My car began jerking on a slight incline. I later tested it while avoiding hills and heavy acceleration. It drove mostly normally, although I may have felt one mild jerk. The dashboard warning lights remained on, but I was able to drive the car about 8 miles home.
The OBD reader gave me code P0087 I understand that I may be able to check the in-tank pump by putting the ignition in the ON position without starting the engine and listening near the rear seat for a brief humming sound. I have also been researching how to safely depressurize the fuel system if the high-pressure pump needs replacement.
The car has also had an oil leak, possibly from the valve-cover gasket, for two or three years, although that may be unrelated.
Does this diagnosis and testing process sound reasonable? Is there anything else I should check before replacing a fuel pump? I have previously replaced brakes, calipers, rotors, a radiator, and an alternator, so I am comfortable doing repairs when I have clear instructions.
Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Thank you
Just listening for the hum won’t tell you if you have enough fuel pressure from the low pressure fuel pump. You need a pressure gauge and fittings to attach and measure it.
As for the HPFP, with the engine shut off, there isn’t a huge residual pressure. A wrench on the HP fitting and a shop rag wrapped around the whole thing a couple of times should be enough. Once you crack the seal, the pressure will drop very quickly. And you need something to catch the fuel anyway.
I think it’s an issue with the forum’s software. When I was posting, I got several errors and I didn’t see anything posted, so I redid the posting and that’s why a ‘repeat’ is being seen. It took me several tries posting this due to the error I was getting. Thank you.
Will there be a lot of fuel coming out?
BTW, I practiced my car skills by changing the valve cover gaskets recently and all worked out nicely. Next task is the High Pressure Fuel Pump There won’t be debris flying around when I unscrew the HPFP, right? Also, anything special I need to do when I install the new one? I’m installing a cheap one I purchased… this is for testing purposes. Once I see all issues gone, I will spend the $500+ on the Honda HPFF and will have gotten more experience installing/uninstalling a HPFF
Is doing TDC absolutely necessary? I’ve seen quite a few videos for HPFP being replaced on Honda accord 2015 and CRVs and few talk about setting the piston #1 to TDC (Top Dead Center)? Is this extremely crucial or would be it relatively ok skipping this step? Thank you.
If I am not mistaken, the HPFP plunger rides on a cam lobe (pump cam), meaning it is under spring pressure (see pic below) anytime it is off base circle, so if not at TDC (I assume compression stroke, but might not matter in this case) it can/will (pop up) jump while under that spring pressure and could at the very least make reinstalling it very hard by having to overcome said spring pressure, or worst case pull part of the remaining threads in the cylinder head…
If you have never done one of these and are unfamiliar with the amount of pressure that the HPFP plunger is under, then it is advised to proceed with caution…
If I am not mistaken, the HPFP plunger rides on a cam lobe (the pump cam), meaning it is under spring pressure anytime the cam is off the base circle. Honda’s procedure has you set #1 piston at TDC and then rotate the crankshaft 105° counterclockwise to put the pump cam in the proper position before removing the HPFP…
If the cam is in the wrong position, the plunger can be under significant spring pressure… At the very least, that can make removing/reinstalling the pump difficult because you have to overcome that spring pressure… In the worst case, forcing the pump into position could put unnecessary stress on the pump, bolts, or threads in the cylinder head…
If you’ve never done one of these and aren’t familiar with how much pressure the HPFP plunger can be under, I’d definitely recommend following the factory procedure rather than skipping the TDC/105° step… It’s a simple precaution that can prevent an expensive mistake…
Gotcha! I’ve read quite a bit about it and yes, I’m planning on just manually moving the crankshaft to TDC and from there, when putting the new HPHF, determine when the pump goes down/moves into place. I’ve also read there are various ways to do this, but I think the easier one may be moving the crankshaft (with a 19mm socket and long bar) until the pump goes down and settles in nicely. See min 8:00 on this video (https://youtu.be/qJ4z0PA58cw?si=I57CgY8_mmocJHKU&t=475) I guess that’d be fine. Thoughts? Thank you!!!
Only problem with that is the what if’s… What if it jumps while removing the bolts slowly and they only have a couple thread left and you are at the peak of the cam lobe, it could damage the threads or something like that… Do you know where the cam lobe was during that video while removing the pump and do you know if the treads are still far enough in vs the spring pressure that plunger is under and or the plunger depth?? I don’t…
Does it matter, not sure, but if it does matter, then is taken a short cut the 1st time doing something worth the what if risk??? I know that once I took one apart I could easily figure it all out and might do it the same way in the video from then on, but for the 1st time out, I’d follow directions… However, if you are gonna turn the crank anyway, just turn it to begin with… It’s pretty simple to do…
Set the #1 piston to TDC and then turn the crank CCW a 1/4 turn plus just a tad more, your done…
EDIT
105° is 90° or a 1/4 turn plus an additional 15°, so 15° is basically about 1:00, so if TDC is 12:00, then 105° CCW would be about 8:00 or close to it…
Update: I successfully changed the High Pressure Fuel Pump. I took a risk and did not set it on TDC. When removing the old one, I did it carefully and alternated between each screw and did it carefully. I did see some pressure (didn’t feel it) as I noticed the pump moving up, slightly, as I unscrewed it. This only happened during the first 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch. After that, it was no issue. When placing the new one, I did the same thing, I alternated betwen each screw as I was screwing the pump in and it worked out beautifully. I’ve taken the car out for a test run and driven it for about 40 minutes. I may remove this pump and put an original Honda OEM part as this one is a cheap generic one… I just wanted to make sure it solves the issue prior to spending $600 for the Honda part
I’d just wait for the generic brand pump to fail, then replace it with the Honda pump. What would you do with the generic pump? If it sits on your parts shelf, then the Honda pump is maybe 150% more expensive.
I also see no need to replace the generic pump until it fails or shows signs of not working as it should. It is possible that the manufacture of the pump also made the so called Honda pump.
I will probably just sideline it. It was worth spending $100 to determine if what I suspected, having no great experience as savvy mechanics do, was the issue and indeed it was. Also, for anyone else who has a CRV from 2015 (it may be an issue with other generations/years as well, I don’t know), there’s an issue of a ‘Cold Start’ and a lot of rattling that is attributed to a VTC and I remember reading about chain stretching as well. Well, this HPFP replacement definitely got rid of the ratting noise and the cold start. I tell my wife that all this time, it may have just been the HPFP causing the noice. And who knows, I may still be wrong, but the ratting for now and the cold start is absolutely gone. The new part arrivest today, so I’m getting the car ready again for the HPFP swap again. It took me days (I left the car in the garage) to solve this issue, but it’s also because I was cleaning the car extensively from an oil leak (valve cover gaskets… I changed that too so no more oil leak, yay!) and took my time doing the work… and obviously, there was a lot of fear when seeing all those components. I’m glad I tried and thank you all for the suggestions! This has been extremely helpful.
Oh, my wife is going on a 5-hr trip and I want to make sure all is good. I’ve read that the pump went bad after 2k miles or so and want to ensure it doesn’t go bad on her trip. Am I being too paranoid?
There won’t be debris flying around when I unscrew the HPFP, right? 
Also, anything special I need to do when I install the new one? I’m installing a cheap one I purchased… this is for testing purposes. Once I see all issues gone, I will spend the $500+ on the Honda HPFF and will have gotten more experience installing/uninstalling a HPFF 