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I’m new here so hopefully I’ve posted this correctly..
I have a 1999 4 door Mercury Mystique, I’ve watched alot of YouTube video’s
and Eric’s Taurus Fuel pump replacement on Youtube.
The car was my dad’s and I inherited it after he passed away, believe it or
not it has 39k miles on it and it’s in super shape. I use it to drive during the
summer and good weather days.Symptom’s – sporadically the fuel pump doesn’t prime (or run) once it starts / prime’s
it runs fuel and has never stalled. I’ve ruled out, ignition, fuel pump relay,
inertial switch and any wiring. So the last thing left is the fuel pump, talking to
some mechanic’s they say it may be a bad spot on the pump so it doesn’t fire up sometimes, which I guess makes sense.The unique thing about the 1999 Mercury Mystique is that there is an access hole beneath the rear seat.. I have the seat off, and have tested the power to the pump.
It looks like the hole is pretty big and it should give ample access? I have some
Chilton books I picked up at the library which helped me abit as well.The garage I have is a one car garage and very small with no room to really work and
I have 3 cars so I can’t really put the car anywhere to work on it to remove things.
I don’t anyone’s home garage I can borrow for abit either unfortunately.Finally my question — It appears watching eric’s video and inspecting the hole
in the back seat area .. that I may be able to remove the locking ring and pull the
pump out that way.. I may have to kinda maneuver it out because of the fuel level
float but if I could then I’d give this a shot. I have not typically worked on my
cars a whole lot and I’m wondering if this is over my head. Also I’m wondering
if it might be easier for me to go to a used parts dealer and pick up the entire
assembly rather than trying to replace the pump? Getting the entire assembly would
eliminate the work on pulling the casing apart? I could do this in my garage if
I could do it this way rather than dropping the gas tank which didn’t seem that hard
but because I work long hours I may not get it done for awhile (but again I have more
time than money). The cost for doing this at a garage is about $600-$700 and I
have already checked the cost of a new pump which is $95 new .. If I go with the
used entire assembly part.. I’m hoping it would be less even?I would like to replace the fuel filter as well but I think using the back seat
approach I may not be able to?Thanks guys for any advice… again I’m a newbie so hopefully this post is good.
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First, I wouldn’t go with a used fuel pump.. It’s just one of the parts that may have saved money at the start, but it’s a crapshoot as to how long it will last.
Second, the low mileage on the car, it’s unlikely the fuel filter needs changing. Of course you can change them out as often as you like, but the prefilter on the pump lessens the need to do so quite a lot.
Third, having the above the floor access is a win.. The 96 Sunfire I put back on the road, I had to build ramps and a platform, as the tank had to come out.So, don’t worry about the filter, that would be an under the car move with the fitting tools. Just get a new pump (check eBay!), pull the rear seat, disconnect everything, and knock the retaining ring loose. A bit of lube will make it a lot easier to reassemble as to the pump, and be sure to use the new gasket ring..
HTH
+1 on not going with a used fuel pump, lets face it that’s a lot of work and you don’t want to have to do it twice. I think you’ll find that there is not enough room to remove the pump through that access hole and you’ll have to drop the tank. That said it’s not that bad and it sounds like the car you’re working on is rust free so you should have an easy time of it. Honestly they sell the complete assembly not just the pump so if you wanted to replace the entire unit I’m sure that would be possible. Just be sure that it’s a fuel pump problem and not something else. As for the fuel filter as you saw in my video I had much better access with the tank out, if you do drop the tank it will be much easier to get to and replace.
hi guys,
your replies and this site inspired me. After alot of research I went the back
seat route and that Mercury Mystique (1999) is quite a unique car.. the pump
had ample room to come right out the top. I am taking pictures as I go so
there is a chronology that I’m hoping to share once I have the new pump in and
I start the engine. Everything went well, and the video really helped that
Eric did. I had one problem with the Ford plastic “quick connect” connectors
and I couldn’t quite figure them out… I went to alot of sites and looked at
alot of images.. I finally found one that says squeeze the tabs together and
push down.. well that worked. I did manage to break one of them.. so I’ll need
to figure out how to replace it and where to get one.I’m going with a Bosch fuel pump and new sock filter. I read the Bosch pumps are
good and while I’m in there might as well replace the sock too.I’m hanging on til I got the new one and go for a right so I’ll keep you all updated
and then work with someone to get the pictures posted. I’m hoping I’m an inspiration
for others. All totaled if it works out well I’ll have saved myself $600-700.
I’m guessing that if a mechanic or someone really knew the car they’d probably swap the pump in about 20 minutes.I think I’d have a guilty conscience if I charged someone that much
More to come once I got the new one in.
Good job thus far. Those quick connect clips should be available at any good auto parts store in there ‘Help’ section.
I broke one myself a few days ago at work when i was working on a Ford Escape.
Keep us posted!
Wouldn’t have been oil there, it would have been condensation dripping out.. Exhausts do accumulate some water in them.
If it were oil, it would be far more than a fuel pump.
You tightened up an exhaust leak. Keep the pics coming 😉
Yes the new pump works like a champ no issues.
As one person mentioned, on the one picture it was probably just condensation
out of the tail pipe connection .. so just an exhaust leak there that could
be tightened up.I learned quite quite abit and the wife is proud that I took this on and got
it working and saved the family’s budget. I did lots of research and went to
the library, online and of course here for advice and information.Next time I have a problem I’ll be more confident on solving it myself – but
as always with research and information before I dive in.The biggest thing with the fuel pump I think was the question of whether to drop
the tank of not.. I got lucky on this one where it pulled out the top, that’s
pretty rare I think.. but hey I’ll take it 🙂Thanks again guys
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