Hard to change fuel pump?
 

Hi all -

I own a 1991 Cherokee Laredo with the 4.0L engine. I have been
fighting a hard start problem, which I posted earlier to the group and
got alot of good feedback. I put an Actron fuel pressure gauge on the
vehicle and here are the results. After I turn the key on, the
pressure shoots up to about 40 PSI. It then drops rapidly within a few
seconds down to almost zero. When running, it holds fairly steady at
about 34 psi (the specs say 31 psi, is this a problem). So, I'm
assuming from this that the problem is the fuel pump. My question is,
how hard is this to replace? My mechanics instructor swears you need
to drop the tank to do this, but according to my Chiltons manual you do
not. Is there enought room to pull the entire pump assembly out with
the tank still mounted? Also, when reinstalling, the picture shows a
rubber stopper on the pump that needs to mate into a cup on the bottom
of the tank. Forgive my ignorance, but since you can't see inside the
tank, how in the world do you know if the stopper is sitting inside the
cup? Do you just go by "feel".

Thanks so much,
Bud