Grey Fox

Hi Guys,


New member here, just wondered if I could get some advice please?

Wednesday evening I had to call out the AA as my car wouldn't start, or should I say restart. I started up to leave work, reversed out of a space and my engine conked out. I tried to restart it, nothing. Tried bump start then finally concluded (with help) that the starter motor and battery were ok. The AA man found it was the fuel pump. He ended up hitting it/the fuel tank and it came back to life.
I was then told it could go again at any time and would need to be replaced, so he followed me to my local garage and I left it there. Neither him nor me thought it would be too much. The garage looked at it yesterday and can't find a fault with it after test I asked for a quote to get it replaced - around £400 inc VAT and labour.

Does that sound about right? Could it have been a blockage in the fuelline etc? I haven't got that much to spend right now and if I'm honest I'm a little nervous about it going again. Most of my 15 mile journey to (and so from) work is 60 or 50mph A-roads. I've not come across any reports of similar cases anywhere.

Any suggestions, comments please guys would be very much appreciated.

Thank you

Grey Fox

black_jack

Hi, you don't say what car you have but i presume its a lift pump (since hitting the pump/ tank is mentioned), it depends ion the car but you could probably aqquire a new (pattern/ oem )pump for about £100 (locally or online) and get it fitted for about the same again, the £400 seems like main dealer prices/ genuine Ford for a lift pump (but of course i don't know which car you have so these figures may not be accurate)

People expect cars to be 100% reliable, you could spend the £400 and it could still keep breaking down all the time (there are 1000s of other things to go wrong!), or spend/do nothing and the car keeps running!

it may work uot cheaper to get premium "get you home insurance"/ extended AA/ RAC covarage, to put your mind at rest, not a bad thing to have anyway and worth investigating

Grey Fox

Hi Black Jack,

That was a stupid of me, sorry! I drive a 56 plate (facelift) Fiesta ST.
I've seen used pumps on ebay for around £65 - for 2005 ST. Not sure if the 2006/56 is any different (I wouldn't have thought so...). I've also seen an image from another forum for a pump that was a lot cheaper.

Like you say, a new pump could do the same, or if could be an electrical problem or anything, or it's just a blockage, or having a 'moment'.

I didn't realise the AA did that sort of cover! I've seen the old advert on Dave with the Rover 75 - can't remember the company name though. I see the 3 star AA one covers the fuel pump, so that's good, so thank you for suggesting those. I don't suppose you have a rough idea of how much the cover is? Although I imagine it could vary quite a lot from car to car. I don't see a way to apply/get a quote online, which is typical, so guess I'll have to call them to find out.

[EDIT]: Scrap that, I've found it now. £93.31 with basic breakdown. Might have to look in to this.

Many thanks

Grey Fox

RichieST

iTrader: (2)

I had an old focus that occasionally wouldn't start. Leave it for a few hours and it would start and run perfectly, then a few days later it would just not start again. New fuel pump sorted it.

If you lift up the back seats can you see the fuel pump? It'll probably be under a cover. If you have no access panel then it's fuel tank off job to replace.

black_jack

Yes if the tank had to come out the garage labour may be a bit expensive

about the "supercover"/ premium / "get you home insurance"

Well i was given this card (like a credit card) for nothing as part of my work/ connections and apparently its assigned to me (not the car- so it works on any car i am "driving") and if i break down anywhere on the UK mainland they will take me & the car anywhere else in the UK mainland one way (free/ no additional charge) so theoretically if you lived in Lands End and you went on holiday to John-o-Groats......!

Probably companies started offering this service and the "traditional" (AA/ RAC) had to offer similar services to compete - did you not see the recent TV ad with the guy pushing the car for miles (can't remember if it was AA or RAC!)

no idea about prices or the limitations of cover (running out of fuel/ punctures etc)/ plus its only one way

oops i just realized you meant the extended warranties for older cars - thats a good idea!

i wonder if tescos does them - they seem to do everything else!