| For
really the whole month of July I dealt with the tii fuel pump woes. My old
pump was 27 years old and was weak. When I got under there and took it out
of the car, it was a miracle it still worked. After about 20 minutes it
would go weak and lean out. The car barely ran above 2000 rpm when this
happened. Heat made it worse. I thought I had it fixed. Crap! I had to
PULL it back into the driveway with the SUV.
After the $375 sticker shock of a new pump, I got a used
pump and canister because the canister was shot too. If you can find a
used pump that has been stored with fuel in the pump, it's probably fine.
However if it's dry - chances are the thing is locked up tight as a drum
and can't be easily repaired without a complete overhaul.
Rumor had it for some time that a newer 5 series pump
was transferable to the tii and was a lot less money - like $150 new - and
was readily available. That rumor is true. Here's how I finally beat the
fuel pump blahs, upgraded my car to newer technology and saved some money
in the process. Here's a close up look at the pump, which is BMW
part number
16-14-1-179-232. I have also seen it referred to in parts books such as
Rocky Mountain Motorworks as GFP263. Anyway it is really quiet and
powerful once installed. I can barely hear it fire up now from inside the
car when first starting the TII up.
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| High
level overview: What's needed... |
NOTE: You need to order this pump first in order to
begin. Make sure and take the pump with you to the hardware store because
you'll need two 6mm and two 5mm nuts to anchor the positive and negative
ground straps to the fuel pump. Get stainless steel nuts. You will also
need some wire clip-on adapters to splice new wires on, and also some
"O" type wire ends to fasten to the positive and negative posts.
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BEGIN: Here's the details on what it takes to
complete the process.
Let us assume you have the car jacked up, wheels
chocked and the right rear wheel removed.
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The new pump is lighter but
requires new wiring harness changes to make it work in the 2002tii. The
big end of the pump is the source line to the fuel tank and the front of
the pump feeds the smaller line to the front of the car's engine
compartment to the fuel filter that is inline just ahead of the
Kugelfisher pump itself. "Mummify" this cannister. They are 70$
new from BMW Mobile Tradition, and they take 10 days to get here to the
US.
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| As you can see from old CRUSTY
here, my 27 year old pump, that the side fuel delivery from the original
TII fuel pump delivered fuel to the canister. The new hose needs to be
made up to go from the front to the side (shown in later photos below).
The green cap covers the incoming fuel line connector
from the gas tank. Keep the green cap on until installed to prevent dirt
from entering the pump.
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| 1) Your fuel pump is mounted
just ahead of the fuel tank above the right rear trailing arm. That rusty
mounting bracket holds the pump on with three 10mm nuts.Remove it
carefully and plug both ends of the fuel supply lines. |
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| 2) This little fella here
provides DC voltage to your pump. I chose to modify rather than hack this
cable for the new pump. The green/white wire is positive and the
brown/white wire is negative. |
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| 3) Using crimp on wire splicers,
I added a red wire to positive and a black wire to negative. Add the
"O" type post ends to the wires so they can be locked down to
their respective posts for pos and neg on the fuel pump. |
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| 4) You're going to need new
hoses. Take the pump to the auto parts store and get new hose clamps. Buy
a new piece of hose to go from the front of the pump to the canister. On
this setup, gas flows from the pump front to the canister. |
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| 5) The new pump is
smaller in diameter than the old. I made a shim from splitting an old
garden hose and wrapping it around the back of the pump and then putting
the canister mounting bracket over it. It should be snug but not torqued
down, you don't want to put the pump into a bind.
6) While you're here take 30 minutes in the trunk to
clean out the screens of the fuel skimmer in the tank. In the long run,
you'll save yourself a bunch of headaches down the road. |
| 7) Here it is already with the
new DC power lines attached. By the way, I use latex gloves all the time
when working on the car. They save your hands from all kinds of
contaminants and cuts from handling sharp parts. |
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| 8) Now it's time to mount it up.
Remember that the hose from the gas tank now goes into the REAR of the
pump rather than the front. The front now supplies the Kugelfisher with
gas. Seal up the DC voltage wires on the pump from weather with heat
shrink tubing. |
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| It's
now time to test the setup. |
| 9) Disconnect the
fuel line coming from the can type fuel filter up in front of the
Kugelfisher. Insert the rubber hose end into a dry, clean 1 qt water
bottle.
10) Turn on the car key to the point where you hear the
pump come on (2nd position on the ignition). The pump will now siphon gas
from the tank and push it to the front of the car. Turn off the key
after all air has escaped the fuel line and the gas is flowing strong into
the 1 qt. bottle. Hook the hoses back up, pour the gas back into the gas
tank and try starting the car. You should start momentarily and might need
a pump or two from the gas pedal to get the beast to come alive.
11) Inspect for leaking fuel. Immediately stop the
engine if you do have a leak. It's easy to put the whole car up in flames
if it leaks onto the exhaust.
12) No leaks??? It's time for a road test. Presuming
that everything checks out... you're done. |
