I Had a 2002 focus 2l petrol and same sort of story where not long bought it and driving along, went to Salisbury and parked outside as missus went in and I switched it off. when she came back out I fired it up and it immediately died. after a long investigation by myself with no tools I found the fuel pump fuse had blown. put new one in and away we went. but this happened a few times and having read it's quite a common thing for when the fuel pump is on its way out to start blowing he fuse. I wasbt to sure on this but then needless to say, half way to Birmingham from Lincolnshire after a week of it not happening, fuel pump failed on the M6. so yeah all good with new fuel pump

The problem is theres no access panel under the back seat to get the pump out and for wanted about £400 to drop the tank etc. But if you are interested there is an alternative and its not that hard. PM me.

You are being fleeced. It should not take a competent mechanic more than an hour to do this.

I have just paid a very reasonable labour £80 and parts £125 (+vat) for dropping the tank, replacing the pump (yes, I know they are on ebay for £60 but I didn't quibble) and fuel filter. There was surprisingly little debris in the 16yr old original but it was hard to blow through it so I suspect it was giving the pump a hard time.

You could do it yourself with tinsnips from above (see utube - prise up a flap below the back seat) if you felt like it - I didn't!

In retrospect, if I had replaced the filter at 60,000m as recommended, it might have lasted longer. Mea culpa.

In retrospect, if I had replaced the filter at 60,000m as recommended, it might have lasted longer. Mea culpa.

John F, I was truly shocked to read that from you!

Ha ha - as well as challenging dogma I'm always happy to share and learn from mistakes; that's how we get better at things. Must admit I've never ever changed a filter even on high milers and this is the first time I've had a pump problem. However, the pump itself has an intake filter so there's not much for the subsequent filter to do, especially as plastic has replaced metal for fuel tanks and probably more attention is paid to the cleanliness of fuel at petrol stations these days. PS 16yr old belts still going strong....;)