loud/struggling fuel pump 02 kj

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JeepCoMJ

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My 02 (salsa red/orange) has this awesome fuel pump whine. Our other 02 ltd rene does not.

key in run, whines until pressure is built up. engine running, whines while supplying pressure. tank close to empty, whines. tank full, whines. tank halfway, whines.

I'm not new to failing pumps. I am new to replacing them with 125000 miles on a vehicle...never had one go that early.

I'm a mechanic by trade, so as all things go, my vehicles are meticulously repaird when I first get them...and then I let things go downhill, fixing only when need be, if it's not a pressing issue. A fuel pump is a pressing issue to me.

I guess I could be asking is if there is a regulator that could be clogged or something of that nature causing the whine. There is no return line, so my logic says no. But what is there for a regulator, could cause it to fail closed or open, causing too much pressure too quickly, or too little, with the same resulting whine.

The jeep feels underpowered for what it is. It has 235/70R16 on it with factory 3.73's. The Rene has 32x11.50R16's and 4.10 gears (numerically inferior ratio to my stock tire/gear set, 4.56 would be better) and has more power and a smoother run to it.

Mine runs a bit "rough" on cold start-up and then seems to almost have a little "hitch in it's step" (miss) at idle. Just a bit choppy. I had chalked it up to the fact that I have a supposed 120,000 mile junkyard motor in it that I really haven't been inside, other than valve covers...but now sitting and thinking about it, even with the known issues these jtec motors have, plus the fuel pump whine, I've settled on fuel being the issue, as it is logical.

What this boils down to;

Bought jeep used, unknown how often jeep was ran low on fuel, but 2 broken rods, rod bearing caps on the wrong rods, reused TTY bolts on them, and woodscrews holding cam bearing caps that are not line bored to match the head tells me that the people who owned it were not well off, and likely ran close to E all the time. I got the vehicle on empty, matter of fact.

I have a 110,000 mile tank with pump assembly that had zero issues out of the rolled renegade we stripped. Ran awesome, and I have a history of the vehicle/well maintained.

The ? is....

Do I swap the spare tank/pump in and risk it failing too, or do I buy a new pump. And if I buy a new pump, do I buy from Mopar ($$$$ ouch), or any other brand specific that you guys would suggest? Coming from the xj world, when a pump crapped out, I swapped in any of a half dozen compatible tanks I had laying around into it and called it good. I hate dealing with locking rings on old metal tanks...PITA.

Thanks

Pat
 

tjkj2002

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Well no metal tank in the KJ so no worries there.Pump whine is a stressed pump(plugged or ready to go),just change it and the fuel filter.The '02 KJ uses 2 pressure regulators,one in the pump and the 2nd is the fuel filter above the pump.


As far as pumps go stay away from airtek and anything bought on fleabay.Personally I'd only use OEM or Delphi fuel pumps.
 

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