Morris Minor Owners Club

ello muckers ,just got back from 70mile round trip,poodled down M20 at 55mph, arm out of window,very relaxing,moggy drove lovely as usual but wen i stopped at junctoins and home ,heard tapping noise like solenoid going on and off ,stops for 10 secs then few moretaps,got home ,its the fuel pump,took cover off ,very dirty,cleaned up seems to be ok now

My fuel pump always does that - it's just the noise it makes. Perhaps you noticed it more because it seemed quiet after leaving the motorway?

On starting my mog I know that I've switched the immobiliser off when I hear the pump ticking (no need to look for the LED going off).

Mine clicks enough to hear over the idling engine. Cleaning the points and cap a little seemed to quieten it a little, but it's still there. Quite reassuring really - if it's hot and it starts clicking ten to the dozen, I know that there's a vaporisation problem (hasn't happened recently) and to decide to pull over before Phyllis forces me to...

alrite lads ,ticking over fine now,cant testdrive yet ,ive had a few ,but hopefully ok ,just seemed erratic ,the tapping/clicking,cheers boys

if your car stops and you can't hear the pump ticking - it's a good sign for which part needs to be lightly whacked
my last pump was some German replacement and you couln't hear it tick. That pump burnt out at the weekend and the car now has a nice SU part in there (thanks again Cam) whith a loud tick. As Gareth mentioned, if you hear the pump racing, you have either got a very hot fuel line full of vapour due to sitting in traffic with no air flow, or you have run out of fuel

How about an air leak down stream..............

... or an air leak on the tank-to-pump pipe.

Phyllis had a German replacement pump on when I first had her!! That broke within months and was duly dispatched to the bin, too...

thats what I meant gareth trust me to get upstream and downstream mixed up! DOH!

Sorry, Matt... I didn't see your post - I was a bit slow typing!!

rayofleamington wrote:My last pump was some German replacement and you couln't hear it tick. That pump burnt out at the weekend and the car now has a nice SU part in there

Was it a pusher or a puller? (No Ray, the fuel pump )
The pusher types get very hot when fitted in the engine bay. Most aftermarket pumps are the pusher type.

Scott,
I've no idea about the spec. It is manufactured by Hardi - Probably the same as Gareth had, and it is the same type Salty Monk (Dan) has just replaced with an SU.

When it failed it was so hot I couldn't touch it (amusing when you are trying to remove it). It was still very hot an hour after it packed up...
I've never known an SU pump get more than lightly warm, so maybe it was because it works differently but I figured more than likely it was because it was cream crackered.

Those German made ones also look different as at the base there is a section missing compared to the SU, they are also of the electronic type and often sold by the smaller motor factors / accesory shops, the few I have come across in our branch have been problematic in a short period of time generally 1 - 2 years so they are not worth having. One of our non mechanically minded members went through 3 last spring until he had it changed back to a proper SU, the pumps often have a blue or yellow end sleeve.

Mine wasn't /isn't electronic, it has the similar rocker mechanism to the SU & still ticks although the new SU is much louder...

Salty even the electronic ones tick.

Mine had points as well - with a grey end cap the same as Dan's.
Scotts point may well be the root cause of the failure.
There are 2 types of SU pump (pushers and pullers). The Minor one should be a puller and other cars like MG's use a pusher. The SU 'pusher' pumps have a similar looking base to the German unit and the Minor ones have a much more chunky base.
I'm guessing now that these German pumps are a pusher, hence the premature failure.

I'm guessing now that these German pumps are a pusher, hence the premature failure.

That could be a fair guess Ray but its annoying when spares places sell them as the correct replacement type, unless the book says it can be used as an alternative and the shops only bother to keep the one sort.

Sounds feasible to me.... why would a motor factor care... It'll work right! (for a time anyway...) probably explains the burn marks on the end cap of mine as it's probably drawing extra current all the time to make up for it's inefficiencies...

This is in no way meant to offend anyone - but I'm puzzled as to why, when the correct SU pumps are still available, these German or other pumps are fitted? Plus Kevin's example of one of their branch members having trouble with 3 of these non SU pumps and others not lasting very long. Is it price or if a non standard engine is fitted a larger pumping capacity is needed when accelerating or pulling away?
Just curious, that's all.

This is in no way meant to offend anyone - but I'm puzzled as to why, when the correct SU pumps are still available, these German or other pumps are fitted?

Thats a very good question, and I have been wondering the same thing.
Myself, Dan and Gareth had one only because it was on the car before we bought them so that doesn't answer the question.

Maybe they are sold through the non specialist car spares outlets. Some places are careful not to give out parts randomly but others would just know it is a 'electric petrol pump for BMC cars'. If it lasts more than a year before failing it increases their turnover, not the warranty bill.

Yes, myself & Ray were talking about that last night... I bet it's just a more common one that is stocked under a major suppliers list at most motor factors....
The old guy I got ours off didn't have a clue about the specialists like Bull Motif so that may explain it...