Seems to be alot of bad/bogus/wrong info floating around about the infamous Chevy Vega fuel pump mod. I've always heard about these being an almost exact replacement for the in-tank pump on the pre-88 325e/325i with 2 pumps. I actually did this mod on my car about 10 years ago on the side of the road about 1 mile from Sebring Fl. We were on the way to a weekend driver's school and my car died after a ~600 mile road trip from NC.
I determined it was a dead in-tank pump, went to the local Discount Auto Parts store and bought a Chevy Vega in-tank pump for ~$30, installed it on the side of the road and the car was fine ever since.
I just took some pics today of the stock pump setup as well as the vega pump I installed in my car years ago, and a brand new vega fuel pump. Install is simple, you have to re-use the fuel pump bracket/return tube assembly, just pull the old fuel pump off of it. Carefully grind/pry the 2 electrical connectors off the copper terminals- I used a pocket knife. Once you have the old pump off, carefully orient the new pump and clamp it to the tube, I used a large hose clamp, but you could use a couple of GOOD zip ties if you prefer. Make sure you don't put the hose clamp screw part in the way of the level sender.
The pump has "+" and "-" markings on the electrical terminals, just put them on the right way and you'll be good.
Here are pics, let me know if something is not clear and I'll do my best to clarify.
Sorry if this has been posted somewhere, I always see questions about this mod and alot of wrong/misleading answers. Keep in mind this is not a "performance" mod, but mainly just an option to the $$$$$ OEM in-tank pump that IMHO works just fine for about 15-20% of the cost of the OEM stuff.
I determined it was a dead in-tank pump, went to the local Discount Auto Parts store and bought a Chevy Vega in-tank pump for ~$30, installed it on the side of the road and the car was fine ever since.
I just took some pics today of the stock pump setup as well as the vega pump I installed in my car years ago, and a brand new vega fuel pump. Install is simple, you have to re-use the fuel pump bracket/return tube assembly, just pull the old fuel pump off of it. Carefully grind/pry the 2 electrical connectors off the copper terminals- I used a pocket knife. Once you have the old pump off, carefully orient the new pump and clamp it to the tube, I used a large hose clamp, but you could use a couple of GOOD zip ties if you prefer. Make sure you don't put the hose clamp screw part in the way of the level sender.
The pump has "+" and "-" markings on the electrical terminals, just put them on the right way and you'll be good.
Here are pics, let me know if something is not clear and I'll do my best to clarify.
Sorry if this has been posted somewhere, I always see questions about this mod and alot of wrong/misleading answers. Keep in mind this is not a "performance" mod, but mainly just an option to the $$$$$ OEM in-tank pump that IMHO works just fine for about 15-20% of the cost of the OEM stuff.
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