So does anyone know just what it is about those Bosch fuel pumps that makes them stop running or run intermittently?

I've found that whacking them with the ignition on gets 'em spinning. And my old Golf / Rabbit GTi had one fail (almost identical to those used on the Mercedes), but the brass bushing / bearing at the end opposite the pump was so badly worn the armature would jam against the stator magnets. Easy to see why that would stop it, but the Mercedes' I have now doesn't seem to suffer the same wear problem.

Just curious .......

Any ideas?

Simon.

Clogged fuel filters making the pump work too hard maybe? Random defect? Could be anything. With some vehicles running out of fuel hurts the pump. Had a lot of pumps go bad lately?

__________________
'02 BMW 325i
'85 300D 450k
'93 190E 2.6 170k(killed by tree)
'08 Ducati Hypermotard 1100S 6k
'06 Ducati S2R800 14k(sold)