fuel pump=demented woodpecker

[MartinLowe]

finished rewiring my car to remove all the bodged patched cables that I found. prior to this the fuel pump was making a few ticks a minute, now its a few ticks every second!
The car had not run for several days, obviously, and started up ok, but then ground to a halt
Does this mean that its going to need priming, as in a previous answer by blowing into the fuel filler to create positive pressure from the fuel supply end, or is there something else wrong? I am presuming that the points are ok as it is ticking.
thanks
Martin

[chrisryder]

have you got it wired the right way around? i vaguely recall swapping pumps in my car and not noting the wiring orientation, and when i came to check it i think it ticked but didnt pump as i had neg and pos the wrong way around!

[Alec]

Hello Martin,

if it's a standard S.U. pump then it doesn't need priming. A fast tick means that it is not moving fuel. possibly a blockage in the tank or fuel filter if one has been added to the suction line. Minor pumps aren't polarity sensitive.

Alec

[MartinLowe]

cheers guys,
sorted out the problem by adding some petrol to the tank!! fuel gauge doesn't work and I had used all the petrol when I started it first time and let it warm up. Must get the gauge sorted.

[chrisryder]

i think mine was an electronic pump.

anyway, i was going to suggest 'have you got fuel?' but i thought that'd be obvious!

at least you're sorted!

[rayofleamington]

sorted out the problem by adding some petrol to the tank!!

Darn - I was going to ask that ;-)

[mike.perry]

My fuel gauge does not work, I keep a dipstick in the boot and carry a spare can of fuel. Fixing the gauge has slipped further down the list since the back axle started making nasty noises last night

[chrisryder]

my fuel gauge was out of action for 8 months, i just filled up every 200 miles whether i needed to or not. a habbit i'm still in even though the gauge works. it a simple method of seeing how economical my last tank was by how much i get in at the next fill up.

anyway the sender proved to be at fault in my car. proved by touching the wire that goes to the sender onto the bodywork to earth it, the gauge then sprung into life so it showed that the sender was the issue. a word of warning though, if you take the sender out, when you fit another be sure to seal it with some silicon sealer of some sort, not something that perishes with fuel! i found out the hard way...

[David53]

My gauge works but to be honest is pretty useless, as it dances all over the place once it gets less than half way. Later gauges had a ballast capacitor to keep them steady.

[bmcecosse]

" Later gauges had a ballast capacitor to keep them steady. " Not heard of that before! Are you sure ??