MKTR Posted August 11, 2015 Report Share Posted August 11, 2015 Hi All, Some months ago I had an issue with my car spluttering and dying - see link (and a lot of other member posts recently). I thought that I had addressed this by flushing the fuel tank, coating it against ethanol and replacing any rubber with ethanol resistant hoses. All great for a couple of months until this weekend when the car suddenly dies without warning on a narrow section of a busy road on a hill - embarrassment factor high. I eventually get a push into a close and find that there is no fuel at all in the SUs although there is fuel in the glass bowl. Hand priming the pump does nothing to push fuel even when I disconnect the pipe to the SUs, so I look to the innards of the pump. I cannot check the fuel supply at the time because the car is still on a slope and gravity is against me. Nothing obviously wrong - valves work and diaphragm seems perfect. Stuck so seek AA input thinking I might need a new pump - more emarrassment. AA lift car to allow for gravity feed and blow back into fuel tank to check line blockage; and all is well and flowing. He also suspects the pump innards but cannot find anything at fault so we change the diaphragm anyway (yes I had a spare one). All works fine and the 30 mins drive home is OK. My question is - can I now have confidence in the car or was it coincidence that the pump worked again when the fuel was disturbed in the tank? Is it likely that the diaphragm was at fault even though there were no rips,tears, holes etc? Many thanks for your thoughts Mark Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RogerH Posted August 11, 2015 Report Share Posted August 11, 2015 Hi Mark, I had this last year and found one of the valves had dropped out of the body onto the diaphragm. However you say your valves are in place. If the diaphragm looks OK then it probably is OK. With fuel in the fuel tank does fuel normally run out of the pump input pipe. If it is disconnected fuel should flow out. I found that the pump lever will not lift fuel from the tank if the tank is lower than the pump and the pipe has been emptied. It will ONLY lift fuel not air. It could be that one of the valves has deteriorated and works when ever it bothers to. Send the pump away for overhaul. Davies - bearinginmind.co.uk - 07909 737531 Roger Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rosy Posted August 12, 2015 Report Share Posted August 12, 2015 Don't know if my experience helps - when fitting my new fuel pump the glass bowl thumbscrew was not VERY tight and the pump wouldn't fill the bowl high enough to start pumping fuel through the system. Glass bowl looks full but stops a few mm short of the top due to air leakage I presume. Just a thought? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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