My fuel pump cherry was busted wide open today. After 230k miles and pumping over 8k gallons of fuel, I’m ok with that.
For those of you wondering, this job is very simple unless you have issues with the smell of petrol. Took me about 20 minutes start to finish using nothing more than a 10mm socket and my trusty Swiss Army Knife to pry open the inspection plate.
Some notes.
- On the R50, the fuel pump is located under the rear seat, drivers side
- It is not necessary to hold any of the hoses or wires up with anything. They don’t fall too far into the tank. I did use bailing wire to hold those up and it did help.
- A special tool is not needed to remove the ring. Helpful, but not needed
- Good idea to disconnect the battery before you start. At least I did, you know, just in case.
- Open the doors and the boot. Gas fumes, duh.
- When you put the new pump into the tank, you might think it doesn’t fit. Press down. It is supposed to do that.
- If you need this, don’t discount the dealer’s parts desk. MINI Of Ontario sells it for about $280, Napa wanted $320
I thought it was fairly straightforward and not to difficult, but your mileage may vary. Thanks to Mr. Miller for the assist via SMS and to my Dad for the extra hand to hold things in place. And, special thanks to me for saving me a big pile of cash on doing this myself. A 40 mile tow and hour of service is a pretty penny you know.
And, finally, don’t be afraid to attempt repairs such as this yourself. Y’all know I’m short on cash, so I’m especially motivated. I’m also a tremendous cheap skate and am willing to attempt things in order to save a few hundred bucks.
Money savings aside, the satisfaction of doing something mechanically challenging yourself is pretty sweet. With the right tools and at most a handy service manual, a lot of seemingly intimidating wrench work is within the grasp of mere mortals. Good on ya, db. In the next few months, I’ll likely save myself about $2k of motorcycle repair costs by doing things myself. How much more awesome does that fat odometer number feel for you knowing that your own efforts are keeping the ol’ Roxy going!
Thanks for stopping by Nathaniel. Funny you should say that since I just put up a post on the other blog saying the exact same thing.
It is a good feeling. Sure, I’m doing the easy stuff, but every little bit helps!
Oh I’d say swapping a fuel pump is definitely beyond your basic oil change fair. Give yourself some credit. My most ambitious automotive undertaking so far was rebuilding the A/C system in my 1987 Honda Prelude back in the day. Took a week, but I had cold air when I was done. I want to do an engine rebuild at some point. Almost makes me wish the Vespa would blow up so that I could pit a 210cc big bore kit on it. Almost.
Good for you DB. You’re officially my fuel pump hero.
Awesome job!! I’m sad to say that after being inspired by you to do my own spark plugs I bought them and they’ve been sitting on the kitchen table now for almost a month.
You know, I made a video about that, right? lol. Seriously takes 10 minutes and you will barely get your hands dirty. It’s easy!
@lavardera – Wasn’t that a song by Foreigner?
It’s all about tools, I tried getting my fingers down the holes but even with all the skin torn off I can’t do it! Did go to home depot to buy them but couldn’t work out which bits were the right sizes. Used to do spark plugs at home but my dad had all the gear. Yeah I’m sad!