russellthelovemuscle

i can't get my mustang to stay running and when i plug in my obd 2 scanner its shooting code p1233 saying the fuel pump driver modual isn't working and theres low fuel pressure in the fuel rails. so far i've dropped the fuel tank to replace the strainer filters, the fuel pump canister strainer filter was extrmely dirty and i'm hoping thats the source of my problem. after that i blew out the fuel lines with an air hose, and tomarrow i'm going to hook up a new inline filter and hook everything back up. does anybody have any other suggestions of what i can do to make sure this solves the issue?

uberstang1

I would start looking at the fuel pump itself, with the new filter and strainer I would put a manual FRG on the shreader valve and see what the pressure is at the line, if its still low the only thing really left is the pump.

cliffyk

Here's what the shop manual says about P1233...

russellthelovemuscle

ALSO does anybody know where I can get a strainer filter for the fuel pump canister

Lobout

This is the same exact problem that has caused me to have to put a new engine in my vert. The car would run fine, then suddenly it would die. I had everything I could think of done to it, ford replaced the plugs, wires, fuel injectors, but the problem never occurred while they had it. It wasn't until one day on the way into work(i was commuting between philly and the bronx) the engine died on me again. I had it towed to the nearest auto mechanic, and when they went to work on it, the damn thing started just fine again. They let the engine run for almost 5 hours before it started to act up again. At that point they tested the fuel pressure and saw that it was fluctuating, and they were able to determine that the levels were too low to get fuel to the first two cylinders, and this is what was causing the car to stall out. They replaced the fuel pump and I was back up and running, but the damage was already done. A couple months later I started getting an engine knock, the diagnosis was not good, as the rod in the first cylinder was what was knocking. At the time this was my only car, so I had to continue to drive it until I could pick up another one. My intentions were to park the stang until I could get the engine rebuilt, but alas that never happened as, in an effort to keep the engine from seizing from sitting too long, I started her up and reved a couple times, then all the sudden the rod let go. Family matters have prevented me from doing anything with my beloved pony until now. After sitting dark for 5 long years she is now starting to get a new life pumped into her with a new engine(top to bottom) and a lot of other nice shiny new parts. She will be back in her glory before the end of the summer and my love affair with mustangs will be renewed.

Don't wait like I did. just replace the fuel pump now...

russellthelovemuscle

The fuel pump I got in there now is still fairly new. And I'm starting to think it might be the tune. I'll get a gauge for the fuel rails to if its fluctuating to much. I just don't think it's the fuel pump even though it could be the issue. I just never really put that much strain on it

russellthelovemuscle

lobout thats some good info though. my idle is set at 1000 rpm and when the problem occurs it will jump from 400 to 1000 back and fourth until it dies. is this similar to what was going on with your car? i don't want to believe its the fuel pump (mainly because i don't have $350). i'm bringing the car to the dyno this saturday for a proformance tune and i'll see if they got any ideas. but i think the current tune on the car is the issue but i'll find out saturday

Lobout

Yeah that sounds about right. When mine would act up at idle it would jump around the same range from 1000 rpm to 400 rpm. It was the oddest thing which is why i think it took so long to figure out what was going on. It would happen at random times, the car would be fine for days, then it would show the symptoms, I let it sit for 10 minutes or so, and then it would be fine again. I did a lot of research after the fact, and found out that this was a known problem with the 2k stang. It is the only year that they used this particular fuel pump because of this issue. Which is the reason the thing is so damn expensive. Ford should have issued a recall on it, but in their ultimate wisdom they just burried the problem, as they had already moved on to a new pump and most of the problems did not start appearing until the pump had 30k+ miles on it.

russellthelovemuscle

Thanx for the info. Hopefully my fuel pump has a warranty on it since it was purschased within the last year

russellthelovemuscle

did you happen to run a scanner or something threw your obd2 port and get that p1233 code by any chance? apperntly the fuel pump driver module regulates the fuel pressure in the fuel rails and i could see that being the problem as well. eather way tomarrow i'm dropping the fuel tank again just to check for shorts and other electical monkey bissnass.