electric fuel pump problems

[edmundator]

I've got an electric fuel pump and regulator on my 2.0 a/c van that I bought as a kit from JK.

I've noticed that unless I have the fuel tank full, it struggles to suck any fuel through. This morning, after a couple of weeks away, I tried to start the van. The solar panel has done a great job of keeping the battery topped-up, but the fuel pump won't suck any worthwhile amount of petrol up to the carbs, and the van won't start.

If I let the fuel pump run for several minutes, I get enough fuel (vapour?) to run the engine for about 2secs before it dies again through lack of fuel.

I've tried reducing the pressure on the regulator as far as I can (this helped a bit in the past) but nothing's doing. There are no blockages and the filters are nice and clear. There is fuel visible in the first filter (near the tank) but not the second (in the engine bay).

I need some advice on how I can fix this. Either modifications to the existing setup, or a better fuel pump/regulator setup and where I can buy it.


For info, my existing setup has the pipe from the tank,
an inline filter just after the tank,
a long stretch of plastic pipe followed by flexible hose (which used to go to the mechanical pump, but now goes directly to the...)
...fuel-pump mounted in the engine bay, towards the left/rear as you're looking in,
followed by a short stretch of pipe (c.10cm) then the regulator,
then a pipe to the T-piece followed by the standard set-up to the carbs.

[Rozzo]

sounds like the outlet from the tank could be blocked? either that or the diaphragm in the pump gone which would be unusual. try taking the fuel line from the tank off the pump with the fuel cap off and see if you can blow back through it to the tank. if so you should feel it bubbling through the fuel as you blow.
if you can blow through it but it's not bubbling it could be that the fuel pick up pipe in the tank is cracked and when fuel gets below the crack its just sucking air. this depends on wether the fuel pipe comes out at the top of the tank or at the bottom? if it comes out of the top and is cracked this would explain why its ok when the tank is pretty full as the fuel will then be above the crack if you understand what i mean?
scrub that, just looked in the manual and the fuel tank outlet is at the bottom so just try blowing through it and see if it shifts any scale that may be blocking it.

[edmundator]

Thanks,

someone on brickyard has suggested that the pump is just too high above and too far from the tank. I'm willing to give it a go moving the pump lower and closer, even though wiring it in elsewhere will be a pain in the a***.

[VWCamperfan]

You could be right there. Electric pumps are designed to pull not suck the fuel and so should really be gravity fed from the tank. Try running the power supply from the engine compartment to the new pump position alongside the fuel line, should be easy enough then hopefully.

[perro]

I have the same pump from JK I mounted it just by the tank on the chassis rail it never stops ticking. I think the pumps are just crap to be honest I didnt bother with the regulator kit as the pump doesnt fire enough fuel through. I wouldnt recommend putting it in the engine bay as its just to far away from the tank. I havnt heard anybody say a good thing about these pumps . Typical after I bought one. I struggle to start if its been left for a while all filters are clear and no blockages in the tank or troubles with the needle valves. I think that on a 2lt its just running at its full capacity .Would be good to hear if anybody has used one of these with no problems

[edmundator]

I have the same pump from JK I mounted it just by the tank on the chassis rail it never stops ticking.

I've found that with a full tank there is enough gravitational pressure on the fuel that the pump will work silently once the fuel flow is established, even with the pump in the engine compartment. In fact, when it works, it works quite well. Hopefully mounting it lower than the tank will sort the problems out.

[ding-dang-dhu]

I have the same pump from JK I mounted it just by the tank on the chassis rail it never stops ticking.

I've found that with a full tank there is enough gravitational pressure on the fuel that the pump will work silently once the fuel flow is established, even with the pump in the engine compartment. In fact, when it works, it works quite well. Hopefully mounting it lower than the tank will sort the problems out.

Don't suppose you have a photo of your set up? Sounds like you have the same problem as me. I will take some pics and show you mine.......

Two heads are better than one.........so I have heard

[Mocki]

those pumps wont work correctly if they are not mounted next to the tank, as said above......

the jk instructions say engine bay,( or used to) which is ok for a bay where the tank is above the engine bay, but no good for a real van......

move it to the inner sill, where the filter is

[edmundator]

Should I keep the filter in before the pump, to keep crud out of it (not that there should be any, I had a brand new tank and filler-neck a year ago)?

[cumbriankeith]

Yes, filter before pump. And they should be mounted at a slight uphill angle supposedly.
Another tip is to mount it on a rubber cotton reel mount so it's quieter - the noise is then insulated from the structure of the van. I could try and get a pic of my setup...

[ding-dang-dhu]

http://picasaweb.google.com/ptmiff/EngineBay

Here are some pics I took of mine, you can see my shiney new filter.

So should this set up be near my tank?

Oh and Keith my heater is working fine now, dodgy fuses I guess.

[edmundator]

Here's what I've done at the moment (which worked well enough with a full tank to get me from Birmingham to Truro and a couple of other journeys since... no the tank wasn't continually full!).

[IMG:800:600]http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a310/ ... o-0044.jpg[/img]

The golden unit mounted on the back wall of the engine bay is the pump, which I will be moving to just after the tank.

The silver circular item is the regulator, which I'll be leaving where it is as I understand it's better to keep this closer to the carbs.

[ding-dang-dhu]

my engine bay looks a right 2 and 8 compared to yours Edmunator.

And no... my set-up looks nothing like yours.

Its been a miricle that I have been able to drive my bus...its so rusty and horrible

[edmundator]

@ ding-dang-dhu

I presume yours is a 1.6 as it looks like you've only got a single carb. You also seem to have lost the shield from the engine bay that separates the top of the engine from the outside world and obviously makes a difference in how clean it stays up there (or maybe this only exists in 2.0 engined vehicles). Trust me when I say I don't make any special effort to keep my engine bay clean and I certainly use the van enough, nearly 7000 miles last year.

I'll post some pictures of the set-up when I've rearranged it and it's (hopefully) working properly!

Out of interest, where did you get your fuel pump from?

[cumbriankeith]

[IMG:800:600]http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/ ... filter.jpg[/img]