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No fun here

Nelson

Jedi Warrior
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Thinking I had my fuel and carb situation in hand I went to start the car this morning. Turned the ignition on and there was no clicking of the fuel pump. I had just checked the rear carb and its float bowl was empty so the pump should have come on. Checked voltage at the pump and it had its 12 volts. This was a brand new SU pump installed this past April. I pulled it out and connected it to the battery and it clicked merrily away. Thinking that perhaps the installed ground connection was bad I drilled a new hole and scraped the paint off and reinstalled the ground. Still no pump action. Ran wires directly from both sides of the battery and all the pump does is give one clunk and the momentary wire contact has a spark. Bah humbug!
 
On a recent trip (yes THE recent trip) our Bugeye driver experienced much the same with his new fuel pump.
He had installed the pump when the car was positive ground, then he changed the polarity of the car but never switched the wires on the pump.
His pump worked for quite a while, but when it gave up it acted like yours.
And it was pretty hot to the touch until power was removed.
Just something to think about if you might have gone through a similar process.
If not, well I guess it's one of those things. Pump made in China maybe?
 
Nelson,

I've had even some fairly new ones get out of adjustment. I have found that when they get hot, sometimes they will not tick over and you need to adjust the mechanism. I'm referring to the points type units. If you have a solid state version, well those are polarity sensitive and not sure what adjustments are possible (af any) on those. You may just have a bad unit. :confuse:
 
This pump is a pointless unit and now a useless unit. I had switched polarity in the car when it went back together so this was ordered with the car already being negative ground. Actually this pump is a replacement for a Facet unit that was troublesome. Now the car had been sitting over night so it was not heated up. I just drove it last evening. I'm just glad I was home when it happened. Sunday I have signed up and paid for a picnic at a car event 100 miles from here. Looks like I'll go carless. I've gone the last several years without the car and was really looking forward to finally having it. At least it ran at Elkhart Lake.
 
Surely you could find something locally (like a Facet pump) to stand in temporarily, no? I'm surprised you don't have any usable SU pumps around. I always have a couple working ones around. Those little turbine pumps work well and are quiet and easy to mount too.
 
Usually PepBoys or similar have the little airtex pumps.
 
Miss Agatha has a small tirbine pump and likes it just fine. $50 bucks at ORilys.
 
Jack,

The pump at O'Reilly's that matches your price has pressure that is higher than the three pounds I am looking for. How do you deal with that?
 
Pressure regulator?
 
Two of the Facet ones widely available. Low and high pressure. Another alternative is a Carter #P60504.
 
I see that NAPA carries the Carter pump so I'll be there in the morning. Many thanks.
 
Good luck Nelson let u.s know how it goes.
 
One advantage of going with a pressure regulator is that when you're out on a trip and the pump goes bad, you can install ANY pump and not have to worry about what's in stock. For me it's all about EASE of maintenance and reliability.
 
My local NAPA store doesn't have the Carter pump. I like the idea of using the pressure regulator so I have a greater choice of pumps. My local store does have the Holley regulator so now I wonder if you have another pump suggestion that would be suitable.
 
Gerard, I hate those Walbro things. Better choice would be a low pressure Facet.

I'll relate the Walbro stories at another time.
...if we can have a "throwin' contest" to see who can toss one the furthest. :jester:
 
DrEntropy said:


Yes! Those round things are worthless from all that I have heard. If one uses the Holley shown, ANY fuel pump with acceptable fittings works. I have a Facet and find the ticking reassuring. I can only hear it when the engine isn't running.
 
Nelson said:
My local NAPA store doesn't have the Carter pump. I like the idea of using the pressure regulator so I have a greater choice of pumps. My local store does have the Holley regulator so now I wonder if you have another pump suggestion that would be suitable.


Have them order the cater P4070. No reg needed, made in the USA and is a well made pump. It'll cost you ~$100 but is well worth it. O'Reilly's has the 2-3 PSI cheap pump but it's $40 wasted.
 
hmmm... I've put that Carter #P60504 in Jags, MG's and Alfas (my own Spider) with no issues. It's a "lift pump" for a lot of FI cars. Is the 4074 the same kinda thing?
 
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