Morris Minor Owners Club

My relatively new SU fuel pump gave out recently, so I returned it under warranty and I just fitted the new replacement today. Connected up fine, earth and live wires to correct places. Switched on the ignition and no cheerful clicking but an ominous silence and a plume of wispy smoke! Turns out the (coloured white on mine) casing on the wire from the ignition is now melted.

So NOW what do I do? If the replacement pump was faulty then surely a fuse should have gone before the wires burnt out? Presumably even if I get a re-re-replacement pump, I will have to replace the wire as well now. Does that mean a new loom or just fit a new supply wire. And there's no guarantee it will not happen again

Any ideas would be very welcome - thanks

Marion (1960 2 door saloon)

Is this a genuine morris minor pump or an imatation? It's always worth testing the pump on the work bench by connecting it to a battery to see if it works as even new parts can be faulty.

If it works ok off the car then you need to trace back the wire that has the melted insulation and replace this wire and re-fit the pump. It could be the melted wire had a bad connection or was frayed and causing high resistance & heat which has melted the insulation. You could always fit an inline fuse if you are concerned about it happening again.

Welcome to the forum !! The ignition and fuel pump are NOT fused... Don't touch the electronic pumps....and note they are sold for particular current flow. A points pump should be good for another 40 years..... make sure you let the supplier know the damage this pump has caused. Hopefully you switched off quickly enough to prevent any serious damage !