Since the wagon was getting fuel at startup I had falsely assumed that BOTH fuel-pumps were OKAY.

What got me checking the fuel-pumps was that one was noisy. The other fuel-pump (closest to the gas tank) wasn't moving at all.

A couple of whacks with a rubber-mallet and the fuel-pump started working, but stopped again after a restart.

Now, do I change out BOTH fuel-pumps or just the one that's failing/failed?

BTW, since the one closest to the tank failed, I decided to drain/flush the tank and replaced both fuel-filter and tank-filter (use a 22mm hex bolt
with a 19mm nut, if you don't have a 22mm hex/allen bit).

I drained the contents of the fuel-filter into a clear glass jar and let it sit for an hour. Found fine copper-colored particulates at the bottom but
no water.

Is this normal?

:-) neil
1988 360TE AMG
1993 500E