AU ute fuel pump replacement process

[vapour_nudge]

What an easy job. No joke

My ute has 590,000km on the clock and was having hard start problems. I knew it was fuel as it would start easier if I switched the ignition to the on position three times and then tried to start it. I had already replaced the in-line fuel filter under the car

So, the easy way to do this - and I mean easy - is to remove the tub.
Steps are below:

I removed the plastic liner first by removing the bolts along the inner sides of the tray and then removed the Philips screws at the rear. The whole plastic liner comes out easy - I removed it on my own.

Then to remove the tub, first undo the plastic Philips head scrivet screw that connects the mudflaps to the chassis rail. There's one on each side and you access them from behind the rear wheels. Don'tr bother removing the other scrivets as the mudflaps can stay connected to the tub. You can buy new "Champion" scrivets from car part shops.

Next, lower the tailgate and unscrew the tail lights (two small bolts which can be seen with the tailgate lowered). Just push and pop the lights out (might need to give them a tap) Twist the cables out from the lights.

Next, there is a connector for the reverse light which you can disconnect just below where the Philips head screws were for the plastic tray. Disconnect that too.

Remove the 8 bolts holding the tray to the chassis rail. That's it.

Get someone to help you lift the well body tub (you only need two people) and then lift it up and back and rest it on the tyres. That gives you plenty of room to access the top of the fuel tank from behind the cab to remove the fuel sender/pump assembly.

This whole process took me 45 minutes

Note: to get the fuel lines off easy, twist them 90 degrees and then squeeze and pull them off. I replaced the whole sender and fuel pump assembly as one unit (I also replaced the seal). I also siphoned the fuel out and cleaned the tank out with a rag. The access hole is large enough to get your lower arm and elbow inside. Surprisingly, my tank had no gunk or muck in it and was very clean but the pump sock and filter were filthy. The fuel I had siphoned was very clean.
After doing this my car starts immediately on the first crank. Hopefully I will get plenty more kms from it
I have some photos if needed