Fuel pumps

[Sarah]

What's my options for uprated fuel pumps?  My car's running stage 2 at the moment but it's never had the fuel pump changed 

I will be selling my current wheels and using the funds to purchase so should have £400 tops, what can I get?

[vRStu]

APR all the way in my opinion.

[W8 Performance]

I have some Autotech updated internals for £270 delivered

[Sarah]

How easy is it to fit the internals compared to just fitting a new pump? 

[W8 Performance]

Here are the instructions. It's pretty easy tbh. Just to note they are for an A4 so careful when you put it all back together again as some sensors are different.

http://www.autotech.com/mm5/instructions/i127100k.pdf

It should take 1 to 1.5 hrs

[Sarah]

There seems to a pretty big difference in cost for the new pump or the internals.  Do the internals provide the same performance as the whole new pump?

[gillm]

yes they do . i used interals on my car . a bit tricky but just take your time , worth fitting a new cam follower at the same time too

[vRStu]

There is a good reason for the price difference.  I couldn't agree that the internals perform in the same manner as an APR pump as the APR pump will have a modified seal on the shaft which as it happens is exactly where pumps with internals fitted tend to fail.

Having had probably one of the very first sets of internals in the UK many years ago, following other owners etc with them and then owning an APR pump I think as I said above the APR pump is without doubt the best.  Sure it's expensive but you certainly get what you pay for.

[Hedge]

yes they do . i used interals on my car . a bit tricky but just take your time , worth fitting a new cam follower at the same time too

A must in my opinion.

[sub39h]

I've been looking into this myself lately.

There are 2 main options:

1. Autotech - internals only

2. APR - either with a rebuilt pump or a brand new pump

Now from my searches I understand that there was some issue with the Autotech's design causing fuel to be forced under the OEM seal of the pump causing failure. This was a relatively rare phenomenon however, and PDT tuning (a member of this forum) reported fitting in excess of 100 Autotech internals without a single failure.

A couple of members on here reported a failure, but at the same time one member reported running one for 56k miles without incident.

The APR pump uses uprated seals that theoretically counteracts this problem. However, it was the opinion of some that all APR are doing is the same as any tuner would do when they fit a set of Autotech internals and charging silly money for it. Apparently APR test their pumps before they are shipped out, but a couple of sources stated they were only tested to 5bar, which is significantly less than the pump's operating 130bar. I cannot comment on the veracity of this claim.

No matter which option you choose, cam follower wear will increase. When I get mine fitted I'll be replacing the cam follower and then probs replacing it every 20k miles after that.

The APR is much pricier than the Autotech, but PSI Tuning are doing an exchange programme whereby you give them your old pump, they fit a rebuilt one from their stock and then give you a rebate when your old pump comes back rebuilt. This makes the APR much more affordable, but I'm still waiting to hear how much you'd get for your old pump.

Tbh I wouldn't have any qualms with fitting an Autotech pump. I'm not convinced there's enough hard evidence to suggest that you're better off spending twice as much on an APR pump. But as is the case with all these things you need to ensure that it is fitted by an experienced professional and that you're aware of the possiblity of failure and look for signs of trouble early. A sniff of the oil dipstick for petrol every month or so should suffice. (You should be checking the oil level at least monthly so this is no extra work!)

S.