Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi everyone,

After not having driven my Morris for a long time, I am now trying to get it running again. When I turn the ignition on, the fuel pump ticks continuously and does not cut out. This leads to fuel leaking from BOTH ends of the fuel line connecting the pump to the float chamber.

As fuel is leaking from both ends I thought it was some problem with the pump rather than the float valve. Do you have any ideas what the problem could be, or what I could do to test it??? I already tried fitting a new fuel line, and a cursory glance at the float suggested all was OK there.

It's meant to be going for an MOT in a few hours!

Thanks for your help.

It doesn't sound like the original SU pump.
Didn't the new pipe cure the leak, what tubing are you using?

Have you stripped the float chamber down and checked for any debris stopping the needle from shutting off the fuel pump?
From the symptoms that is where I would be looking especially if the car hasn't been used for a while.

Have you checked the nylon filter for blockage

I purchased a new su pump once from bull motif, when fitted it continually pumped with the ignition on. Which if ignition left on for more than 10 seconds it overflowed the float chamber. I then swopped the pump from my other minor and it worked perfectly. I then contacted bull motif and they sent me another new one under warranty. And it was OK !!! It could be the pump itself.

From the first post it looks like orginal pump,was it ok before the lay up.If so then must be a problem in the pump,delivering too much pressure and forcing petrol out .I take it the ends of the pipe have been tightened up (probably have, but just asking).known good second hand pump would show the problem.

Thanks for the comments. I didn't have a new fuel line to put on, but cut each end of the old one and reattached it. This stopped the leaking from the fuel line, so I guess that was the problem! This anyway doesn't seem to be a good quality fuel line, so I think needs to be replaced.

However, a while later, fuel also started coming out of the overflow hole in the float chamber. After taking the lid off, not really seeing anything, and then putting it back on, the leak stopped. I am concerned that this could start again though, so it would be good to find the problem. It seems most likely to me to be dirt in the needle. Is it a fairly simple task to strip this down and clean it? Do you know if there is a guide on how to do this anywhere?

There not much point in stripping and cleaning,it will be worn,new needle and valve assembly from any of the traders,very cheap,and easy to change,just unscrew old and fit new,worth looking at the float at the same time,Iv'e found that once the valves start to give trouble,they are allways trouble,fit a new one and forget about it.

It seems most likely to me to be dirt in the needle

Me too, the pipe is perished and a crumb of it got stuck in the valve.
Cutting the ends off is only a short term solution.