The problem with previous experiences that are more than a few years old, they may no longer be valid. Too many changes and cheap off-shore sourcing going on. For many decades of course, but now the quantity has increased and the quality decreased.
You almost can't trust anything anymore!
An unrelated aside, another online car community has been suffering the ills of imported fuel pumps for a long time now. It's a simple mechanical pump with a vertical drive, rather than the side drive of most V8's like ours.
The manufacturers either ignored, purposely eliminated, or just didn't care about some details. To the point that in some cases they did not even bother to machine the small recess that accepts the retaining bolt! Or when they could be bothered, it was the wrong shape or at the wrong height for proper installation. And if it could be installed, they wobbled around and came loose in short order.
Then of course there were those where the pushrods were too long and after the first few minutes of run time the diaphragms were literally being torn apart.
Then the pushrods were too short, so that even though they were pumping, the volume was not enough to keep the engines happy at speed.
Then the top cover bolts were too short and not tightened sufficiently.
Then the little poppet valves that lets the pump free-float in one direction and pump in the other were not staked in place, so they would pop out of their pockets within a few minutes of running.
The mating surfaces between the body, center section and cover were not machined flat. Can you say, "fuel leak" and quality control and testing with a straight face?
The working pumps that owners tested had fuel pressure readings from about 3psi up to 14psi!
Then you had poor quality materials, so that if you were lucky enough to have your pump work, the modern fuels ate through the diaphragms in a few weeks.
And the electric replacement pumps are only slightly more reliable...
I know none of that effects us with Broncos, but it just shows that getting bad parts is not an isolated incident. It's the norm!
I guess the good news is that this problem has created a new cottage industry in taking brand new pumps, taking them apart and making all the needed corrections, adding a feature that lets you adjust the pressure output right on the pump, and is keeping someone (that actually cares about the outcome) employed.
Maybe we'll be doing the same thing for Broncos soon.
Paul
