How Long Does It Take To Change A Fuel Pump? (Complete Guide

Do you know how long does it take to change a fuel pump? Well, you are at the perfect place to find the answer to such a question.

Starting to notice warning signs that your fuel pump may be on its last legs? Well, this is the sort of thing that needs to be dealt with by a garage almost immediately.

If a fuel pump fails, then you could be looking at a rather expensive engine replacement.

Replacing a fuel pump isn’t going to be quick, though. In most cases, you won’t be able to sit around the garage and pick your vehicle up within an hour or so. Oh no. If you need to get that fuel pump replaced, then it is going to take a considerable amount of time. Let’s explain.

Table of Contents

How Long Does It Take To Change a Fuel Pump?

It is tough to predict exactly how long it would take to change the fuel pump on your vehicle. This is because it is going to be dependent on the vehicle model that you have.

The problem that you may face with most vehicles is that the fuel pump is hardly in the easiest-to-reach place. In fact, with most modern cars, the garage may need to take at least one seat out of your vehicle, and they may even need to pull up a bit of upholstery.

While there are some older vehicle models on the market where a fuel pump change could take as little as 30-minutes, with the vast majority of modern vehicles, it is going to take anywhere from 3 to 6 hours. This is pretty much the entire working day for most garages.

This means that you may actually run into a couple of issues.

Firstly, a fuel pump replacement is going to be expensive. If a garage is going to be working only on your vehicle that day, then they need to make enough from that fuel pump replacement to cover their overheads.

Secondly, you may actually run into issues booking in your fuel pump replacement. Because most garages have limited space and they may already have vehicles that need to be dealt with, a good number of them may need you to book a few days in advance.

It isn’t the sort of thing that can normally be done on an emergency basis.

Remember, the quoted time here is purely for the fuel pump replacement. If your fuel pump hasn’t been working for a while, then the garage may need to work on a couple of engine components while they are down there, and this could add a considerable amount of time to the replacement process.

Honestly, if you need to have your fuel pump replaced, you should probably make plans not to actually be using your vehicle that day, and potentially the day after too.

Could You Change a Fuel Pump Yourself?

In theory, yes. In practice, it isn’t something that we would really recommend.

In the grand scheme of things, it isn’t too tricky to swap out the fuel pump. Yes, you will have to remove the seats.

Yes, you may need to remove the carpets in the back of the vehicle. However, once you do have access to the fuel pump, it is pretty easy just to swap it out and put the new one in.

However, trust us, if you have absolutely no experience replacing fuel pumps, then something that could take 3-5 hours for a good garage could easily take 10+ hours for you. Chances are, you probably won’t do the same quality job either.

After all, you would not have the experience to be able to look through the various components and check them for wear and tear.

You may even struggle to replace the seals. Plus, what happens if one of the hoses is damaged? Do you have a replacement sitting around your home?

We know that getting a fuel pump replaced can be costly, but it will probably end up a lot cheaper and far less hassle, in the long run, to have somebody else do it for you.

What Happens During a Fuel Pump Change?

So that you can understand why a fuel pump change takes so long, we should probably go through what actually happens during that fuel pump change.

As we said, in most vehicles, the fuel pump isn’t easy to access in the slightest. In most vehicles, the fuel pump is going to be located directly under the rear seat. Some models may make it a bit easier to access, but these are rare.

In order to access the fuel pump, there is a good chance that the rear seat will need to be completely removed. In some cases, the upholstery in the rear of the vehicle will also need to be carefully removed.

Once everything has been removed, the garage now needs to go through a rather delicate process of removing the fuel pump. Yes, it is mostly nothing more than a case of undoing a few bolts.

However, the garage will also be trying to ensure that fuel and oil don’t leak everywhere, especially since they are going to be inside your vehicle while they are doing this.

Once the fuel pump has been removed, the garage may opt to inspect the various hoses and other components in the area, mostly because they can be tricky to access again.

If everything is in order, the new fuel pump will be installed. The garage will also add new seats, etc.

The entire process will then have to be reversed. This means putting the upholstery back, replacing the seats, etc.

Will You Notice Any Damage To Your Vehicle After a Fuel Pump Change?

Because the seats, and sometimes the carpet, need to be removed from the vehicle during a fuel pump change, a lot of people are quite rightly worried that they will notice damage to their vehicle.

Thankfully, if you use a good garage, then you will not even notice if the carpet has been removed. Most mechanics have carried out fuel pump replacements often enough that they are able to remove the carpets without doing any visible damage.

It isn’t like they are going to be removing the entirety of the carpets either. In most cases, they may only need to pull it up slightly.

Other than this, there should be absolutely no signs that the fuel pump has been changed at all. While it is a lengthy and invasive process, it isn’t really something that could end up causing long-term damage to your vehicle.

In fact, not getting your fuel pump changed when it should be changed is likely going to cause way more issues to the car.

Conclusion

How long it takes to change your fuel pump will be dependent on the type of vehicle that you own. With older models, the process can take as little as 30-minutes.

However, for most modern vehicles, you are looking at a job that can take 3-5 hours.

This is because the fuel pump is often located in some pretty hard-to-reach areas, and this may necessitate the removal of seats, carpets, and a whole lot more.

If you do need a fuel pump replaced, don’t do it yourself. Make sure that you always use a qualified mechanic.

References

https://www.yourmechanic.com/question/how-long-does-it-take-to-replace-the-fuel-pump