I drive a paid for 18 yr old pick-up. This has allowed me to remain free of the burden of a debt payment, but it also means that a little more maintenance and repair is required along the way. Over the last couple of months, it had been getting harder and harder to start. It was like it really wanted to, but just wasn’t getting enough gas to fire up right away. After talking to some guys at work that’ve made livings as mechanics, I determined that my fuel pump was on its last days.
I’ve never been much of a mechanic. I can change a tire or a headlight and even explain how the internal combustion engine works, but diagnosing and fixing what is wrong has been beyond my ken. So I called to check on having a pro replace the fuel pump for me. He explained that the pump was inside the gas tank and that to replace it he would have to drain the fuel, drop the tank, replace the pump, filter the gas before replacing it, and then put it all back together. His best estimate was that it would cost over $700.
That was more than I wanted to pay, so I asked around, researched my internets, and found out that it was possible to change the pump without dropping the tank. I even found a you-tube video with two guys showing how they removed the bed of the pick-up for easy access to the top of the gas tank and the fuel pump.
A had a day off the other day and decided it was time to give it a try. I enlisted the help of the high school kid across the street, went to the parts store, and dove in. We ran into a few snags along the way, but we got it done.
The new pump, new injector hose, clamps, etc. cost me $190. I paid the kid who helped me $30. Total cost $220
$500 cheaper than it would have been to have the professional mechanic do it for me.
Because we’ve been budgeting money into an account for auto repairs, we had enough cash money to pay for this repair so we didn’t have to pay for it out of our emergency fund.
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