Put 2 gallons plus a can of seafoam in a bone dry tank, turned on the ignition, making the right noises - air bubbles in the fuel filter - but not actually sucking up gas.

want to flush the system before I fit the head.

any tips?

 

I haven't had problems with my pumps priming. If you're getting a little fuel, maybe you have a leak on the tank side of the pump? Are your banjo bolts tight enough? I had an issue at my filter (not at the tank) where the washer that I had under the banjo bolt was too thin allowing the bolt to bottom out before the washer would seal. Good luck.

 

thanks for jumping in, I had the pump running for a good 5 minutes then removed the input side banjo and it’s bone dry… the pump is empty.

the line is off from the fuel filter/sediment bowl onwards (so I can catch the horrible old gas)

I’m tempted to add another gallon and remove the sediment bowl too?

 

Maybe something is obstructing the line out of the fuel tank. Try pushing some compressed air through the line. Also see if there is a difference with the fuel tank filler cap on or off.

 

As everyone above has written, SU fuel pumps should self prime. If it makes its characteristic ticking but no fuel is pumped, the tube to the inlet side of the pump is blocked, leaking, or not submerged in liquid or the outlet side is totally blocked. Usually they tick quickly at start up and the tick slows as they develop back pressure.

It's difficult to say where to start. If you need to check the pump itself, put a tube to the inlet in a bottle of fuel and run the outlet back to it or into another an turn the pump on briefly.

If the tank is new or has ever been repaired with internal 'slosh' sealant, it's worth checking to see if the pick up in the tank is blocked.

 

If you find that you need to remove the banjo fitting from the old plastic fuel line, heat up the line with a heat gun on a lower setting. Otherwise you will have to cut it and in that case the old lines cannot be stretched over the fitting when you need to re-install. The heat gun works really well in that case also. Get the line just warm enough so it will slide over the fitting and once it cools it shrinks around the fitting sealing it.

 

Problem solved.

there was some back gunk stuck in the pickup tube from the tank.

gas all over the garage floor and myself, but now I reassembled everything… putting like a kitten and delivering fuel to the sediment trap at an even pace!

thanks everyone