well I finally got a new battery for thee car, went to fire it up and all it did was turn over, so I put it in drive and did it and no sound came from the rear, I took the fuel pump out and hooked it up to a battery and sure enough it's dead. this is the THIRD one this car has eaten and its getting old buying and replacing them. so my question to you guys is what fuel pumps do you recommend? kinda on a budget but if it will last for a long time I will spend the money. thanks in advance!

 

The originals (Bosch as I recall) last 15-20 years...but are not inexpensive.

I don't have much experience with aftermarket types but "Walbro" rings a bell as a good brand.

What ype have you been using and in what period of time have you gone thru three of 'em?

I wonder if you have a fuel problem that is hurting the pumps. Rusty fuel will wreck 'em every time!

Cheers
DD

 

the first one was the original bosch, the second was a cheap generic one that rust killed, the car ran fine until the battery died a couple months ago, now here I am haha. the third one was also the same generic fuel pump

 

Well instead of starting a new thread, hope you don't mind if I add another question to yours, I'm also interested in the answer of this thread in case I need to replace again.

What sort of noise are these pumps meant to generate? I just put a new one in a couple of weeks ago (old one was leaking) and it's making a medium pitched whine while running. (however not if you put the car in D and try to crank and not when just idling - seems to be only when the engine wants more fuel) It's a relatively cheap ($75) generic. I can't remember the old one making this noise...

 

Hard to say what typical for a generic unless you've heard several of the same brand for comparison. But I wouldn't expect to hear any pump over the sound of the engine. Unless, perhaps, the mounting isn't insulated enough and the whine sound is being transmitted right through the sheet metal.

A change a sound according to engine load seems odd, as the fuel pump has no idea what the engine load is. But, pump speed (and therefore noise) might vary a bit with increased/decreased voltage.....which could be engine RPM related.

Any running problems that might suggest not enough fuel is being supplied?

Cheers
DD

 

When my old Bosch fuel pump was on the way out, it started making an occasional "hoot" sound, like there was an owl in my trunk! The more I drove, and especially after running the car for a while, the sound changed from an occasional hoot to an almost constant whine sound, that was occasionally interrupted by silence. This whine sound was higher pitched than the normal whir of the fuel pump, and a clear indicator that something wasn't right.

I don't fully understand the mechanics, but I know that electric fuel pumps on some fuel injected cars require more amps when the engine is demanding more fuel at higher RPMs. More amps translates into the fuel pump working harder, and perhaps more noise. I don't know if that applies here, but just a thought!

 

As designed on the Ser III (and many other cars) the fuel pump, essentially, grossly over-supplies the fuel rail in terms of both pressure and volume. The fuel pressure regulator determines how much of the not-needed fuel gets returned to the tank. This allows the pump to operate at a constant speed.

Unless there's a flow problem or an actual problem with the pump itself the amperage draw should remain constant.

But, yes, there are some instances of variable speed electric fuel pumps, as you say. In fact, for one example, (long story short) GM had problems with loud fuel pumps in the 80s and one of the fixes, on some cars, was to convert a constant speed pump into a variable speed pump.

Cheers
DD

 

Todays ethanol fuels absorb water which make an old steel tank rust. I'd strongly recommend an additional pre-pump filter because it will keep debris out of the pump which will prevent wear and jams that can burn up the pump. I use an Bosch (made in France) original pump that probably 20 years old to feed a 450HP SBC 406 with trickflow heads and tunnel ram fuel injection. A standard 3/8 inlet/outlet carburetor style filter from AutoZone will do the trick. They are translucent so you can check once-in-awhile visually. You will have to do some creative plumbing to adapt the 1/2 fuel supply to the 3/8 filter but you may have already done that if you are running a generic pump. I was worried about starving the pump and not getting enough fuel with a 3/8 pre-filter setup but this is not the case. I have no fuel starvation issues despite my high HP motor. The filter is installed at the low point in the supply system so gravity helps push supply through.

I have two pre-filters one for each tank. Just last night I was driving and one filter clogged. I accidentally switched to the passenger side tank which I seldom use. Despite the tank being 3/4 full the filter clogged and the car stalled. It took me a few minutes of tire kicking and general disappointment to notice I had inadvertently switched tanks at some point. A simple switch back to the other tank had me back on my way. So I guess that's today's project...replace a fuel filter before heading out for a family 4th of July BBQ.

 

thanks for the replies guys! im pretty sure its rust and debris that's killing these so once my new pump gets here ill put a filter behind it.

 

If bucks are an issue ,and they usually are, David Boger at everydayxj can probably provide a good use one at a reasonable price.

The idea of prepump filters, one per tank is a great idea.

And, incase of questionable tanks, draining them at their bottom will rid them of a
bunch of stuff that as Doug says do bad things to fuel pumps!!

Carl

 

Might be a dumb question but where is the drain plugs on the tanks?

 

You may have the plug cover still on your roll pans....carefully pry it out.
You will see a bolt head that uses a 9/16" wrench....that is the drain plug. You may have to poke in a small tool to get gas to start draining if it is really
full of stuff...it comes out very quickly and you will fill up a 2-3 gallon can or more..even with the tank gauge on E....

The much larger outer plug gives access to the filter "sock"..nice to take out once after emptying the tanks first....all kinds of crud will come out.

You will need a new sock and gasket...bottom plug uses copper type washer that can be tightened repeatedly....

I too use clear fuel filters from the tank and before the fuel pump. After the fuel pump I have another FI type can filter for the high pressure...

 

So I fixed my old leaking pump with steel epoxy and I removed my brand new (now whining) pump. The rusty crud that came out the bottom of it was quite bad. Now I know why the new pump gave up. However, the old (original lucas) pump is now working 100% and not making a noise.

The previous owner did warn me about using the left tank, but I didn't listen. Now that I think of it, the problems only started when I began fooling around with the left tank. Running OK now on right tank only... Sigh...

 

I found a new pierburg pump at Amazon, of all places, and at an OK price. This is what was on my car when I drug it home (not working).
I agree with the recommendation for the filter on the suction side; I think this will stop your repeated pump failures.

 

ok I got a filter and drained the tanks. just waiting on the pump to arrive, the question is how are you guys adapting the 3/8 to 1/2?

 

WIX 33299 (or NAPA 3299) filter as 1/2" nipples

Cheers
DD

 

Have you (or anyone else) successfully used these on your car before as fuel pump pre-filters? I bought two of them to use and decided against it in favor of a serviceable filter. They're now collecting dust.

 

I found a 1/2 barb to 3/8 barb on the interweb

You can also find brass 1/2 barb to Female Npt and a 3/8 bard to male npt at you local big box home store and thread them together.

Brass Barb Fittings, barbed adapters - couplings, tee's, elbows and more

also consider using stainless oetiker crimp clamps that make for an clean & safe install on the high pressure side. For the suction side of the pump you can use spring clamps that are easy to service in the field.

The 1/2 in/out filter is a GREAT solution for those that still run original pumps.

The filter doesn't really solve the problem though. I may be doing a molasses rust treatment to my rusty tank. Have a look at the results on the page linked below. Seems kind of easy on a tank to do...poor it in, wait a while and rinse.
Rust removal.......the miracle of molasses! - THE H.A.M.B.

 

I emailed Wix regarding the matter last year, and here is what they said:

Do not run the 33299 between The Tank and the pump.

The reason is : the filter element is made of paper and the pump will eventually suck the paper through the system.
There is another filter 33248 made of metal screen media 149 micron. However it doesn’t clean very well.
I really don’t suggest using any filter that WIX makes on the suction side.

Thank you for your interest in WIX Filters.

check out our website @ www.wixfilters.com
National Hotline (800) 949-6698 Mon. 8-5,
Tues 8:45-5, W-F 8-5 (Eastern)


That is why I did not use the 33299 filters on the inlet side of the pump. Maybe they're just being overly conservative - I am not willing to be the guinea pig on this one!

 

I think im still going to put the filters on, ill just change them out every month or so. I would rather change the filters every once in a while instead of a fuel pump