6 replies to this topic

[mini*mad]

MOT on monday and have an electric pump mounted on the rear subby
started up the engine and it was making a splurting hissing sound and leaking petrol from it
thought it was the pipes on either side but they seem fine, turn it on and its leaking from the middle of the pump!
drained 5l in 2 hours!

the cars been sat for a while (2yrs) and has probably given up the ghost so started taking it off
the nut holding it in place is spinning and 2+hrs of swearing and wd40 and it still hasnt worked!

im wondering what to do,
do i hook up both pipes and run the mechanical one that ive had blanked off on the engine?
then do i still need the fuel regulator?

ive spent £900+ on the mini this month for its return to the road and cant really afford a new electric pump till next month anyway *doh*

[Ethel]

Sounds like just bypassing the leccy pump with a bit of fuel hose and refitting the manual pump will be easiest. the pressure regulator should be ok if it's between the pump & carb, best to bypass it though if it'd be between tank & pump.


http://www.fuelsyste....uk/filters.pdf - might be useful with the leccy pump

[mini*mad]

yeah the regulator probably would be between the tank and the pump, ill sit down and think about it tomorrow morning with a cuppa tea
just thinking of where may be open tomorrow to get some pipes from, maybe minispeed as they're local
Thanks

[oltonlad]

you should be able to get fuel hose from any good motor factors, just make sure that you know which size you need.

[tiger99]

Why do you have an electric pump on the subframe? When BMC originally put them there, they were nothing but trouble, because they were exposed to the elements. Most people moved them into the boot.

The mechanical pump on the engine will be fine, and unless you have some weird carburettor setup, you do not need a regulator. The fuel pump actually pumps on its return stroke, driven by a spring, which by design limits the pressure to the correct value.

[dklawson]

There is nothing wrong with the fuel pump on the subframe IF the sealing tape is on the points cover of the original SU pump. The issue with many SU pumps was that after high-mileage the points needed to be cleaned and adjusted and it was common practice after such service to omit the sealing tape which in turn would allow water in. When the SU electric pumps were replaced by Facet pumps or similar there seldom is/was a problem as the electrics in the pump are either sealed or potted.

Regardless, with either an original electric or the mechanical SU pump you should not need the pressure regulator. As Oltonlad said, you should be able to bypass the electric pump using rubber fuel hose. Hard pipe should not be required as the only pressure in the supply line prior to the pump is cause by the weight (head pressure) of the fuel in the tank.

[tiger99]

Well, that explains the pump problem from the 1960s. The daft thing is that in those days no-one mentioned the sealing tape, and advice was frequently given in the car magazines of the day to relocate the pump. My old van did not have the tape on it when I acquired it, there was no indication that it should, and the pump failed soon after, so I relocated it.

I don't think the quality of motoring journalists has improved since then, judging by several downright dangerous pieces of advice I saw in a recent Practical Classics magazine.