Took my '74 e9 out for bird seed the other day, nice day although the tourist are out now in Maine, so there was some traffic. On the way home we got about half mile when I noticed the engine dying if I added throttle. So, we walked back to NAPA, right next door to the seed place, and in three phone calls they found me a toe (flat bed). This car had a triple Weber set-up done be Korman in Feb. '02, and I did note a lack of pump clicking when it quit. Once home & up on jack stands I tried to trace the electric in the fuse box & found so many different opinions as to which fuse was the pump that I quit the fuse box, went to the pump and, lo and behold, we have electric. So, the old favorite, I hit the pump with "pump pliers" and that fixed it!!! What it is, is a Facet Cube which I understand is a very well respected pump. The Question: How long do these things usually work, this car has done very few miles on this build. I did order a new pump, not real happy paying $250 for a ride home, but what's the deal as far as why it would quit when it can work fine~
Electric Fuel Pump issue
- Thread starter Rod Cole
- Start date
tdgray
Well-Known Member
I had a “cube” on my MGA for 20 years. It never quit I just decided to replace it when I did my second restoration with an Ecco. Still have it in the garage somewhere.
That said if it did temporarily fail. Will probably do it again. Some people put two in a row with a switch to go to the “backup”.
That said if it did temporarily fail. Will probably do it again. Some people put two in a row with a switch to go to the “backup”.
That is exactly the symptom of a bad pump
heats up =quits working
cools down = starts working.
heats up =quits working
cools down = starts working.
I have a pierburg electric pump and carry a spare, pre-wired with pigtails to allow for a faster swap. Here's my setup:
I put an Ecco on my Bugeye Sprite. Quiet and works well.
The fuel pump in the 2002 went out once so now it has a cheap pump in series if ever needed.
These have been discussed on the forum before.
These have been discussed on the forum before.
jmackro
Well-Known Member
Among the Alfa community, the Facet cylindrical pumps are thought to be of higher quality than the cube-shaped pumps. They cost more, take up more space, and may be harder to route the lines to (these pumps should be mounted with the axis of the cylinder vertical, as oriented in the photo below, since the filter is at the bottom). I have them in my two Alfas and they have always been reliable.
I'm not doubting tdgray when he says that the cube pump in his MGA lasted a long time. But I think your chances for a trouble-free pump are higher with the cylindrical type of Facet pumps than with the cubes. I can't comment on Pierburg, Ecco or the Amazon pump that Dan Wood mentions.
A diaphragm fuel pump (e.g., one that goes "click click") already has check valves in it. So if you had two pumps plumbed in parallel, if one was on and the other off, the check valves in the off pump would prevent flow back toward the tank. In other words, no, you shouldn't need to add check valves.
I'm not doubting tdgray when he says that the cube pump in his MGA lasted a long time. But I think your chances for a trouble-free pump are higher with the cylindrical type of Facet pumps than with the cubes. I can't comment on Pierburg, Ecco or the Amazon pump that Dan Wood mentions.
Rod Cole said:
A diaphragm fuel pump (e.g., one that goes "click click") already has check valves in it. So if you had two pumps plumbed in parallel, if one was on and the other off, the check valves in the off pump would prevent flow back toward the tank. In other words, no, you shouldn't need to add check valves.
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Make sure the pump isn’t located too close to the hot exhaust system.
While under there getting the pump out, it's near the diff above the exhaust offset, I noticed the cross-way muffler has some rust cracks/holes on the bottom. looking into replacements, they want $1000+ for a correct looking one. Mine has a flange for the tail pipe, I see some don't. Has anyone tried the muffler patch kit from the auto parts people, at over a grand for the muffler it's worth a try
I think @Stevehose patched his muffler at one point before finally giving in and replacing it. Alas, he's sold his coupe and I'm not sure how often he visits here.
before getting my new exhaust system I used some muffler sealant on hole and it did the job. I don't recall the brand.
jmackro
Well-Known Member
Is you goal to have a "correct looking" rear muffler, or just a functional one? If it doesn't have to impress the concours judges, might a muffler shop that does custom work be able to adapt a generic muffler? I know that the e9 rear mufflers are odd, with the "IN" connection on the side rather than the end, but perhaps a shorter generic muffler with a 90° bend at that point could work.
check out his post from Sven - he has a drawing for a custom exhaust where he used Magnaflow components ... and he lists the parts numbers
