Fuelling the Fuel Pump Debate

As the days of the carbureted engine fade quietly into the night, excepting of course vintage car shows and Cavillino auctions, fuel-injected engines have become the norm. With nearly all light vehicles equipped with fuel injection systems as of 2004, the aftermarket has been seeing fuel pump sales begin to grow substantially over the last decade or so.

While dramatically increased sales would normally be a good news scenario, the sale of complex new system components, and fuel pumps in particular, seems to be rife with costly problems such as repeated comebacks and warranty issues. As Frost and Sullivan analyst Christopher Chen mentions in a 2003 report, “The transition from mechanical to electric fuel pumps in the last two decades, and the growing demand for electric fuel pump modules in the aftermarket, has made the manufacturing process a far more complex and costly one.”

A major cost associated with this part is the inordinate number of parts that are shipped back upstream from the installer through the jobber and ultimately to the manufacturer. In short, it appears that fuel pump issues will continue to become more and more costly for everyone involved, unless the root causes are discovered and solved.

Horror stories from jobbers are common surrounding fuel pump issues, judging by comments received here at Jobber News. While it would seem that jobbers suggesting a customer purchase his fuel pumps from a rival store is almost surely, in most cases, exaggerated for effect, the point remains quite pertinent. A large number of these components end up coming back into the jobber store either because of an actual defect in the new manufacturing process, or more commonly from an error made on the installer side.

The vastly disproportional ratio of sales to warranty claims for this particular component certainly suggests that a major problem exists, and can only be expected to worsen as the projected sales numbers are poised to increase, particularly on the aftermarket side of the business.

A Frost and Sullivan study showed that in 2002, the aftermarket saw some US$330.6 million in sales related to fuel pumps alone, and that that number was expected to soar to US$402.4 million by 2009.

Unfortunately, a growth in the sales numbers for a problematic part usually means a directly proportional growth in problems for the jobber. On the brighter side, currently the problem is not quite as large as it could be, seeing as new car dealerships still have the lion’s share of service opportunities on fuel system service.

In fact, according to numbers from J.D. Power and Associates, new car dealerships still control some 90% of fuel pump service on cars that are 3 years old, while independents only handle around 4%. However, a major shift occurs for the aftermarket as cars start to come off warranty, and float through their middle age to reach the 8- to12-year-old bracket. In this grouping, the aftermarket sees its share of the service game surge to 40%.

Seeing as this is the age group most likely to require fuel pump work, the issue of faulty fuel pumps can and should be addressed by the jobber.

According to a 2005 Frost and Sullivan report on the fuel system market, “Improper diagnosis of a vehicle’s problem by technicians may also lead to the replacement of a fuel pump or fuel injector, especially when the problem may have occurred as a result of the failure of some other related part. The complexity of the fuel delivery system makes room for misdiagnosis, leading to inadvertent replacement.”

In what is fast becoming a refrain for the aftermarket, education of your key clients, especially those heavily involved in the engine and fuel system replacements sector, could be the key to stemming the flow of comebacks, at least through your doors. It would appear as though help from further up the food chain is on its way in this regard, but may be years away from making an impact on your daily business.

As a result, meaningful change today is likely up to you.

To be fair, the industry as a whole has begun to recognize the inherent problems associated with this troublesome component, largely thanks to focused studies like those mentioned here.

One industry-grown solution has come from the Automotive Aftermarket Suppliers Association (AASA), in the form of the Fuel Pump Council. The fact that this one auto part is being given its own council should be enough to convince anyone of the veracity of the complaints associated with it, but if not, then the members themselves are more than willing to make mention of them, seeing as most of the council is made up of fuel pump manufacturers who have also been adversely affected by the high rate of returns.

According to the council, fuel pump manufacturers are experiencing needless warranty returns, either due to misdiagnosis (e.g. as evidenced by melted wiring connectors or failure to test the entire fuel system) or improper repair (e.g. failure to clean out the tank and fuel before installing a new pump). In any event, manufacturers claim that often their analysis of many of the returned fuel pumps reveals that there is nothing wrong with the part. This finding suggests that many technicians lack the knowledge to diagnose the newer electronic fuel pumps.

AASA established its Fuel Pump Council in early 2006 to review this situation. While it is too early to report on the results of their work, suffice to say that the problem has certainly been identified.

According to the group, the purpose of the council is to investigate opportunities for industry education and other programs to address this problem.

It is the group’s hope that it can help facilitate improvements industry-wide that will better serve not only manufacturers, but also service professionals and ultimately the consumer.

More information and updates on the progress of the Fuel Pump Council can be found by calling the AASA at (919) 549-4800 or visiting its website at www.aftermarketsuppliers.org.