Electric Fuel Pump

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72dart_swinger

72dart_swinger

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I have been thinking about wiring up a electric fuel pump on my dart with a 360 and an edelbrock thunder 650 avs. The car will sit long enough for the fuel to evaporate making it hard to start. What are some good choices on pumps, regulators, and necessary wiring. Do most of you wire it to the switch or do you add in a toggle switch that you just turn on and off when you get in and out of the car?
 
Well to answer your question...you do NOT just want it wired to a 12v keyed hot...imagine forgetting to shut the key off. Recipe for hydrolock. Also....I would greatly suggest a check valve/drainback valve. OPPOSED to an electric pump...electric pumps have their place, but on a street driver, its probably unnecessary.
 
johnnymac2k6 said:
Well to answer your question...you do NOT just want it wired to a 12v keyed hot...imagine forgetting to shut the key off. Recipe for hydrolock. Also....I would greatly suggest a check valve/drainback valve. OPPOSED to an electric pump...electric pumps have their place, but on a street driver, its probably unnecessary.
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I sure like getting in the car and having it fire right up instead of waiting for fuel, and a drainback valve won't help with bowl evaporation anyway, but just keep fuel from returning down the line or all the way back to the tank.

My car is a DD and I have the electric pump activated with the ignition via a relay.
Ignition off, pump off, easy peasy.
Turn the key to the run position, wait a second, hit the starter and she fires right up almost before you can get your hand off the key.
If my key EVER got left on I'd know it since I can hear the pump whining when the engine isn't running.

Ya never know what some people do though, as my Sister in law always forgot to put her car in park until it rolled 1/4 mile away down a big *** hill one day when she got out.
Personally, I can't even imagine how someone could do that.
 
To each his own....im not a fan of electric pumps on street cars for my original reason, plus the constant, non variable gph. A Leaky needle and seat...or the car being upside down and on fire...and that little pump is just pumping away at x gph...something to consider.
When I was younger I couldn't wait to go electric fans, fuel pump....five point harnessed..lol...then I realized some things work better on race cars, and sometimes 14 second street cars can be left alone and dont need full spools in the rear end, and 770 lift cams....idk, I may be over thinking his question, but again unless this sees some track time...im sticking mechanical. :) my daily driver cars get mechanical, my ten second bracket car has an a2000.
 
Been running an electric pump on the street for years..never one issue.
 
johnnymac2k6 said:
To each his own....im not a fan of electric pumps on street cars for my original reason, plus the constant, non variable gph. .
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Best not visit any car dealership...

And you can have variable GPH if you so wish


stroked340 said:
Been running an electric pump on the street for years..never one issue.
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This /\ /\

Run a relay, not hot wired. Mine is on a toggle but the key is ok. If you run the key you ideally want it so it only has power in the run position, not the start.

A dead headed system with a weak pump is ok but a return line system is much better.

I like Aeromotive pumps the best. I have the A1000. I'm also a fan of the new holley pumps.
 
roccodart440 said:
Best not visit any car dealership...

And you can have variable GPH if you so wish




This /\ /\

Run a relay, not hot wired. Mine is on a toggle but the key is ok. If you run the key you ideally want it so it only has power in the run position, not the start.

A dead headed system with a weak pump is ok but a return line system is much better.

I like Aeromotive pumps the best. I have the A1000. I'm also a fan of the new holley pumps.
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How does one go about putting in a return line? After a pressure regulator? Anyone got a diagram of the routing?
 
72dart_swinger said:
How does one go about putting in a return line? After a pressure regulator? Anyone got a diagram of the routing?
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there are many threads on this its very easy to do but to much typing for me.
right above the sending unit on the tank there is an indent this is the perfect spot to soldier a fitting in for your return line easy to do . I have been critized in past threads how I do this on used tanks so I don't recommend it anymore but it can be done easily and safely .
 
I tried the one way valve, and it didn't work for me. I took an older bargain electric pump, mounted it at the tank, switched it with a momentary switch, and fused it. I just hold the button until the float bowls fill up, let go of the button, give a few pumps, and fire it up. I run it on the mechanical pump.
 
You really need to wire the electric pump thru an oil pressure switch. It will only allow power to the pump when there is oil pressure. When the pressure is absent there will be no power to the fuel pump.

If there is an accident and the engine stalls or is shut off, the power to the pump is turned off also
 
Pawned said:
You really need to wire the electric pump thru an oil pressure switch. It will only allow power to the pump when there is oil pressure. When the pressure is absent there will be no power to the fuel pump.

If there is an accident and the engine stalls or is shut off, the power to the pump is turned off also
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that's what the inertia switch is for http://www.ebay.com/bhp/inertia-switch
 
Hook it up to a momentary push button. Prime it and start it.
 
This is the typical "thousand ways to skin a cat" question.
Does he NEED an electric pump? Highly doubt it
Can he run one without consequence? Probably
Are there a million street cars on the road with factory mechanical pumps doin just fine? Yup.
Are there another million with holley blues? Yup.

It just comes down to what line of thinking the op wants to go with. If he HAS to have one, then great, he can make it work just fine, and do it safely with a switched, relayed, inertia protected pump. Does he at all NEED an elelctric pump for his setup? Not in the slightest.
 
I had the same problem. I put in a Edelbrock 4 bbl carb in with an aluminum intake manifold. The intake manifold never gets much above 150° so it no longer boils the gas out of the carb
 
Let me also ask this, and it may be a seperate issue. When the motor is hot and cut of to go into the store for a few minutes, restarting it is a royal pain. I have to grind on the starter for a while. It is almost like the fuel boils out of the bowls. What causes this?
 
TrailBeast said:
I sure like getting in the car and having it fire right up instead of waiting for fuel, and a drainback valve won't help with bowl evaporation anyway, but just keep fuel from returning down the line or all the way back to the tank.

My car is a DD and I have the electric pump activated with the ignition via a relay.
Ignition off, pump off, easy peasy.
Turn the key to the run position, wait a second, hit the starter and she fires right up almost before you can get your hand off the key.
If my key EVER got left on I'd know it since I can hear the pump whining when the engine isn't running.

Ya never know what some people do though, as my Sister in law always forgot to put her car in park until it rolled 1/4 mile away down a big *** hill one day when she got out.
Personally, I can't even imagine how someone could do that.
Click to expand...

X2 .Had to use a electric fuel pump when I had the 354 in my Dart. Hooked to ignition. Ignition on pump on . You don't have to go expensive either . I bought mine on line $40. still using it.
 
72dart_swinger said:
Let me also ask this, and it may be a seperate issue. When the motor is hot and cut of to go into the store for a few minutes, restarting it is a royal pain. I have to grind on the starter for a while. It is almost like the fuel boils out of the bowls. What causes this?
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I never had that problem. Mine would not start in the mornings because the carb was empty. I don't know if they have these but do they make 2bbl intake manifolds out of aluminum? If so, I think it would solve your problem, but I can also be wrong
 
72dart_swinger said:
Let me also ask this, and it may be a seperate issue. When the motor is hot and cut of to go into the store for a few minutes, restarting it is a royal pain. I have to grind on the starter for a while. It is almost like the fuel boils out of the bowls. What causes this?
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That is a hot Edelbrock trait, and there are a few suggestions on that including running a return line fuel system, insulating the carb from the intake, blocking crossover ports and rerouting and/or insulating the fuel lines.
We have discussed this a few times over the years, and some solved it some didn't.
 
zigs said:
X2 .Had to use a electric fuel pump when I had the 354 in my Dart. Hooked to ignition. Ignition on pump on . You don't have to go expensive either . I bought mine on line $40. still using it.
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Same here,(not expensive) and one day I was driving along and the engine hiccupped so I glanced at the A/F ratio gauge and it said 17.8 or something like that for a few seconds and then back to normal so I stopped and got a new pump and threw it in the trunk.
The next day the one in the car died and I had a new one already. :D
 
Nothing wrong with electric, but you'll still have to wait for the pump to prime and fill the carb. Down fall to some of the big pumps are people run a basic regulator, for street use, a regulator with a return is almost a must, will keep the fuel pump from over heating. Other down side is Holley's, Mallory's and equivalent are normally loud. I went electric but went in tank style like modern cars. Mallory regulator with return, but I'm not running the every day engine. RUN A FUSED FUEL PUMP RELAY setup.
 

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I keep a splash bottle handy. On Fridays I splash a tablespoon or so of gas down the primaries, get in, floor it, and hit the starter.Shazzam!!

The hard hot-start, as mentioned, is a separate issue.
 
The Holley Blue pump in my 73 Dart Sport has been really reliable considering the previous owner of the car put it in w/o a relay and in the trunk well above above fuel level, unsafe and bad for the pump. After relocating it to in front of the tank and running a fused relay setup on it, the pump sounded more powerful immediately. That was a year or so ago and now the pump is leaking from the weep hole between the motor and pump. (seems to be a common unrepairable problem with the motor shaft seal), so, time for a new pump, so I ordered a Mighty Mite, as it is plenty for my 275-300 hp 318. http://m.summitracing.com/parts/hly-12-428/none/images. I will be using the regulator that I was already using with the Blue pump, and I anticipate finding out how well it will work(and how quiet it will be). I have been running a cheap selonoid type pump on my draw through turbo slant and it has worked very well for over a year now. Electric pumps are a win in my opinion, excellent for cold starts in winter, and also good for a prime setup if you want to keep your mechanical pump.
 
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