Mechanical or electric fuel pump?

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Haney

Haney

www.carsonandironmt.com
Joined
Jan 14, 2005
Messages
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Location
Piney Flats, Tennessee
I just picked up a really nice 84 Power Ram W150. It has sat for 10 years. Previous owner said the fuel pump quit and there it sat. Well I just put in a new fuel pump and it still won’t pump gas! It is a 318 and I got the pump at Auto Zone. I put on the pump, new filter and put the hose in a gas can under the truck because I did not know how dirty the tank would be. Still No fuel to carb. What is the chance of getting a bad new pump? If not that I am thinking something happened to the eccentric. So, if I try a new pump and no go, would you tear it all down and fix the eccentric or put in an inline electric pump? Thoughts?
 
Haney said:
I just picked up a really nice 84 Power Ram W150. It has sat for 10 years. Previous owner said the fuel pump quit and there it sat. Well I just put in a new fuel pump and it still won’t pump gas! It is a 318 and I got the pump at Auto Zone. I put on the pump, new filter and put the hose in a gas can under the truck because I did not know how dirty the tank would be. Still No fuel to carb. What is the chance of getting a bad new pump? If not that I am thinking something happened to the eccentric. So, if I try a new pump and no go, would you tear it all down and fix the eccentric or put in an inline electric pump? Thoughts?
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Could be a bad new pump, I just had a bad brand new master cylinder. Dumb question, are you sure the inlet and outlet aren’t reversed? You said no fuel to the carb, but did you see if you get fuel straight out of the pump while cranking? If so, maybe an obstruction in the line to the carb or possibly but not likely needle and seat are stuck closed. If no fuel coming out of the pump itself, remove it, then before you return it to the store, the last check would be to work the lever on the pump by hand with a hose in the bucket. It should shoot fuel out.
 
electric any day, saves your starter too by filling a dry carb before you start it. Nice theft prevention too, wont get far with no electric pump turned on. Ha, Ask me how I know...
 
Clamp the pump in a vise and work the pump lever by hand to test for suction. If it works start looking for a leak. Hole in the straw syndrome.
 
MoparLeo said:
Clamp the pump in a vise and work the pump lever by hand to test for suction. If it works start looking for a leak. Hole in the straw syndrome.
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If it sat for 10 yrs , Id look for stopped up filter/ fuel line or pick up in tank clogged , or ----------------
 
Thanks for all the replies. As I said, I had a new pump on it and was feeding it from a gas can sitting right under the fuel pump on the ground. The fuel filter is new as well. I had the line loose at the carb so it was not pumping against the needle float valve. I am thinking I have a bad new pump or a bad eccentric. If it is not the pump, I think I will block off at the mechanical pump and run an electric inline. Any recommendations for a low performance inline?
 
Haney said:
Thanks for all the replies. As I said, I had a new pump on it and was feeding it from a gas can sitting right under the fuel pump on the ground. The fuel filter is new as well. I had the line loose at the carb so it was not pumping against the needle float valve. I am thinking I have a bad new pump or a bad eccentric. If it is not the pump, I think I will block off at the mechanical pump and run an electric inline. Any recommendations for a low performance inline?
Click to expand...

If it's not the pump, it has to be something wrong with the eccentric. Are you simply going to block off the fuel pump port and run it without knowing what's wrong? What if the cam bolt has backed out? You might regret just "painting over something". Carry on.
 
I once picked up a Duster that had a very rudimentary electric fuel pump on it. Not liking the way the previous owner did the work, very haphazard and below Amateur, I put a new mechanical fuel pump on it didn’t work! It wasn’t until months later when I took the front cover off to do a cam swap, I realize there was no fuel pump eccentric on the cam! WTF!
 
It was a bad new pump from autozone! The new pump from Napa worked great. Truck fired right up! Now to get brakes! From now on I will hand pump every mechanical fuel pump before installing! Lesson learned!
 
Yup! That how we learn sometimes.

“Ye ol’skool of Hard Knocks”
 
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