Fuel pump replacement

Here's my experience with replacing the fuel pump in our Four Winds:
Failure & replacement of fuel pump on E-350

It's not a hard job, but it takes some planning and patience. Most of all, don't do it when it's freezing out there.. unless you don't mind working in those temps. We did, but would have preferred it to be about 30 degrees warmer.

I had no plug so I had to loosen the wiring, connectors and tank straps then drop the tank onto a floor jack (after I pumped all the gas into a 55 gal. drum). Had to remove the fuel neck as well. Fuel pump came right out and new one popped in. Took about half a working day start to finish. If you have someone to help it speeds the job up considerably. Pump is a lot cheaper if it's the only thing you have to replace but if it's all ONE connected piece it's going to be costly. Be sure you have a quality jack and even some heavy duty jack stands.

Guess I am lucky, my fuel tank has a plug on the bottom. Also my Winnebago Minnie is raised up so much above the frame, that a mechanic said he may be able to remove the pump without dropping the tank. Just take off the rear tires so he could get in to it.

It is a very expensive in tank fuel pump. The only way to replace it is cut a hole in the floor or drop the tank. Dropping the tank is best done when empty, but pump failure most often will happen when it is full or nearly so. As a precaution you could run it nearly out of gas, drop the tank and install a new one. But it is not the easiest job. You could also consider replacing it with a frame mounted tank and filter for a lot less money.

I know GM had a tag on lines coming from pump to where they hooked onto lines running forward. I don't know if Ford had the same. Only other way to tell is to drop the tank to see pump. I would guess with your miles, it has been replaced once. And yes, the best way to kill a pump is to let the tank get low.

I heard not to let the tank go below 1/3 as gas cools the pump. Also if it doesn't start , bang on bottom center of tank while some tries the starter again. Anyone hear the same?

I have an 04 C Ford on the E-450. At about 40K the fuel pump went out on mine (bought it new) and had to replace entire tank because the way the pump is installed inside the tank. Good luck.