8 replies to this topic

[Fullarmor]

Hi guys

 

a guy who checked the engine bay of my mini recommended to replace mechanical fuel pump to facet red top electric fuel pump

 

do the replacement require a professional skill or can do for myself? I do have some skills but not mechanic thou

 

please let me know how to do it if you have any idea

 

cheers

[sledgehammer]

I wonder why - the mechanical ones are good

 

a lot of the electrical ones produce too much pressure , sometimes forcing the float needle off its seat , & are usually fitted under the boot

 

they could need a regulator ?

 

the mechanical ones are awkward to remove replace & will need a blanking plate to be fitted if using a electrical one

 

the only thing I don't like about the mechanical one is it's close to the exhaust manifold

[dklawson]

As above.  Why did the mechanic say you needed a new pump?  The easiest thing for you to do is install a new mechanical pump to replace the one you have.

[Fullarmor]

I wonder why - the mechanical ones are good

 

a lot of the electrical ones produce too much pressure , sometimes forcing the float needle off its seat , & are usually fitted under the boot

 

they could need a regulator ?

 

the mechanical ones are awkward to remove replace & will need a blanking plate to be fitted if using a electrical one

 

the only thing I don't like about the mechanical one is it's close to the exhaust manifold

 

yes another guy said like you said. just need a pressure regulator.. and filtherking fuel filter.

[A-Cell]

If it's not broken then don't fix it. Even then just replace it with another mechanical pump. There is nothing wrong with them. Millions of A series engines ran / run quite happily on them.

[Spider]

I run both Electric and Mechanical Pumps over the fleet and over many many years, over zillions of miles.

 

Both (though the elect ones are SU) have been very reliable and if anything, twice in all my years I'd had the elect ones play up, but I wouldn't draw on that to say they are a problem.

 

The only issue I recall having with a mech pump was with one of the SU ones, that had a crimped together body, one of the fitting started leaking (a tap with a screwdriver and hammer fixed that).

 

As the other guys have said, if it has a mech one, than that's what I'd refit back on there.

[peter-b]

As said, the mechanical ones are and always have been well up to the task. Some people just love the big shiny pumps with the blingy braided hoses and Mega filters, just remember bling doesn't make cars go faster.

[sledgehammer]

I would say to the OP , have a good look at the fuel pipes, check for rotted pipes , oil / fuel leaks around the pump

 

make sure fuel pipe is away from exhaust

 

would be an idea to fit / replace the inline fuel filter (I have 2 filters , 1 front , 1 near the tank)

 

check fuel filler is tight & seal is good

 

if you really want to go to town , whip the tank out , & give it a clean

 

I would recommend the above , when fitting a new fuel pump anyway , or else any dirt in the fuel line , could be sucked into the fuel pump

[jamieburke17]

I have just put a electric fuel pump on my 1380, only because the mechanical one is only good up to 90hp ish, like everybody is saying the mechanical ones are faultless, what i did was bolt it to the boot floor earth it to the boot floor, and then feed the positive to a missile switch in the dash, and then to the battery, as i couldnt be arsed with messing about with multimeters and wires, i used a £15 in line regulator off ebay.