When Fuel Pumps Go Bad

Topic: When Fuel Pumps Go Bad (Read 6340 times) previous topic - next topic

When Fuel Pumps Go Bad

Reply #15 – June 13, 2012, 01:52:58 AM

Running your pump below 1/2 will cause your pump to go quicker.

The lower the voltage drops to under load, the higher amprage, and the thicker the wires should be. I have always thought fuel pump wires were way undersized.

When Fuel Pumps Go Bad

Reply #16 – June 13, 2012, 05:51:10 AM

Quote from: V8Demon;392143

Depending on where one lives, this can actually be highly illegal. Also I don't care what supposed safety measures are in place on newer gas station pumps and vehicle fuel systems, as someone who has bee inside a jet fuel tank and witnessed a static electricity arc over 1/2" long while in said tank I would never do it.

I know BUT i have seen static cause explosions with the engine OFF as well. On TV never in person. I am not telling anyone to do this. I do it and been doing it for years. According to the CT hauler association and gas station designers the hoses are made to not cause static discharge. I have no idea if this is true as i am not an engineer in this field!! And why would a running engine cause this to happen. Can someone explain this. I would appreciate any feed back. As far as the law goes!!! I dont know why that is. Can someone chime in on why this would be an issue!!

When Fuel Pumps Go Bad

Reply #17 – June 13, 2012, 05:55:38 AM

Quote from: jcassity;392142

good mods,

if you clip on to the conductor with needle nose vise grips up at the point where you skinned the wire and then add your heat to make the connection, your insulation on your conductor wont sneak backwards shrinking up on you, the vise grips will absorb the heat trying to move up the conductor and stop the heat at that point. im surprised you dont slip on some heat string way up the conductor prior to torching. Thats a lot of heat to make those connections, looks good man.

I was going to use shrink But i was not sure if it was FUEL COMPATIBLE. Do you know if it IS!!! I know what you mean about heat sinks. I actually found one in RADIO SHACK. Next pump i do i am going to use it. Thanks for the TIP.

When Fuel Pumps Go Bad

Reply #18 – June 13, 2012, 09:43:07 AM

Quote

According to the CT hauler association and gas station designers the hoses are made to not cause static discharge. I have no idea if this is true as i am not an engineer in this field!! And why would a running engine cause this to happen. Can someone explain this.

The hoses are designed to not conduct static electricity, but people do and the nozzles themselves are metal. The flash point of a flammable liquid is the lowest temperature at which it can vaporize to form an ignitable mixture in air. For reference, here is a chart: http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/flash-point-fuels-d_937.html
Note that gasoline has a flash point of -45 degrees. Couple that with the fact that electro-static discharge frequencies increase when relative humidity, which for those of us in the northeastern U.S. occurs much more often in the cooler months. Many of the dospoogeented "ignitions" that occur at gasoline pumps are due to the fact that the person pumping gas goes back into the vehicle - whether to sit and wait while he or she has rigged the pump or because they had to grab an item real quick - and then does not ground him or herself. They simply reach for the handle without grounding themselves.

Another link. This one on preventative measures: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/249644_Gas-pump-death-a-warning.html

When Fuel Pumps Go Bad

Reply #19 – June 14, 2012, 01:19:58 AM

I worked in a hose factory that made curb-pump hose. There is a bonding (ground) wire in the hose that bonds the nozzle to the pump.

When Fuel Pumps Go Bad

Reply #20 – June 15, 2012, 09:42:54 PM

Welp, I finally got to do the pump job. I bought a $12 siphon pump from Autozone to get the tank emptied. I only had a 5 gallon water-cooler jug to use, heh. So I pumped it full, then dumped it in my van. I did that 3 times, then on the 4th jug full, I just capped it and put it back in at the end.

Long story short, the pump was bad for sure, and it looked like heat killed it. I wanted to take a picture, but I was in a hurry, and I didn't feel like going in the house all py and handling my camera, heh. The rubber collar that holds the pump was all distorted, and the pump had shiny marks up it side to match the distortion. The new pump didn't fit the distorted collar very well, but I made it work. It's not like I can get a new one without buying the whole pump/hangar assembly anyway.

All in all, the new pump is much quieter, and the car is back in business. I rejoiced briefly, then I had to put a starter and fuel filter on my Astro van. Ahh, good times.

When Fuel Pumps Go Bad

Reply #21 – June 18, 2012, 04:21:49 AM

Quote from: TOM Renzo;392155

I was going to use shrink But i was not sure if it was FUEL COMPATIBLE. Do you know if it IS!!! .

Nope, good point , i would have to figure it out.
I know my fuel rated insulated conductors though, it stands to reason the insulation on fuel pumps are like they are, stiff and very thick for the most part.

When Fuel Pumps Go Bad

Reply #22 – June 18, 2012, 12:47:03 PM

J i am going to put a couple of lengths of shrink in a cup of gas and see what happens???? Who knows??? I tried to call the company but they never answered my question???

When Fuel Pumps Go Bad

Reply #23 – June 18, 2012, 12:48:34 PM

Quote from: CoogarXR;392440

Welp, I finally got to do the pump job. I bought a $12 siphon pump from Autozone to get the tank emptied. I only had a 5 gallon water-cooler jug to use, heh. So I pumped it full, then dumped it in my van. I did that 3 times, then on the 4th jug full, I just capped it and put it back in at the end.

Long story short, the pump was bad for sure, and it looked like heat killed it. I wanted to take a picture, but I was in a hurry, and I didn't feel like going in the house all py and handling my camera, heh. The rubber collar that holds the pump was all distorted, and the pump had shiny marks up it side to match the distortion. The new pump didn't fit the distorted collar very well, but I made it work. It's not like I can get a new one without buying the whole pump/hangar assembly anyway.

All in all, the new pump is much quieter, and the car is back in business. I rejoiced briefly, then I had to put a starter and fuel filter on my Astro van. Ahh, good times.

Was the KAZOO IN PLACE and not mangled???? If so you may be running the tank down. Running below less than 1/2 is a NO NO in my book Just saying!!

:hick::burnout:

When Fuel Pumps Go Bad

Reply #24 – June 18, 2012, 09:58:36 PM

I am not sure what you mean by Kazoo, heh. Everything other than the rubber "thingy" that surrounds the pump itself (looks like a revolver, round with tubes through it that run parallel to the pump body) looked fine.

I run that tank down below the red every time, heh. I suppose I should stop doing that now that I understand... Seeing as how the original pump only lasted 48k miles (granted it was 27 years old though).

When Fuel Pumps Go Bad

Reply #25 – July 04, 2012, 07:56:55 PM

Well, you might have seen in my other thread that I got exactly 3 days of joy out of my cougar before a leaking transmission seal parked it again. I have been driving my van for the last few days. And would you believe the FUEL PUMP WENT OUT IN IT TOO! At the friggin' gas station (a different gas station at least)! I had a 1/4 tank this time, I didn't let it go empty. I put $30 in it and left. I returned later to the gas station to buy some beverages, and wouldn't you know, no prime, so start. No tank banging worked this time. I got to wait 45 minutes for the tow truck in 95-degree heat. Got home and jumped power to the pump, and was rewarded with dead silence.

So I get to drop another tank, drop another $90 for a pump, and drop my trousers and drop the soap for another reaming of life. Sometimes I feel like calling a flatbed and hauling all my cars to the junkyard and becoming amish.

When Fuel Pumps Go Bad

Reply #26 – July 04, 2012, 08:05:57 PM

The KAZOO is that little red or orange PERDOINGER or Widget. NO widgets are metal.