Hopping mad and eating crow

If you go to the combine forum you might be familiar with my fuel pump saga.

Back in March I noticed the fuel pump on the old grain truck was pretty damp. Didn't trust it. I went to town and bought the best electric one I could find at an auto place. Mounted it all nice and all.

I have been peeved because they keep getting progressively worse. The last one went out right before harvest. It was a month old. Grain truck mind you - maybe 10 miles in that month.

After driving a week of harvest it just went out again (4th pump I think). This time it was half way up the long hill between the scales and the pit at the elevator. Man, that's embarrassing. So much for my 50 year old equipment working as good as a new one. Luckily there was only one nice air conditioned semi for an audience.

Thankfully I had a crescent and screwdriver. I took the new pump off and routed it back through the original. Wouldn't you know it, after being dry and open on both ends for months that truck fired right back up and crawled up to the pit.

Just got back from town exchanging that pump. It appears that I was wrong - it isn't cheap Chinese junk. IT WAS MADE IN THE USA!! I guess cutting corners happens here too.

I have a new (original mechanical) pump on its way here. I'm not messing with anything like that again. I think I feel more reliable with an old pump that drips than a new electric. Except for those field fires, of course.

This crow tastes good dusted with wheat chaff.

Glad you had the original "spare" still mounted in the truck!

Facit pumps work well I have had issues with the rotary units. Jim

Electric pump PUSHES better than PULLS so it should be near tank. Likely, having a new strainer or filter AHEAD of any electric pump is likelt a warranty requirement. Is that how you set your"s up?

Yes it was nice to have a 'spare' pump already mounted. Sometimes we get lucky.
Leaking pump and possible fire reminds me of the 69 GMC 3/4 ton dad had. It had the 305? truck V6 in it. On that engine the fuel pump was mounted on the upper front of the engine. Dad came to the farm with it one day smelling like gasoline from bumper to bumper. I lifted the hood and the entire engine compartment was dripping with gas. The pump had started leaking pretty bad and the engine fan blew the gas all over the place. One spark and he would have been a 60 MPH fireball. A fuel pump on the upper front of the engine isn't the best design in the world in my opinion. Jim

Done on both accounts. I put it on the inside of the frame rail under the cab (tank). My thinking was actually in regards to heat in the engine compartment more than anything. It does make it a pain to change at the elevator as I didn't have any vise grips to clamp off the rubber line. Fuel perfume is so nice.

My sons 78 ford pickup gave me fits at first the mechanical went and I like you thought an electric pump would be the way to go. It would run good for awhile then it would starve for fuel in a week or two, you could let it sit for an hour or so and it would fire up and run for while longer, change the pump and it would run good again for awhile longer,I went through 3 pumps can't remember the brand but I was fed up. I finally tore the top off of the carb with it on the pickup, with a new pump it still wouldn't fill the carb bowl so I pulled the float and under the seat was a screen that was plugged up from what looked like the paper of a filter, cleaned the screen and had no more trouble So you might want to check the carb for a filter or screen even though you might have an in line filter.

Exactly correct. Electric fuel pumps push, they do not pull. I remember as a kid working in an auto parts store when the new trend was for everyone to go out and buy Mallory or Accel racing type electric fuel pumps to go with the new Holley double pumpers that were on sale and generally too big for their car engines. We used to get guys bringing in their failed or faulty electric fuel pumps all the time looking for warranty exchanges. Instead of putting them back at the tank syphon to push to the engine, they were blocking off the hole from the old mechanical pump at the block, and mounting the electric pump under the hoods because the yellow Accel or red Mallory electric pumps under the hood with new steel braided line going to that overly big double pumper looked cool. None of it worked so good, but all of it combined looked really cool. They were burning them up left and right using them to pull as they do not do, as opposed to push as they are engineered to do, so we didn't warranty them. These days, factory electric fuel pumps are generally mounted in the tank to make the draw for the push as short as possible.

Mark

For best results electric pumps need to be mounted lower than the gas level and have a filter in the line before it gets to the pump.
Also don"t buy the cheapest pump no matter where its built and where its built has nothing to do with quality.

Sometimes "Made in the USA" just means that the box was made in the USA. Some manufacturers get kind of tricky that way. Or it might say "Assembled in the USA" - but they don't tell you that it was assembled with foreign made parts.

Have you noticed how some people work in the USA?


Why not buy a new mechanical pump? I had a similar issue when I put a electric pump on my 64 Ford. The difference being is that on extremely dry days I would lose my electrical ground and the pump would quit. Eventually I ponied up the dollars and put an original style mechanical pump (complete with glass fuel bowl)back on it like it should have.

I had to put four A/C compressors on my old Ford van until I found one that wouldn't fail after a few miles. One didn't even get out of the shop before it failed.

At one time, manufacturers could get away with made in USA if the item was assembled in USA even when the parts were foreign made.

Singer sewing machines were a prime example. All their parts were foreign made, then shipped to the US for assembly.

Don"t know if that still happens or if that was stopped as false advertising.