Long story short, car abruptly died on me when I was merging onto the highway, now it just cranks and cranks. Cat has been gutted, plugs have less than 15,000 miles on them, all new coils and wires as well.

I'm thinking its fuel, Checked the fuse in the engine bay, fuse is good. I let the car sit overnight, pulled the rear seat, and put my ear on the fuel pump plate while my girlfriend turned the key to 'ON' I heard some noises, but nothing like any fuel pump priming noise i've heard before.

My question is, to those of you that have done this or know for a fact what the pump sounds like when it primes...would it be pretty unmistakable if my ear was touching the plate to hear the pump? or could it be mistaken for other noises as well? (i had her attempt turning the key off and to 'ON' again after a few seconds to see, didnt hear any change)

 

In the fuse box at the rear right (looking at it ) there is a female connector with 2 pins in it

If you jump those pins with a wire or a screwdriver or something the fuel pump will turn on

Try that..you should hear the pump...and have fuel pressure

 

how loud? it's supposed to sound like a 747 ready to take off ...

when the pump is on, close all windows and doors u should hear some "wuuuuuuuuuuuuu" sound

to make it EASIER, pull the rear left seat cushion (just pull it straight UP, the clip will pop off), the pump is right there and u will hear it (if it works)

 

Ditto, it has a distinct sound. If yours does not (with the seat cushion up) than it is failing or failed. How old is the pump (how many miles) ? Series 1 pumps can die as early as 50,000 miles, though many will start to fail past 70,000 miles for sure if they have seen heavy loads (sustained high speed driving). My died at 54,000 miles on my 2008 RX8, and I do a lot of high speed highway driving on long trips across the country.

 

I pulled the plate off yesterday, it looked rather dirty, so I'm pretty sure its the original pump. Car has 115,000 on it. Tested the plug that connects to the pump, and it has voltage going to it, So im 98% sure the pump is to blame.

From what I've been told these series I pumps are pretty useless, I'm pretty surprised mine lasted 115,000.

 

Yes it has happened, but is the rare exception for a Series 1 pump to last that long.

There is extensive threads here and DIY video on changing out the fuel pump. There is also discussion on the thread of what pump to replace the oem fuel pump with. You can elect to replace with another OEM pump, or upgrade to an aftermarket pump. Some have elected to use a Series 2 pump which is a different design but seems to be an improvement Putting in a Series 2 pump dose require some modifications that you may or may not wish to do.

Others like myself have switched to aftermarket pumps that are easily swapped into the existing pump housing such as the Walbro or DW-200 pumps. I put in a DW-200 pump I got from BHR, a trusted RX8 vendor and forum member. The Walbro and DW are the same shape and size as the oem pump and fit easily. The DW only requires a quick mod of the pop-off cap that can be done with a soldering iron .. If you do your research here and on google you will find replacement pumps available for RX8 Series 1 cars

 

The failure rate for S1 fuel pumps is as over-rated as coil failure rate.

Just go buy a replacement Airtex fuel pump assembly with a limited lifetime warranty from the Autozone ....


Fwiw, I'd never recommend just replacing the pump only on a used fuel pump assembly like yours. There is an non-replaceable internal filter that is not really smart to stay with after that kind of mileage. No point shooting yourself in the foot ....


.

 

There is certainly an upside to replacing the entire assembly at your mileage as TeamRX8 says. However in my case the assembly filters were all cleaned and checked and fine, so replacing the pump with a DW200 at 54,000miles on my 2008 was a fine solution to my dead pump. I have used just about every rotary car pump and mod over the years with my rotary RXs so I have experience with these systems and know what works for me.

 

Thats what I went for actually, the Airtex pump assembly. I picked it up from rockauto because the price was 168.00 versus 240.00 at advance auto parts. Only downside is I have to wait for it to get here, but according to tracking it should be delivered today.

 

I plan on keeping the original assembly, cleaning it, and maybe replacing the pump already in there with a Walbro at some point. Only problem with that is, I've heard you have to do some sort of modification to the assembly when installing the walbro into it to make the fuel gauge read accurately. Not comfortable doing that myself lol.

 

And also it should be noted that the last Airtex unit I got came in an Airtex box but was actually a brand new Mazda Aaram unit. And Rockauto rules, that is all.

 

Does Rock Auto have a lifetime warranty? I buy stuff there too regardless ....

 

"Limited lifetime for electric fuel pumps, electric fuel pump assemblies and water pumps (non-commercial vehicles)"

Kind of vague.

 

Was this from rockauto?

How can you tell the difference between the two?

And yes, Rockauto is amazing. Even with a family members employee discount at advance, i'd still be paying more for the same airtex unit than just regularly buying at Rockauto.

 

Okay I called just for clarification, they will cover the pump as long as you own the vehicle. You must have proof of purchase though.

 

The Airtex typically has the Airtex label on the top, nothing else. The one we git recently had the Blue Mazda sticker with the part number and "Aaram" imprinted on the plastic, exactly like the stock pump assembly, identical. I am guessing Airtex makes them for Aaram or Mazda, not sure. I am sure the Airtex unit is just s good, I have never heard of anyone having a problem, I have installed quite a few of them.

Honestly I can only think of one fuel pump problem locally and that was on my car and it was a warped nipple that caused a leak, not an actual problem with the pump. The rest that I have replaced have all been preventive maintenance on high mileage cars.

 

The Aaram/Mazda typically looks like this



The Airtex.

 

It's clearly not the same as the Mazda. It's just a replacement.

 

Yeah it's just weird how some boxes have the Airtex unit in it and some have the Aaram.

 

Just got it from FedEx, I noticed one major difference.. the top of the assemblies look mostly identical, however, one thing i noticed is that on the mazda pump, the second bung for the other fuel line (the one with the smaller blue retaining clip) is vertical, next to the fuel pump itself.

On this Airtex, its on the bottom of the assembly. Anyone notice this difference as well?

 

Pics to come, but beware of ordering the AIRTEX pump from rockauto. Details below.


There is one major difference I noticed when i got the Airtex pump today. In the picture on their website, the locations of both fuel line bungs are identical to the Mazda OEM pump.

However, on this new pump I got today, it is not like the photo at all, the bung for the line that runs into the gas tank is in an entirely different position. Instead of being mounted vertically near the actual pump itself, the location of this bung is near the bottom of the assembly, almost like a Series II pump assembly I think?

The line is loose on this bung as well.

Talked to Rockauto's customer service, and was informed they have had a significant amount of people to complain about this, and they had to clear out this supply from the warehouses due to the defect, I was just unlucky enough to get one from the warehouse in California that hadn't cleared it out yet.

Pics to follow tomorrow when there is light out, but for now, avoid ordering the Airtex pump from Rockauto!

 

Good call Tyblat, thanks for the heads-up for folks here. Get that thing replaced for sure with the right one.

 

Why not have them send the Delphi pump instead?

 

I'm going to go with the Delphi pump, but they won't refund my money until I ship the Airtex back. I'm most likely going to see how long it will take to get if I just go to advance auto parts, I already waited a whole week just to get this one, I'd rather not wait another haha.

 

Here we are.

OEM Mazda pump. Notice the location of the vertical bung, and the "track" that the plastic piece slides along in the middle.





Both Pumps side by side. Vertical bung missing on the Airtex where it is present on the Mazda OEM, Notice its new location on the bottom? Fuel line wouldn't fit snug at all, Probably due to just one of the many defects about this pump. Notice the lack of the "track" on the Airtex as well.



Notice how the Airtex looks alittle crooked?