In-tank fuel modules offer a number of advantages, but solid performance in high-demand applications hasn’t traditionally been one of them. Single-pump designs are limited by physical space, and over the last several years the aftermarket has stepped up with dual- and triple-pump configurations to support high-horsepower builds — but those systems typically require all-new fuel lines, external pump controllers, return fuel lines to handle the volume, and other add-ons which increase complexity and installation.
We saw a need in the market for a high-flow fuel pump that had OEM quality but flowed a ton of fuel, and we partnered with Bosch to develop this pump. — Mark Hutchison, DeatschWerks
Until now, that is, as David Deatsch and the guys at DeatschWerks, collaborated with the fuel system experts at Bosch to create the all-new DW400 in-tank single fuel pump design. Although it is not the solution for those all-out, big turbo- and supercharged 1,000-plus rear-wheel-horsepower cars requiring massive amounts of fuel flow, it is the solution for just about any typical power-adder car that is not pushing those top-side limits.
The simple install of the DeatschWerks DW400 in-tank pump makes it a must-do for 2011-and-newer Mustang owners, especially those who have added boost. The collaboration between DeatschWerks and Bosch has resulted in a fuel pump designed to support serious levels of horsepower from a single, drop-in solution.
“We saw a need in the market for a high-flow fuel pump that had OEM quality but flowed a ton of fuel, and we partnered with Bosch to develop this pump,” DeatschWerks’ Marketing Coordinator, Mark Hutchison explained.
Today’s engines — such as the Gen 1 and 2 Coyote — are putting out more power than ever before, and end-users want simple, drop-in parts that work as advertised; the DW400 is designed to do just that. We recently headed over to see Fred Cook and the boys at Evolution Performance to install one of the first DW400s into a ProCharger P-1SC-equipped S197 and upgrade its fuel system in a matter of hours.
The car already has one of JMS Chip’s PowerMAX FuelMAX V2 fuel-pump boosters and a set of Injector Dynamics ID1000 fuel injectors, but it was still equipped with the stock in-tank fuel pump, and we need to give this car some room to grow in the future. The stock pump had 53,000 miles on it, so a replacement wasn’t out of the ordinary for this 600-plus-rear-wheel-horsepower car. At a whopping $259 street price including dedicated install kit, this thing is a steal for the vast majority of boosted Coyote owners.
Pump Particulars
The S197 and early S550 Coyote engines use a returnless fuel system, which uses a pulse-width modulation configuration to ensure the engine has enough fuel on demand. By controlling fuel-pump voltage via the vehicle’s powertrain control module, fuel delivery is on-demand, rather than constant volume controlled by a pressure regulator as in earlier types of systems. The fuel pump driver module is designed to keep the required pressure supplied to the fuel injectors, and is the device which controls the pump’s voltage. With no return line in this system, there is less complexity from both a manufacturing and upgradability perspective, but it also presents a challenge to upgrade as until the release of the DW400, there hasn’t been a drop-in single-pump solution for the enthusiast. This pump changes all that, as the install was a relative piece of cake.
Designed to supply 400 liters per hour at 40 pounds per square inch, where the pump really shines is in the flow area at higher pressures, such as those commanded in power-adder applications. The pump features a 46mm body (more on this during the install) and is capable of supplying 350 lph at 110 psi of pressure and an average of 31-percent more than the competing pump in the important 70-100 psi range where power-adder cars live.
“This is the biggest thing for boosted cars. Our pressure relief valve doesn’t open until 120 psi, so the flow maintains at high psi, where the other pumps drop off around 80 psi,” Mark explained. “We worked with Bosch on this, because once you hit the pressure release valve on a factory bucket, it bypasses all of the fuel. It looks like a water hose. Ours does the same thing, but not until 120 psi.”
In our application, Mark says the stock fuel pump is perfectly serviceable with “a little bit of power adder,” but as the car gets pushed up the performance scale, adding more fuel pump is always advantageous. Even though our application uses the JMS FuelMax pump booster, he explains that there are two things which kill fuel pumps: heat, and voltage.
Since our FuelMax is controlled by throttle angle and doesn’t really come on hard until you get to half-throttle or more, it’s not nearly as much of a concern in this application, but nevertheless, it’s still something to consider. And that’s one of the nice features of the DW400—because it flows so much fuel without the voltage booster, it’s really not necessary to use one until you really start pushing the boost levels up (which may be in our future, wink-wink). Since we already have it, it’s good added insurance.
“You can still run that. Our pump flows an absurd amount of fuel with a pump booster. It’s not going to hurt anything, and in the future, when you put a new motor in it, you’re going to have the fuel you need. It never hurts to have too much fuel pump — it’s always good to have more than you need,” he elaborated.
The download on this pump says that it can handle lots of boosted power — DeatschWerks says 1,000 horsepower on gasoline and 750 horsepower on E85 — with a minimum of muss and fuss and no additional fuel lines or other trickery are required. Seems like a win-win to us.