Attention: TDR Forum Junkies 
Well, today I finished up the final chore I needed to do before heading out of town for the holiday. I changed out the factory lift pump on my '03 with a stock replacement from Geno's. While my truck was still running okay, I thought that 132K was pushing my luck quite a bit for the factory lift pump (with the well known problems) so I did a pre-emptive strike. This job was a major PITA. Who would have thought that a wiring harness, four 5mm allen/hex bolts, and a quick connect could be such a pain? For those of you who have had to do this along the side of the road in nasty weather, you have my utmost respect! I thought it was bad enough doing it in my own driveway with all of my tools and a step stool available, in the cold and howling wind as opposed to a roadside, with limited tools, possible no step stool, and in a lot worse weather. That's why those of you have done it have my respect for being able to do it.
For anyone who has yet to tackle this job, whether replacing the factory pump with one from Geno's or another aftermarket pump, I'll share what worked best for me. The wiring harness and the quick connect on the fuel line were pretty straight forward. However, getting at those 4 little bolts was another story. I found it easiest to take off the left front wheel and get at it through the gap in the wheel well cowling. Mind you, I have a 2" leveling kit in the front which may have given me a little more room, but the pump was right there. Using a 3/8" ratchet with a 5mm hex socket, I was easily able to get the top and bottom bolts on the outside. I was also able to get the bottom inside bolt from there, but had to do a little stretching. The top one on the inside was the worst. I got to it from the top, but I first had to loosen and move the dipstick tube out of the way. I have a Banks High Ram intake manifold and it relocates your dipstick tube a little. After that and getting the socket seated purely by feel, I was able to get the bolt out. Once I pulled the old pump off of the back of the filter housing, I used a small screwdriver to pop out the old o-ring from the back of the filter housing. Then, I assembled the hose and filter/strainer on the new pump (I used hose ring pliers but regular pliers would work too), lubed the o-ring up good, and seated the new pump. I replaced the bolts the same way I took them out, reconnected the fuel line and the wiring harness, put the front tire back on and started it up. Sounds easier than it is. Of course, it didn't help any that when I was trying to start/hand tighten the lower inside bolt using just the socket, I dropped it and it fell down behind the starter. Took me a while to find the stupid thing, even with a mirror.
After I got my shower and celebratory adult beverage, I took it out to run an errand. I noticed right off the bat that the truck now idles smoother than it did (in cold weather) and seems to have a little more pep than it did. This makes me think that while the old one was still working, it was probably not running at full pressure/capacity and may have been causing some of the symptoms I have noticed. If that were the case, then I probably wasn't too far from having a complete pump failure. However, I want to reserve full judgment on this until I've been able to evaluate it for a little while. Want to make sure that I'm not masking another potential problem such as an FCA or an injector issue. Either way, I do feel a lot better about making my trip now.
For anyone who has yet to tackle this job, whether replacing the factory pump with one from Geno's or another aftermarket pump, I'll share what worked best for me. The wiring harness and the quick connect on the fuel line were pretty straight forward. However, getting at those 4 little bolts was another story. I found it easiest to take off the left front wheel and get at it through the gap in the wheel well cowling. Mind you, I have a 2" leveling kit in the front which may have given me a little more room, but the pump was right there. Using a 3/8" ratchet with a 5mm hex socket, I was easily able to get the top and bottom bolts on the outside. I was also able to get the bottom inside bolt from there, but had to do a little stretching. The top one on the inside was the worst. I got to it from the top, but I first had to loosen and move the dipstick tube out of the way. I have a Banks High Ram intake manifold and it relocates your dipstick tube a little. After that and getting the socket seated purely by feel, I was able to get the bolt out. Once I pulled the old pump off of the back of the filter housing, I used a small screwdriver to pop out the old o-ring from the back of the filter housing. Then, I assembled the hose and filter/strainer on the new pump (I used hose ring pliers but regular pliers would work too), lubed the o-ring up good, and seated the new pump. I replaced the bolts the same way I took them out, reconnected the fuel line and the wiring harness, put the front tire back on and started it up. Sounds easier than it is. Of course, it didn't help any that when I was trying to start/hand tighten the lower inside bolt using just the socket, I dropped it and it fell down behind the starter. Took me a while to find the stupid thing, even with a mirror.
After I got my shower and celebratory adult beverage, I took it out to run an errand. I noticed right off the bat that the truck now idles smoother than it did (in cold weather) and seems to have a little more pep than it did. This makes me think that while the old one was still working, it was probably not running at full pressure/capacity and may have been causing some of the symptoms I have noticed. If that were the case, then I probably wasn't too far from having a complete pump failure. However, I want to reserve full judgment on this until I've been able to evaluate it for a little while. Want to make sure that I'm not masking another potential problem such as an FCA or an injector issue. Either way, I do feel a lot better about making my trip now.
