• Hi Guest!
    You can help ensure that British Car Forum (BCF) continues to provide a great place to engage in the British car hobby! If you find BCF a beneficial community, please consider supporting our efforts with a subscription.
    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

General Tech Emergency Electric Fuel Pump

Share this page

Geo Hahn

Geo Hahn

Yoda
Country flag
Offline
I always carry a simple in-line electric fuel pump already plumbed to easily bypass the mechanical pump and connect to power. This is my get-me-home spare so I do not have to change the mechanical pump along the side of the road (at night, in the rain, wife sitting in the car, etc).

Unfortunately my bag of small TR3/4 spares went missing when I parked the car in a public place and (because the boot was in use with something bulky) I had to leave the bag on the seat. Oh well, everything in there could be easily replaced.

That lot included the electric fuel pump so I was pleasantly surprised to find this one on eBay:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/362170401702

A suitable (made in USA) pump for 11 bucks (including shipping) is quite a good deal.

To be ready for use I changed the outlet barbed fitting to ÂĽ", added 2' of ÂĽ" fuel line and a couple of alligator clips to the power & ground leads.

yx8A3Ae.jpg


In case is is not obvious, the 5/16" barb connects to the rubber line to the mechanical pump and the 2' hose to the ÂĽ" hard line to the carbs.

I thought I'd pass it along as it is pretty cheap 'insurance' against a fuel pump failure.
 
Sorry about the liberation of your bag of goodies, Geo; I felt that pain. Plus you always have the coolest ideas!
 
Thanks for the tip. I carry one in my Tr250 and TR3. 3+ years ago right after the auto cross at TRF Summer Party my mechanical fuel pump went out on my TR250. Luckily a long time Summer Party friend saw I was having trouble and offered his electric pump to get me back to TRF where I bought a new mechanical pump. Ouch $99. Lesson learned though and now carry a electrical fuel pump in each car with a mini tool kit. I just started my restoration of my 69 TR6 and going to need one for it so I just bought one you had the link to.
 
Great! Going to build one for mine! Thanks for the tip along with pics!
 
Could you stash the spare parts in the spare wheel compartment? Save space in the boot and would be out of sight. I suppose it would depend on how many spares you carry.

David
 
I carry a nearly identical setup in both the Mini and our GT6. In the Mini I have the pump in a large ziplock bag in one of the rear companion boxes. In the GT6 it is in a larger bag, coiled up and placed in/on the center of the spare.
 
I bought one also, any guess on the amount of PSI the pump puts out. I have an old pressure regulator I can always use, but just curious because the reason I have the regulator is a bought an electric pump years ago and it pump gas right out the over flows on the bowls. But I bet from looking at that little guy it is maybe 3psi
 
I can't lay my hands on the spec at the moment, but 3 psi sounds right. Pumps are much more commonly higher pressure, 7 psi is standard for most American carbs (Holley, Carter, etc); and of course racing and fuel injection applications use even more pressure.

I keep a spare pump in the spare tire, along with a generous length of hose. In a pinch, it can also serve as a transfer pump, to loan some gas to a fellow traveler, or empty the tank into another car before doing some service.

Hose clamps, and clip leads (aka alligator clip test jumpers) are in the tool box along with some tie wraps for mounting.

Oddly enough, though, in all the decades I've driven a TR3 (and other vehicles) with the original mechanical pump, I've never had one fail so badly I couldn't get home. The only time I've needed a spare pump was on the Stag, where the original electric pump quit working (on a rainy day, naturally).

I once changed the mechanical pump on my old Winnebago, only to discover that the pump was fine and it was the fuel tank selector valve that was blocking flow.
 
I've had the pin for the lever fall out - that stopped things dead. Also had a staked check valve fall out of one. But these were both the cheesy repros that were sold years ago.

Now I only run rebuilt original pumps so maybe I will never need it -- but through the years I have used my spare electric to get others' cars going many times.

As for pressure, the pump label says...

ppBRqy0.jpg
 
My first (real) car was a '67 camaro. I drove it across the country several times, back before cell phones. One trip it lost a fuel pump. I bought 2, replaced it and put the other in the trunk. Points went out...bought an extra that went in the trunk. Distributor bearing wallowed, so threw an extra distributor in. Brake cylinder when out, so threw 4 of those in. head gasket, ditto. Belts, hoses...double ditto. Carb...extra Holley in the trunk! Front wheel bearings, and of course an upgraded jack...just in case.

Here's the thing. In 6 years of driving that car I never used a single part from the trunk. It was always something different that went out. It wasn't until I met my wife, who's first question was "why is your trunk full of junk" that I finally realized the problem with the philosophy of bringing spare parts....

If you replace a part, then that is the LEAST likely part on the car to fail again. The corollary is, if you think a part is going bad, then why would you not replace it NOW instead of throwing one in the trunk?

My spare parts are now in my cell phone. Even if I break down (which has not happened since before I did have a cell phone 20 years ago...perfect example of Murpy's law??!) I would rather have the car towed (free thx to insurance add-ons) to a nice shady hotel parking lot to work on it instead of on the freeway. Any part you need is then an overnight charge away.

My last break down was in Syracuse New York, when our big-block Vette swallowed a valve thanks to a $.05 keeper fault. Towed the car to Holliday Inn and over the weekend replaced an entire head and valve train...wearing dress slacks and shirt. First, I never could have guessed I would need a spare head in the trunk...but everything I needed was 1 day shipping away. I did have to buy a torque wrench, which ****** me off since there were 2 at home!?!

Anyway, sorry for the rambling. Just wanted to point out an alternative viewpoint to carrying around a lot of "just in case" parts.
 
CJD said:
My spare parts are now in my cell phone. Even if I break down (which has not happened since before I did have a cell phone 20 years ago...perfect example of Murpy's law??!) I would rather have the car towed (free thx to insurance add-ons) to a nice shady hotel parking lot to work on it instead of on the freeway. Any part you need is then an overnight charge away.
Click to expand...
Reminds me of my days as a competitive cyclist. When going out solo for a 6 hour ride on Saturdays I would carry enough stuff in my jersey to just about rebuild my bike. Spare tube, patch kit in case of multiple flats, chain pin, multi tool. This was before cell phones were ubiquitous.
Friend of mine said that all a REAL cyclist carries is a credit card to call the aupair and get an espresso while you wait on her.:encouragement:
 
So dumb question....where would you hook those leads up to? They seem short. Plus, you wouldn't want it to the battery or you would be constantly sending fuel? At the distributor?
 
I’ve used the switched hot wire at the distributor. I also carry a couple leads with the alligator clips - those a a little tape work well for a roadside fix.
 
On a TR4, you can use the hot wire at the coil (not distributor).
I also carry several clip leads, which can be daisy chained as necessary.
 
TR3driver said:
On a TR4, you can use the hot wire at the coil (not distributor).
I also carry several clip leads, which can be daisy chained as necessary.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry...coil is what I meant to say! Thanks for clarifying! I was just going to extend the leads a little.
 
Back
Top