This page is mostly for the members of the Focaljet and Focussport forums who are wondering how to go about swapping the 03-04 pump into the 00-02 tank assembly. I was asked to document the install as it's a total pain in the ass and I did just that with many, many, many pictures. Explanation and everything is below. Good luck to any of you that attempt it...It isn't hard, it's just tedious.

How-To for 00-02 update to 03-04 pump

**THIS SHOULD BE DONE WITH 1/4 TANK OR LESS OF FUEL FOR EASE OF REMOVAL AND REINSTALLATION. I TAKE NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANYTHING THAT RESULTS FROM THIS INSTALLATION.**

First, you have to depressurize the fuel system, and clear the excess fuel from the lines. To do this, pull fuse #12 [15 amp] from the underhood fuse panel and cycle the key on and off a few times. Try to start the car. In my case, it just cranked over a bunch and did nothing. In some cases, it will run for a few seconds and peter out. This is normal, just clearing the excess fuel from the system. Then, undo your fuel cap to release any excess pressure from the tank and put it back on.

Next, either drop the gas tank or cut an access panel from inside the rear passenger seat. Remove the seat by first taking out the two torx head screws holding it to the leg area, then push the seat back toward the rear of the car and slide your hand under the middle of the seat, pulling up and out. Once this is out of the way, mark and cut the access panel per where mine is cut.

Please take note on the pictures where there are wires running across the access panels and CUT ACCORDINGLY. Measure twice, cut once. After your final cuts are done, go back through and round off all edges with a dremel or other sanding tool. You�ll thank me once you start disengaging clips and undoing the pump itself later.

Once the sheet metal is out of the way, disengage the clip on top of the fuel tank. I ended up getting frustrated and just breaking all the clips off and removing it, but I wouldn�t suggest this if you can avoid it at all. The new fuel pump assembly comes with a new top cap and clips so it's relatively idiot-proof, lucky for me :-p. Once you have removed this hose [be careful, fuel WILL come out, have a rag handy�] take this time to vacuum out and thoroughly clean the surrounding area.

Any gunk inside the fuel tank is horrible for the engine, and easily avoidable to end up in there. After taking a moment to clean, remove the wiring harness. Then, take a long screwdriver and hammer and gently tap the blue locking ring counter-clockwise in order to remove it. After a while it will be easy enough to turn by hand, just be careful of sharp edges if you are using the access panel. Remove this ring and set it aside for reinstallation later, along with the teal gasket that sits between that and the top cap of the tank.

Removing the pump from the tank is fairly straightforward. Grab the pump inside the tank and turn it approx. 1/4 turn counterclockwise to disengage the clips, and pull the pump out of the tank. Beware, the fuel level sending unit and float will most likely get hung up trying to pull it out of the tank. Be gentle. Try not to tip the fuel pump as there is a lot of fuel in it and will make a BIG mess�firsthand experience. Also, there is a small screen that will probably leave itself in the tank. Take this out, clean it, and put it back where it was before.

So, you are inside on your workbench and you have this sitting in front of you. What next?

It�s fairly simple: unclip the wiring harness with the red and black wires leading to a black connector.

Pop the sending unit up out of the pump housing, and remove the upper half of the pump assembly from the lower assembly by unclipping the 4 clips around the perimeter. At this point you should have it in 2 halves.

Pull the fuel pump down out of the upper part and set it aside. You won�t be needing this anymore, but may still need it for reference. In addition, clean the base of the lower housing out. Mine had a bunch of gunk in it which I cleaned out [then took the pictures�oops].

Also, as there is only one inlet to the entire fuel bowl, I took the liberty of enlarging mine slightly with the dremel. DO THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK, IT IS NOT REQUIRED, SOMETHING DONE OF MY OWN ACCORD. I roughly doubled the diameter of it, and I also beveled the edge a little to add a �venturi funnel� effect to ease the entry of the fuel into the housing. I just figured if it was easier for the fuel to enter the bowl, the pump wouldn�t have to work as hard, and I wouldn�t have any problems with starvation as some Foci do. It made a difference accelerating out of corners.

I also swapped the black rubber top and bottom boots that go on the pump motor itself so that the old ones are being installed inside the old assembly. It all seemed to fit better together that way. In addition, you have to put the filter sock from the old pump on to the new one. Carefully cut the metal ring on the bottom of the pump holding the sock onto the barb with a dremel cutoff wheel and swap them from one pump to another.

Reinstallation: The reverse of removal, just be careful to make sure to properly align the mounting tabs on the outer housing to the tabs on the bottom of the fuel tank when installing the fuel pump outer housing into the tank itself.

Reflash the computer with your most current computer program.

Cycle the key on and off 4-5 times for at least 10 seconds apiece in order to build fuel pressure within the line, then your car should start with no problem. Happy motoring!

PS: I decided to use as many parts of the new fuel pump assembly as possible. As a result, I ended up swapping the new top cap, wiring, and sending unit for the fuel gauge level over from the new assembly. The old float will need to be used from the old sending unit as the tank is a different design. Also, the ground for the level sending unit uses a different size ground ring which I had to swap out from the old assembly. Here are some quick pics of the finished assembly:

If anyone has any questions please drop me a line in my guestbook, personal OR public, or find me on Focaljet under the handle "polarisman14".