Fuel pump interchangeability?

Nissan 300ZX technical discussion forum: Maintenance, performance, installations, modifications, how-to's and troubleshooting.
LeftHandedCat
Posts: 26
Joined: Tue Feb 19, 2019 9:07 pm

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Hello, I just purchased my first Z(a 1991 300ZX) with a no-start condition. Seems like the pump is barely pumping at all and it's making a very loud noise during priming, i would love to just throw a new fuel pump at it but i can't find any locally and that's a good chunk of change to buy a new one(plus I would love to have one working ASAP). It's the NA coupe version and I have heard of people swapping out the pump for other nissans but i can't find a single interchange list anywhere and all the swapping info i have is for putting the 300zx pump into other cars and doesn't give me info on whether other pumps will support the flow rate the VG30DE needs. does anyone have a solid interchange list or at least a common model to start looking for as a replacement, it's bone stock on the NA engine so i really don't need to go walbro and then fork over more money for an FPR that i shouldn't even need.


amc49
Posts: 1183
Joined: Mon Jun 19, 2017 7:24 pm
Car: '11 Nissan Versa
'17 Nissan Altima

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After looking at the offered line at Rock Auto I see your point. What on earth makes those pumps so high in price other that they are a particular design that fits nothing else?

Myself, I would be subbing likely something that was never made to go in a Nissan but then I do things like that. You don't get that quick though, some thought and time have to go into it but to save a couple of hundred bucks?? Oh yes, count me in.

I use $35 pumps on Fords that are supposed to use $100-$400 ones and zero issues but I had to create the 'kit' it takes to swap the pump out.

FYI, since Walbro went quiet to just sell pumps to distributors mostly and not to the general public if they can avoid it (the warranty issues drive them utterly mad due to the incompetence of the public),..........well, a LOT of the branded pumps you get are actually Walbro, it is commonly laser etched into the pump cases regardless of what is printed on the box as far as brand. Spectra, Delphi, Carter, Airtex, commonly use a Walbro in their pump sets. Good pump except it's not the high-perf one, it still works well. That what those $35 ones I use are or have been so far.

amc49
Posts: 1183
Joined: Mon Jun 19, 2017 7:24 pm
Car: '11 Nissan Versa
'17 Nissan Altima

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FYI, it would be odd to find an interchange list beyond one or two pumps, the differences from one to another are often so minor that most people cannot pay attention long enough to pick up on them. Yet those very minute differences often utterly stop the use of a pump in other applications. Take the Fords I spoke of, the pump I use is cheap and in low demand as it has a nozzle .060" too long (hits the end of the cup over it to cut fuel off 100%) and it is off clocking to the common pump by 15 degrees or so (pump then fits in module twisted to one side over the length of it). It looks like it works but everyone that uses it instantly runs into trouble that increases until the pump literally falls out of place to drop into the bottom of the module as the body OD is also off by about .030" (allows vibration from operation to move the pump out of its' shallow cup to fall out due to the above twisting). Throw that pump and the correct one side by side and people cannot see any difference at all and why so much trouble. Attention to detail, or rather the lack of it, kills people there. Often the differences are ones that only a caliper or mike can pick up.

LeftHandedCat
Posts: 26
Joined: Tue Feb 19, 2019 9:07 pm

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well it's not necessarily that they won't fit anything else, many people swap the fuel pump from these into other cars when they plan on making more power because of their increased fuel rate, but i'm wondering if anything else that will fit into mine(possibly a maxima or other late 90's nissan) can keep up with the flow rate the 300zx requires. I would love to have it working by thursday and that means i need to find one locally... tommorow

amc49
Posts: 1183
Joined: Mon Jun 19, 2017 7:24 pm
Car: '11 Nissan Versa
'17 Nissan Altima

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Forgive me but a NA 3 liter V6 is a small motor in the great scheme of things, I would think that lots of them would work there. Anything with a V6 in it.

The Maxima pump does not have the wings that apparently are how the pump bolts in place. Maybe yours come off to swap? Pump looks close to the same.

LeftHandedCat
Posts: 26
Joined: Tue Feb 19, 2019 9:07 pm

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It appears that the V6 maxima oem replacement fuel pump is rated for 100-110 LPH flow(according to some semi-reputable parts websites), and the 300zx oem replacement is rated for 110LPH flow, plus the V6 maxima also has a line pressure of 3 bar(same as the 300zx). I will head out to the junkyard to get one and try and put it in today, will post back here on how that goes.

LeftHandedCat
Posts: 26
Joined: Tue Feb 19, 2019 9:07 pm

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seems to have worked, used a 1996 v6 maxima fuel pump and i have fuel pressure now, car still won't start, but it's one problem checked off the list.


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