fuel pump went out
 

As the title says I had to tow my 2010 nismo to the dealership. (49k miles on my OD) after a 2 hour diagnostics they found out the fuel pump went out.

symptoms: car wouldnt hold an idle upon start up. it would eventually die after a couple of attempts.

crazy thing is i thought it was my 3 year old battery so I swapped in a new one and the car fired right up and drove like a champ all friday night and saturday morning. then sat afternoon she wouldn't start. same symptoms.....


heres something odd though.... the dealership just called saying they ordered a pump for a regular Z but it wont work in the nismo. does the nismo have a different pump or just some different bracketry?

some co-workers just mentioned driving with my gas tank close to E all the time burns up the pump since the extra fuel cools it. is this true?

I just did a search on this site for "fuel pump" and most of what I got (in the first 100 hits) was stuff about upgrading for FI. If it's true, it doesn't appear to be a big problem, at least among ppl on The370Z.

If the pump gets very warm, it will probably vapor lock, so I'm guessing low fuel level is not going to overheat the pump.

YMMV

yea the dealership was surprised it went out. they hadnt seen it on any other Z's.

Running with low fuel can cause the pump to go out over time. When the fuel level gets low and you make hard turns the fuel will shift and can run dry. But 50k miles is low for that. Hope they get it straightend out.

last year i made a fast sweeping right hander with three dots left on the guage and it died. wouldnt restart till i filled it back up. i know we have issues on the track with this but i didnt think the on ramp entrance with three fuel dots was pushing it. the turn only lasted 10 seconds if that.

since then ive been careful not to make crazy turns with low fuel.

but yea, even if i was hurting it by runing on E here and there i consider it a design flaw....

True. Hopefully you have an extended warranty to pay for it.

im at 49k miles. fuel pump is covered under bumper to bumper i guess.

but yea its covered and the tow over to the dealership was too. score!!!!! they did sell me on a complete fuel system cleaning, injectors and what not.


i will say this. Steve over at Sterling McCall nissan here in stafford/Sugar land area is awesome. fast & friendly service. ill def be seeing him for items once i am out of warranty. the same place replaced my rear sub frame and CSC under warranty as well. that doesnt say much about the car in general, but these guys stepped to the plate for all these issues.

update:
got the car back and it runs like a champ now. a few things i noticed with the new fuel pump....
1. when i start the car at no time do the RPM's dip down to around 500 as they were.
2. at red lights the RPM's would dip once i came to a stop then climb back to the normal idle of 750ish. that problem no longer happens.

so if you notice a dipping RPM needle when the car is stationary you MIGHT be having the same problem.

Any word on the supposedly nismo pump?

i never saw the actual part but i have the paper work in the car. ill snap a pic later and see if the part numbers are any dif than a regular Z pump.

you know this just started happening to mine. im at 24k and once in a while i'll come to a stop and the engine will sputter. i'll keep note of how often it happens

17040 is the universal Nissan fuel pump, nothing special.

Weird that they would say it was Nismo specific, as Nissan uses the exact same part on a long list of cars.

Checked via Courtesy Parts and it is shown in the 370Z diagram 172 Fuel Tank :: Fuel & Engine Control :: Genuine Nissan Parts :: 370Z Parts (Z34) 2009-2013 :: Nissan Parts, NISMO and Nissan Accessories - Courtesyparts.com

But then Courtesy Parts doesn't link to the actual part and you get these results with a search Nissan Parts, NISMO and Nissan Accessories - Courtesyparts.com

odd, maybe they lied to have the car an extra day......

Revised fuel pump test
 

Hey Fuct

No, the nismos don't have a different fuel pump from the other Zs. Yes, running low on fuel will cause the pump to heat/work harder. Nissan fuel pump (17040-1EK0B) is a revised pump that doesn't come on '12 or older models. I'm not for sure if 2013s have it.

Now I request you take a sweeping right hander on very low fuel w/that revised fuel pump (17040-1EK0B) and see if it still fuel starves. Obviously take a small gas can w/you or have a friend trail behind you w/it so you don't have to call a tow. Please let the Z community know the findings. Thank you. :tiphat:

I don't think he wants his new fuel pump to burn out again...

More than likely someone forgot to submit the order or made a stupid mistake on it. :)

haha, no sure dont want it to burn out again!

someone posted awhile back though that as long as fuel is being pulled thru the pump that it is cooling itself... true?

what was done to this "revised" fuel pump that i have?

True and knowing Nissan, not a god damn thing...

That was always my understanding. That being said, I have recently started experiencing RPM dips like you speak of in Post #8. I had a tune recently, so I was partially attributing it to that as well as the increased temperatures because it seems to be happening mostly when I get heat soak. I'll be interested in the responses regarding the "revised" fuel pump.

FWIW, I always run my fuel to empty before refilling. I don't know for certain if this will cause my fuel pump to fail prematurely.

I will have to look into this, I have an idle issue where my RPMs will drop but mine might be a boost leak on the intake side.
Is there an easy way for a dealership, or individual, to test the fuel pump for failure?

nissan used the 4 hour diagnostic consult machine on my car. it told them it was bad. im not sure what all it does or how it came to that conclusion. the mechanic said the consult machine said the pump was bad. he then removed the fuel line and no fuel would come out while it was under load.

other than all that im not sure.....


my rpms dipping right now is AC related

Is this the same issue as you had before? I rarely use my AC, and I know that the RPMs dip even when it's off.

im 90% sure my dips are AC related. problem is i cant seem to drive around long enough in this heat with the AC off to see if it dips anymore.

now i have seen it dip ever so slightly at night when i had the AC off, but it was very slight. when my AC compressor does its thing and the RPMs dip you can tell. the car actually shakes when it happens.

My RPM dip is pretty minimal. It is very rare that it noticeably shakes or something similar.

mine shakes a tad when the AC does its thing when im idling. dips to 500 rpm then right back up.

I already went through two of the Walbro 255's in mine. The first one went out within a month. Then I heard that keep the gas tank above half a tank rumor, and it seemed to last quite a bit longer.

For what its worth, the Walbro 255 ran into fuel starvation issues just as easily as the stock fuel pump did. FI made the fuel starvation much worse, at Autocross I'd fill the car to the brim and after 2 or 3 runs I'd run into hesitation if I didn't top it back off. Surge tank was what I eventually went to. I can now leave my gas can at home when I go to Autocross. I also just switched to the Aeromotive fuel pump, so hopefully that will last a lot longer.