the situation but the fuel pump is just another mechanical part on a car. i have replaced bad fuel pumps with brand-new-off-the-box ones and come to find out they are also bad.

this has happened to me on Hondas, Acuras and Minis so is not just Minis. it sucks but is not because of anythin you did/didn't do.

 

former

 

grand prix - cost me 850 at the dealer, plus tow.

is it the main pump or transfer pump?

i assume there is a transfer pump in the tank. if that is the one that failed, some people suggest keeping the tank always filled greater than 1/4 full to keep the pump cooled.

 

They just said "fuel pump". They didnt even have the part in stock, so for an additional $70 they could "rush" the part delivery, we passed on that offer.

So now my wife has been driving my MCS for the past 2 days, I think she's gettin accustomed to the mods . We dont expect the return of her car till the 20th.

 

I had the pump fail in my 02 MC, pulled it out of the tank, set it up on the bench to pump with 12 volts. It would not run until I used a ice cream stick to prod the impeller, then it ran fine. The car had set without running for many months and that may have had something to do the problem.

I do not know what the cost of a pump is, but it took me 20 minutes to get the pump assembly out of the tank and another 10 minutes to remove the actual pump from its housing and I never had done it before. Most of the removal time was spent inspecting and making sure that I did not damage anything. It was not difficult nor did it take special tools.

A new pump with r and r labor for $600+ seems like a rip.

If anyone tries this, beware of running the pump without fuel for more than a few seconds. It will damage itself. Obviously, there is danger with pumps, gasoline and battery sparks. Battery needs to be far away and final electrical connections made at the battery end, not near the pump.

 

Sounds like an "easy" job deerharb....I already had the vehicle towed and MINI working on it by the time you posted....I suspect I could have ordered the part...taken the car apart...and replaced it...but I needed them to diagnose the problem anyway I guess I could have had it towed home, when they told my wife the problem, but I would had to rely on my abilities to replace it ...which could have been dangerous Maybe u could do a write up or "how to" for the next poor soul who's fuel pump spontaneously fails.

Well the good news is that the wife's MINI is back home

The bad news is that $700+ for parts, labor and tow..

I suspect it's an uncommon problem...spontaneous failure of the fuel pump on a vehicle w/ very low miles...as I can find very little information here or elsewhere on this issue.

Keep on motoring

 

I just got my '02 MCS out of the dealer for its third fuel pump my '02 has 111,672 on it. The original fuel pump went out at 35,920 in '05 just before the warranty expired Because to have the fuel pump replaced at Motor City Mini in MI. will cost just under 900.00. Mind you there is a two year warranty on the replacement fuel pump installed at the dealer, but you can be as fortunate as me and have your replacement fuel pump warranty expire (May 07) 3 months before you lose another pump (Aug 07)
There is a lot of talk on how Ethanal is damaging the fuel pumps on the web. The dealer said that they had to test my fuel to see the Ethanal content in the gas tank. Which made sense after reading John Wardells information at http://www.jwardell.com/mini/2006/06...l-gas-problems

 

I took delivery of my 2006 MCS with a bad fuel pump (the one in the tank). I ran through the first tank of gas and had to have it flatbedded back to the dealership. Since then there have been no problems 10k later.

 

Here in Wisc. up to 10% ETOH