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Fuel Pump

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ChicagoRay

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Hello,
I had my fuel pump die on me Friday, it lasted 27 years!
I replaced it with a new pump (SU Solid State Fuel Pump — Moss number 377-255), along with a new fuel filter and it worked fine for a 4-5 hours. My car then stalled, but stared right back up after a couple of tries. It is now running fine, but I am afraid that it might stall again.
Is it common to get a brand new fuel pump that is faulty?
Should I buy another pump?
Is there anything else that I should look for?
Thanks in advance,
Ray
 

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Did you take the old one apart to see what went bad?
 
Thanks for the replay,
The pump was not making any noise. I disconnected the hose to the fuel filter, and it was not pumping gas. But to answer your question, I did not take the pump apart. Is the old pump worth repairing?
 
Absolutely! Always rebuild them...
 
I'm with Tony: Keep 'em, refurb 'em and on the spares shelf with it.

Having a new pump malfunction is not unheard of but if it's an SU it'd be odd to see. Have you checked/cleaned the ground point and the connectors at the pump? There's also a "Lucar" connector at the firewall (kinda sure it's the only white wire going to the rear) you may want to clean too.
 
hey i liek this topic, i had to fire mine from an aftermarket fuel pump sucking from a gas can, where is the actual pump? im pretty sure mine is missing as car was mostly stripped when i got it
 
Darren - look up under the car around the battery box area.
 
Starboard battery box.
 
Just my opinion here, but: If you're going to keep the '65 a positive earth vehicle (tho for good reasons you should change it) go with the points type SU as replacement. It doesn't seem to care which way the power runs... and put that Kiwi pump on the mantle as a conversation piece.
 
The car was converted from + before I bought it. It appears that a PO converted to negative ground, installed an alternator, installed a Pertronix ignition and replaced the fuel pump with one of unknown origin.

Car will stay negative ground, Alternator will be going away (bracketry was of shoddy workmanship and I like the look of the dynamo), Pertronix is staying and I am undecided on fuel pump direction at this point.

I tried to put the pump on the mantle but the Mrs. doesn't approve of the aroma /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
Says "Made in New Zealand" on it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Aftermarket added by a PO.
 
Dip it in some fibreglas resin!

With a generator, you can have a spare unit in the glovebox: A spare set of brushes. Same can be said of a 24D dizzy, too. Spare points and a condenser have merit over a "box-o-tricks"...


Computers, no matter how 'crude' don't mix well with gasoline, IMO. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/jester.gif
 
Ray - I'm not sure that you can attribute the stalling that you experienced to the fuel pump, it happens, but usually with a different set of symptoms. A failed fuel pump will usually manifest itself with some spitting and sputtering as the float bowls run dry. At that point the car will usually not start again until the pump is tapped to jar the sticking points loose (note - this doesn't work with an all electronic pump, since there are no points to stick of jar loose). I would suspect an electrical problem causing the stalling. It could well be with a ground connection or the power connection to the pump as DrEntropy suggested. For a fuel delivery troubleshooting guide, see my article at: https://www.custompistols.com/cars/dave/ddFuelDeliveryTroubleshooting.htm and d some troubleshooting the next time that the problem occurs

As for reconditioning the old pump and using it as a spare, a points style pump is not a good thing to have sitting on the shelf for several years, expecting it to be functional when the need arises. The contacts on the points film over when they sit unused for long periods of time and with not current through them to burn the film off and no wiping action of the points opening and closing, the film soon builds up to the point that contacts become insulated from each other and the pump won't run. If you are going to have a points style pump and an all electronic pump, it is best to use the points style pump in the car and keep the all electronic pump as a back up. The other alternative would be to use a cheap electronic pump like one of the Facet pumps as a back up or have someone restore your old pump and convert it to solid state, either way you would have a pump that can sit on the shelf or the next 27 years and have some assurance that it will run when it is needed.

DrEntropy - "...go with the points type SU as replacement. It doesn't seem to care which way the power runs..." That is not necessarily true. The older points style pumps had diodes in them, used for arc suppression which make the pump polarity sensitive. Only the points style pumps produced in the past couple of years use bi-directional TVS devices for arc suppression and are not polarity sensitive.
Cheers,
 
Dave,
Thank you for the excellent advice.
The car did not sputter at all, it just went dead.
The car turned over just fine, but would not restart.
After 15 minutes or so, I tried again and the car started.
I was able to make it to the the mechanic, as I pulled into the bay, the car stalled again, and would not start. He traced the problem to the fuel pump.
We fixed the pump, and he ran the car for at least 1 hour with no problems.
As I left the shop to go home, it stalled again. It just went dead.
The car restarted right away, and I quickly went home.
While I was at home the car started and ran just fine.
I want to take the car out this weekend, but I am a little nervous.
I do not want it to stall on me again.
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif
 
If it "suddenly" died instead of "splutterin' and hesitating" it sounds more like an ignition/electrical problem to me.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Thank you for the excellent advice.
The car did not sputter at all, it just went dead.
The car turned over just fine, but would not restart.
After 15 minutes or so, I tried again and the car started.
I was able to make it to the the mechanic, as I pulled into the bay, the car stalled again, and would not start. He traced the problem to the fuel pump.
We fixed the pump, and he ran the car for at least 1 hour with no problems.
As I left the shop to go home, it stalled again. It just went dead.
The car restarted right away, and I quickly went home.
While I was at home the car started and ran just fine.
I want to take the car out this weekend, but I am a little nervous.
I do not want it to stall on me again.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm gonna ask what might seem to be a completely off the wall question, but.....what type distribtor do you have?

What you described doesn't appear to be a fuel pump issue by itself...car runs until the condensor gets warm & then dies...but when condensor cools off, it'll run again for a short time until condensor gets hot.....assuming you have a distributor with condensor.
 
I still have the original distributor on the car.
I remember when I purchased the car new, the spark amplifier was replaced a couple of times at the dealer. After the second amplifier I no longer had any more problems. Maybe I should put in a new distributor? Or could it be the Ignition Coil?? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif
 
Is your "amplifier" a "Luminition" unit?

...I think we're on to something here...
 
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