Orlando Smith

are there any special tools necessary to do the fuel pump. I never figured out which pump was failing so i am going to do both. Its easily accessible from the trunk, it seems this pump is a straight tube without any kinks for turning during removal. This will be my first electric fuel pump job and any expertise would be nice.

Mister Bally

A special tool is recommended to remove the covers on the fuel tank. That said, when my son & I did mine, I taught him the "four pair of Vise-Grips" trick along with a long, large screwdriver to do the trick.

richard-tx

Audi fuel pump tool - $30-$50

4 pr 10" vice grips @ $18 ea - $72

I think the Audi tool is the better deal.

Mister Bally

Fortunately, I have six pair of Vise Grips in my tool cabinet. Also, the Fuel Pump went out on a Saturday night so no way to get the proper tool until a few days later. Amazingly, Auto Zone has a 24/7 warehouse store that had a genuine VDO pump in stock about 12 miles away. So, we had the car running on Sunday afternoon.

Jack88

I think that is the quickest in Audi history that someone has correctly diagnosed and repaired that particular issue. Congratulations!

richard-tx

My son had a spare fuel pump in his stash and when his failed he did a R&R in one evening.

Jack88

How did he come to have a spare? Lucky or knew it was coming for his Audi? Nice to have minimal downtime, in any case. Usually people get a lot more frustration and time built into those sorts of things.

Mister Bally

Kind of funny story for me; I actually have a new in box Bosch electric fuel pump that was used in my '87 Audi 5000. I had replaced it twice over the 18 years I had the car as they have a finite life.

Got it out once we removed the one from my A8 and proved it had failed by the old "tap it with a wood handle while powererd" trick that brought it to life. It was a close fit into the plastic pick up and float unit but it wasn't right. Looked on line and Auto Zone popped up with one in stock so we went there at 2:30 am and picked it up.

Then we went to Steak 'n Shake and enjoyed mingling with the bar flies who were there.

I must have replaced six or seven electric fuel pumps between my Rabbit, two Sciroccos and three Audi's over the years.

audijim113

What were the symptoms (indications) of the pump fail? Were there any early warnings? When the pump on my 2000 D2 croaked, it just failed on the highway and was dead. With the two pumps on a D3, does it happen suddenly or does it whisper in your ear when it's getting ready to die?

I bought my 2005 with 220K on it and now over 250K. I had 90% of the maintenence records but no records of the fuel pump. I find it hard to believe it still has originals. However, my air suspension is fine and i know their originals.

Orlando Smith

with 2 fuel pumps i noticed a lag in power. a very noticeable power loss. i would drive on the highway and full throttle, however it does not go any faster. You can hear it wind up and rpm rise however it does not increase speed. Longer than normal start time. even at low speeds you will notice it requires more force to accelerate. Its not just in your mind. It will definitely seem as tho you may just be buggin. the cranking but not starting would be your first dead give-away. Listening for the fuel pump once you turn the key is another way i determined it is bad.