Which fuel pump: Walbro or Bosch?

[Basslicks]

Alright guys, I've done lots of searching and the general consensus I'm getting is to get the Carter fuel pump and strainer set because it's OEM. GREAT!

But there's two options...

Carter P74057 with a Walbro pump
-or-
Carter P74155 with a Bosch pump

By the way, this is for a '92 4.0

My other question is, being as the fuel check valve on these is part of the pump unit... is it in the pump or is it in the assembly?

My check valve is bad and I have low fuel pressure, so I know I need to replace the pump, but the gauge works fine, so I know I don't need the sender. I just don't want to replace the pump and then find out I still have to do the poor man's prime just to get it to start.

[XJ Wheeler]

I don't know much of Walbro but Bosch has made factory parts for years. I would go with them personally.

I am not certain on your other question though. The pumps I've seen (not xj) were in the assembly not pump. But I don't have knowledge specific to the xj on this.

Sent via messenger pigeon. I talk, he types.

[Basslicks]

I don't know much of Walbro but Bosch has made factory parts for years. I would go with them personally.

I am not certain on your other question though. The pumps I've seen (not xj) were in the assembly not pump. But I don't have knowledge specific to the xj on this.

Sent via messenger pigeon. I talk, he types.

Thanks man. The general consensus I'm getting is go with Bosch. It's an extra 5 bucks, but I don't care about that, I just wanted to make sure I got the CORRECT part. We all now how the XJs HATE the Bosch O2 sensors. Just 'cause it costs more, doesn't always mean it's the best part.

Well, I guess worse comes to worst I can always just buy the inline check if the check valve isn't internal to the pump itself. The poor man's prime isn't a real big deal as long as you're getting enough fuel to start it once you prime it... which I'm not.

[XJ Wheeler]

Thanks man. The general consensus I'm getting is go with Bosch. It's an extra 5 bucks, but I don't care about that, I just wanted to make sure I got the CORRECT part. We all now how the XJs HATE the Bosch O2 sensors. Just 'cause it costs more, doesn't always mean it's the best part.

Well, I guess worse comes to worst I can always just buy the inline check if the check valve isn't internal to the pump itself. The poor man's prime isn't a real big deal as long as you're getting enough fuel to start it once you prime it... which I'm not.
Yeah, I've got a bit of that too. But the prime doesn't fix it so I've got a spare starter to try. Who knows!

Didn't know that about the o2 sensor, I've got a Bosch on the shelf to go in eventually. Although the interwebs say Bosch plugs are bad too and I've had mine in for seven years no issue. Jeeps are funny like that I guess. [emoji14]

Sent via messenger pigeon. I talk, he types.

[Basslicks]

***UPDATE***

Well, I was duped by wording. CARTER is the manufacturer of the pumps I was looking at. They make everything that comes in the kit. In the description on Rockauto.com's website it says "w/ Bosch OE pump" or "w/ Walbro OE pump"... which I didn't put 2 and 2 together that it meant "OE pump was Bosch or Walbro". So I THOUGHT I was getting a Bosch pump with maybe Carter components, but I was getting a complete Carter unit.

Now... I put the pump in and everything was working great. Pressure was up to a little OVER OE spec and everything was going great. Went great for about 2 weeks. I even drove it all the way to Daytona and back last weekend for Jeep Beach. Drove to work the day after that. Then, outta NOWHERE, Monday morning, I started the Jeep and it ran long enough for me to pull out of the driveway and then die. I thought it was odd that it did that, thought maybe it was just a fluke, so I started it back up and it ran rough for about another 1/4 mile and died again. I limped it back to my house with it dying a couple more times and took my wife's car to work instead.

That night, I checked the PSI at the rail and it was just under 10 PSI. I checked the ballast resistor and it was showing 12.5v in and 10.5 out, bypassing the resistor just to see what would happen showed no change. I thought maybe it was the FPR, so I changed the regulator with no change. I thought maybe my tester was wrong because of how low the pressure was reading, so I started trying sensors. All of them checked out fine.

I did some research on the 'net and a fellow over on CF was having similar pressure readings and he traced it back to the fuel pump. I don't know what else it could be at this point, but I do know when my OE pump started going out, it was reading low (not THIS low) pressure at the rail and would hesitate and sometimes backfire when I would accelerate. Now, it keeps dying until it's "warmed up" and then when it does, the idle fluctuates every 5 seconds and when you step on the pedal, all it wants to DO is backfire.

I'm pretty confident at this point that it's the pump.

Ordered a new Bosch 69302 unit (actually Bosch brand... not Carter) from RockAuto and having it shipped as "next business day" so it should be here by Friday.

I'll update with the results... if it works, I do believe the moral of the story here is to not cheap out on the fuel pump. I really did thought I was getting a quality unit though. I'm not going to say "don't ever buy Carter", but I myself would prefer a Bosch (again, what I thought I was buying).

This is NOT an editorial against Rock Auto or Carter. This is merely an informative post that may or may not help someone with the same situation in the future.

This is not a Walbro pump http://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=296455&cc=1180112 - it is a Carter pump to be used as a replacement for those equipped with Walbro pumps from the factory.

This is not a Bosch pump http://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=296505&cc=1180112 - it is a Carter pump to be used as a replacement for those equipped with Bosch pumps from the factory.

THIS! This, is a Bosch pump http://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=977307&cc=1180112 - it is a Bosch pump to be used as a direct replacement for the OE Bosch pump.

[4.3LXJ]

I have had a couple of Carter Super Pumps, and loved them. But they are different than the pumps in our tanks. I think for OEM, Bosch is the way to go

[Basslicks]

I have had a couple of Carter Super Pumps, and loved them. But they are different than the pumps in our tanks. I think for OEM, Bosch is the way to go

Yeah, everyone said to go with Bosch... that's what I thought I was ordering lol. I should have known better. I'm actually a little surprised the Carter is crapping out on me really. They're made in America to OE specs and they're a pretty well-known company.

Maybe I just got a dud.... but either way, I'm not chancing it this time.

[4.3LXJ]

One thing you might also check is the pressure regulator in your fuel rail. If the Bosch doesn't to it, that is probably the culprit

[Basslicks]

One thing you might also check is the pressure regulator in your fuel rail. If the Bosch doesn't to it, that is probably the culprit

Dadgummit... I forgot to mention that in the post from 4/28. I replaced the FPR with a new GP Sorensen unit. No change. Hey, at least I know I have a new FPR and a GOOD spare ;)

Well, without further ado...

IT WORKS!!! Got home from work about 1830 (that's 6:30 pm for those of you who aren't familiar with zulu), got changed and started working on it about 1900. Took me a little while, 'cause despite it barely even being able to run, I needed to get it up on the ramps - 'cause it's a LOT easier to do if you can sit up under the jeep and do it - even at my size of 6'1" and 270 lbs, I have just enough lift that when I put it up on the ramps, I have just enough room to sit up and work over the axle.

So I jumpered the relay port and used the pump's own power to pump out the fuel. Pumped out 15 gallons... took for freakin' ever. I was actually about to empty a 5 gallon can into my wife's tank WITH the stupid "self-venting" spout on it before the next can was even half-way full. I was also able to unbox the new pump and get everything ready while the NEXT one was filling.

This pump was toast, for sure. VISUALLY, it looked fine. The sock was still attached to the inlet of the pump, but was clocked out of place - not that it would make any difference. But the rubber cone at the end of the return line that seats the pump, had come off... not sure if that happened when I was removing the pump or before hand. In any case, I needed to fish it out. Luckily my hand just barely fit. (I had to grip things with the tips of my fingers to be able to pull it back out). Not only did I find the cone, but I also found remnants of the original sock in the bottom of the tank. So I pulled everything out to make sure I didn't have a bunch of debris floating around in the bottom of the tank anymore.

I'll definitely say, the Bosch 69302 unit is MUCH smaller that the OE unit and the Carter unit I had. At first, when I pulled it out of the box, I about started cussing thinking they sent me the wrong part. Luckily, I looked in the supplied parts package because there is an adapter to make up for the smaller stature. It didn't come with a sock, but luckily, I was able to use the one from the Carter unit (after cleaning it just to be safe), but it did come with a pigtail plug with a clip retainer that made wiring it up really easy.

Had to kinda hold your tongue the right way to get everything into place and secured correctly, but once it's in there, it's good.

One thing I DID notice, was that when I installed the carter unit, I went full retard and put the stupid o-ring between the lock ring and the pump assembly, instead of between the pump assembly and the fuel pump assy (which explains why I bent up the original lock ring when I was installing the carter) :bangin: So I made sure to correct THAT mistake upon installing the new one.

Got everything back in and secured. This pump is sooo quiet, you can barely hear it spool up! MUCH MUCH better than the Carter unit that sounded like something was grinding inside the pump from the very first time I spooled it.

I attempted to find a vehicle I KNEW had good fuel pressure, find out WHAT the fuel pressure was, and use my gauge to test if the gauge was accurate... but that opportunity didn't present itself. SO, the only thing I could think of was to use it as a tire gauge and compare it to my other tire gauges. The other three gauges read consistently at 30 PSI with the same pressure and my fuel pressure tester read about 2-3 psi low... so I kept that in mind when testing the new pressure.... here's how it went:

92 Jeep 4 liter intermittent idle pt.2 - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9zYtngPJhE)

Idles smooth as butter now. Better than it ever has since I've owned it with no miss!

I'm not gonna say DON'T go with Carter, but if you're looking for a BOSCH pump, this ain't it.

[4.3LXJ]

Glad yo got it sorted out. That is one thing, the fuel pump starts getting tired and you are basically screwed, along with the CPS ..................................................

[Basslicks]

UUuuuugggghhhhh..... knock on wood, that won't happen for a while. The fuel pump lasted over 241k miles. Hopefully I'll get at least 300k out of the CPS. Definitely a PITA to change that sucker out.