Morris Minor Owners Club

Being fairly new to the Morris Minor Club I am sure it has probably been asked before but I intend to fit a new SU pump to my series 2 before I re MOT it in March, SU advise me that as it will only be occasional usage the best bet would be the full electronic version as they have improved the quality of the circuit board since they first came out ,but I have also seen on the forum bad reports about this version , or do I stick with the standard points type of pump, I have also seen locally to me in Bristol someone advertising a Transil kit to improve the points life or is this a step too far

The points version tends to last about 30 years before needing an overhaul.
Tried and tested technology!

Points you can see. Points you can fix, alongside the road late on a Sunday afternoon. You can also maintain points because you can visually inspect them, polish them, reset the gap, etc. You can also smack a points operated fuel pump and it will often respond. Smacking an electronic fuel pump may be satisfying is some way but is unlikely to get you on the road again. The transil kit looks interesting, but again -- why complicate something that is actually pretty reliable -- and totally serviceable?

The original SU pump very seldom suddenly breaks down, it may become unreliable but will respond to a tap with a hammer and will give plenty of warning that it is due for a service

Stick with good old points..... What's wrong with the pump you have right now ??

I suffered several breakdowns with the car especially after a halt at traffic lights ,sometimes it would go for miles other times it would only manage a few hundred yards .It would not respond to anyting even the TAP method also the pump was very hot ,you could not hold it in the palm of your hand because of this .I checked the fuel line for blockage OK ,I checked the fuel tank vent OK ,i made sure it was not trying to suck in any air from the connections OK , so I replaced the points assembly with an S U overhaul kit to be sure I also thought that the pump was trying to pull too much current maybe causing it to overheat ,some of the wiring around the fuse box was very old so as a temporary measure I have wired it direct via a switch and a fuse to the battery ,since doing this I has run fine and after 5 ish miles the pump is still cold and ticking nicely

That's it then! Well done - it just needed the new points. It was getting hot because the points were staying closed too long - causing current to flow almost continuously through the solenoid windings. So - it's good for another 30 years now!

if you have hidden the wsitch you've also got an anti theft as well.

thanks

Hi everyone,I'm Luke, a newby to these message boards.
I procured a spare pump on Ebay recently, so I thought I'd bore you all with the sequence of events thereafter.
Pump arrived, I wired it to a spare battery and it energised... one click! disconnect the wire and ...another click...de energised. So the coil unit work ok.
I removed the blade points and polished them...re tried the wire test...same result.
Then I thought...the points are supposed to make and break a circuit....test this using the continuity test function on a multimeter....full continuity with the points open or closed....so, I notice there's a Mullard Mustard Capacitor wired between the points blade and the lower points pigtail screw. This tested full continuity (faulty).
I have removed the faulty capacitor and the pump now works fine. BUT, I have a question regarding this, does this capacitor act as a soak to protect the points from burning? (in which case it's better to replace it with a new one) or is it purely there to suppress radio interference? (which won't cause any damage to the pump, but cause the neighbourhood T.Vs to flicker)( It may even have been fitted by some DIY dude and shouldn't be there???)
I can't seem to obtain one from any of the spares shops.
Since the pump will only be a spare I'm not too worried either way but it'd be nice to get some opinions... in case anything happens to the main one in my car.
Thanks for reading, and I hope this'll fix someone else's problem.

Yes - it is there to protect the points, but may also have TV suppression duties -since the interference comes from the arcing points!

Thanks for your response Bmcecosse,
Guess I'll have to try and 'stumble accross' a replacement...(work in progress)

hi, i renewed my pump points and there was a capacitor on my pump, i thought it was for a radio, and as i dont have one fitted i left it off but after reading this i need to refit it, trouble is i have not a clue as to were it attaches to so would be gratefull if someone can put a photo on here showing where the wires go, at the moment the pump is running spot on. thanks jd

Hello Jawelnofine,

for any S.U. spares, Burlen Fuel Sevices can supply anything you need, they have a comprehensive website:-http://www.burlen.co.uk/ .

Alec

Bryan Gostling is selling fully refurbished SU sumps. They are for sale at a fraction of the price of a new one and have been expertly reconditioned by the Dorset Branch's parts guru Brian Wood. Lots of our branch members have fitted them and they are all working well. You can also buy them direct from the Dorset Branch - have a look at our website http://www.dorsetmmoc.co.uk for more details.

Had a look on the Dorset site and can't find any mention of it, could you post a direct link?

My apologies there no longer seems to anything on our website but if you have a look on page 14 of this months Minor Matters you can see the finished article

My pump quit today. Fortunately it was close to home[frame][/frame][frame][/frame]
This is the fix I ended up with while I decide whether to repair or replace.[frame][/frame]

There is someone on this forum selling reconditioned ones I believe, maybe worth a look.
Double points are the way to go, just make sure you check before you fit, broke down today because I didn't..
Looks as though the points have stuck on/shorted on yours?

It might be because I ran out of gas. Lots of chattering on the pump until it stopped. The body got pretty hot. The points looked pretty good, not stuck or burned. I guess the capacitor gave its life saving them.
I'm considering going to a mechanical pump.