If you have a Ford pickup truck, you may have one of these. This is a fuel pump driver module. It’s minicomputer that controls the speed of the fuel pump to control fuel pressure. It’s a very precise way to control fuel pressure, but, well, although it’s a plus on one side, on certain models of Ford pickups, it is a negative. And here’s why.

In Ford’s wisdom, they elected to position this module on the outside of the bed, above the spare tire. And, coming from the factory, it is bolted tight against that frame rail. Now over time, what happens is right here: dirt, or in salty areas, salt build up on the back of it, and when you have cold weather you get a rainy day and a cold night, this crud absorbs water and then it freezes at night. Well the net result is right here: we can see this module is split in two. It’s actually bent from the action of the freezing ice. So that means you’re going to have very poor performance or the vehicle may not run at all.

Now when you buy a new module, you get a set of studs like we have here, that have spacers on them. And they space the module out away from the frame so that this can’t happen. Well if yours hasn’t failed, you might want to unbolt it; take a look at it. And if it’s still in good shape, because some of these will actually corrode through; they’ll have holes in them. But, if it’s still in good shape, well what you would want to do is coat the back of it in some kind of anti-corrosion material, then buy a couple of longer bolts, and some flat washers and position this so that it doesn’t actually touch the frame of the vehicle. That little bit of space keeps the dirt from building up, number one, and if it does build up, the ice, when it freezes, can’t expand enough to cause the damage to the module. It’s a simple fix, but it’s a nightmare to find if you happen to wind up at a shop that doesn’t know how to test this thing.   

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