The fuel pump went on my truck last week (a 1998 F150 4.6L
V8). So I had to drop the tank and
install a new pump. The pump failed
because it relies on rubber components in order to maintain pressure in the
fuel lines. This might sound surprising;
the pump in this vehicle is located inside the gas tank where we might expect
it to be relatively protected. The
failure here falls under the mysterious category of ‘ageing’. It is not always clear what happens to the elastomer
exposed to gasoline, but the result is clear.
The stress eventually leads to fracture, and failure of the component. Add it to the list of other good problems in
polymer science!
