Erratic fuel pump

[bjm38]

Hi everyone,

The fuel pump in the Traveller has started acting up - the pump looks like a SU clone of some kind, silver in colour with what looks like a shield emblem on the end. Google doesn't seem to throw up the same pump, but the logo looks like Harting? Tank, rigid fuel line and pump all look recent.

The pump is having bouts of clicking incessantly - disconnecting the delivery hose to the carb bowl shows nothing getting through. Try again a few minutes later and the pump will deliver a feeble trickle. Braided hose seems clear. The car managed an urgent one-mile round supermarket trip without incident, apart from my partially-deaf wife being able to hear the clicking!

My first suspicion is a blocked filter, but there are no in-line filters that I can see. There doesn't appear to be a screw-in filter like the SU pumps.

Any offers?

Bernard

[bmcecosse]

I would take the suction pipe off the pump -and blow down it into the tank to check it's clear. Other possibility is an air leak - but this would surely show as a petrol leak when the pump isn't on. Clearly it needs to be able to pump steadily and reliably - if it can't demonstrate that by pumping 2 pints through in ~ 5 minutes - then it won't do! I can't comment on the pump - but I would be looking for an SU....

[svenedin]

I've just written a guide to SU pump overhaul. I'd swap your SU clone for a genuine pump and then you can get any spare you need. The pump used in the Moggie was used in loads of other cars as well so you could probably find one at an auto jumble/car boot sale and then give it a full overhaul.

[bjm38]

I blew the suction line through using my airbrush compressor, there doesn't seem to be any blockage there. I got a bit more of a turn on the union nut doing the pipe up again,and the pump *seems* better - there might possibly have been a leak here and the pump was drawing air. If the pump carries on acting up any more, I may well just get a new SU from Bully.

Bernard

[bmcecosse]

Hope it works for you!

[MarkyB]

get a new SU"

Good plan

[bmcecosse]

But not an 'electronic' one.......

[bjm38]

Oh, if it has to be changed, then it'll be a good ol' points pump. I prefer simple things over "black boxes", the telephone in the hall is an old GPO bakelite model.

Bernard

[alexmcguffie]

How much fuel was in the tank when you started having the problem?

There's nothing wrong with electronic points conversions so long as they are assembled and set up correctly.

[bjm38]

About half, I think - there's certainly fuel in the tank. I don't trust the replacement sender that I fitted just after getting the car, which is still showing "full". I tested the sender before fitting and it seemed to perform OK, I must have misjudged where to set the float.

I tend to share Roy's sympathies regarding electronics, call it Celtic stubbornness!

Bernard

[alexmcguffie]

Hi Bernard,

I was thinking the pickup pipe in the tank might not have been picking up from low enough hence fuel in the tank but only air coming through.

My name may suggest its not all Celtic stubbornness, it tends to be lack of understanding when in comes to electronics

[bjm38]

In the immortal words of Catweazle, "nothing works"!!

If something electronic conks out, that's usually it at roadside - "no user serviceable parts inside". From what I can tell, a good torch, a bit of emery board (and my reading glasses!) might save the day with points. Gone are the days when I used to carry a gas soldering iron, though it's not likely to find much use now.

...edit...from rooting about online, a genuine SU pump should deliver about 10cc a second? Probably about the "feeble trickle" of my earlier post. But seriously, I may well get a SU for peace of mind's sake. I have family north of the border to see, as well as a promise to take my daughter down to see her friend in London. The last thing I want to hear on the M25 is that ticking!

Bernard

[bmcecosse]

I have no squabble with electronics - but quite a few have reported early failures with electronic SU fuel pumps - while the points ones seem to be good for 30/40/50 years..... So it seems sensible to me to stick with the good old points!