Tired of Crappy Electric Fuel Pumps!

Last Summer, I went through TWO of the good Carter electric fuel pumps...one used, and one new!. Went to Awfull Zone and bought a Mr Gasket 12S...worked GREAT. Went to start up the Hot Rod yesterday, and pump doesn't pump. WTF! Is it ethanol that's doing this? That's close to $200 worth of pumps in one summer! Now I'm thinking of picking up an Airtex E8012S pump. Are these any better, or are they ALL crappy? Anyone had any experience with one? NO! I don't want to use a Holley pump. Thanks, guys...

 

Got rid of my Holley last week...
Mechanical all the way!

 

Electric fuel pumps need a good supply of power. Use one of the relay kits on the market to give your pump all it needs. Charge the battery in the spring, it may start the car but still be low on power and overheat the fuel pump.

 

Did you try and find the problem with the Carters? Do you have a good filter before the pump? Are you running the pump ground to the battery?

 

This is why I run the $300 Holley racing fuel pumps. Older children are used to assemble these.

 

Where do you have these fuel pumps mounted? (engine bay, firewall?)
What kind of car?

 

Pump electrical circuits are top notch. The Carters both failed because the plastic coupling piece inside the pumps failed. Don't know WHY the Mr gasket failed. On all three pumps, the motors run fine...it's the pump mechanisms that shit the bed. The pumps are located right in front of the tank outlet. Again...it's not the motors that failed, it's the pumping parts that did...

 

I usually run Holley or Mallory pumps have had good lock with both. The alcohol won't hurt the plastic what gets trashed is the neoprene seal on the shaft.

I just happen to have a Holley black pump on my bench that I bought used in the 90s I use it for an emergency pump and it has yet to cause me a problem other than being overkill for nearly all street motors.

Something to think about is that most high volume pumps need to recirculate. IE you need a return line to your tank. if you don't have one your pump will overheat.

unless you are running a real high output engine you will be as well off with a pulse pump as you are with a gerator. I would perhaps think about a pulse pump if you are running a smaller single 4 or 2 or 3 stromberg 97s or something like that. That type of a setup very seldom needs or uses a high volume of fuel and if you are not willing to setup a return line to your tank you will enjoy driving a lot longer without problems with the smaller pump.

 

You didn't mention a filter...you need one before the pump. Sounds like trash might be taking out your pumps.

 

OLDER CHILDREN ARE USED TO ASSEMBLE THESE!!! Snicker,..snicker hecho in china!

 

Never had a problem with my Holley Black pump in the few years I've been running it on my 55, or the Blue pump I used to run on my 69 Cougar. I drove the nuts off of both cars. The Black pump is built to last, the guts are all metal. The rotor/vane style will not clog easily, either. The ethanol will eat away at rubber and plastic parts, but I would think it would take a lot longer than not even a whole year. The Black pump is alcohol safe as well.

I posted this yesterday on another electric pump thread. DO NOT use a filter finer than 100 microns BEFORE the pump. It will push through anything finer than that anyway. You can run a finer filter after the pump. Electric pumps are designed to push fuel, not pull it. A sock on the pickup works best. I run a sock on the pickup and a Fram HPG1 filter after the pump. I change the filter element out every spring, just to be sure, and have never had junk in the carb. Make sure your pump is mounted below the tank and make sure it's receiving the proper voltage at the pump. These things can add up to a flow restriction or pump failure because it's working harder than it needs to and is designed to. Spend the cash on a good pump and it won't let you down.

 

Aeromotive or MagnaFlow

 

you mentioned the ethanol question, and my guess/answer would be yes. booze gas eats away at everything, and its the reason i need to rebuild my edlebrock carb before i can drive the willys... the crap takes more energy to make than you can ever get out of it, and when the subsidy money runs out... shits gonna hit the fan. right now you can get gasohol around here the e-85 crap for right around $2 a gallon. if they charged what it ACTUALLY cost to produce without the govt $, it'd be well over $6 a gallon for the shit.

sorry for the rant and also sorry i kinda jacked your thread...

 

I wish you could buy E-85 around here. My new old engine is pretty high compression. I may end up running two tanks and spraying it, I can buy methanol around here.

 

Corn squeezins are a PITA on most fuel systems, unless EVERYTHING has been changed out to new rubber and plastic components that are compatible with those "wonderful corn fuels". Most, if not all lawn equipment manufacturers will NOT warrant anything that has run ethanol in it, period. Try running 100% real gasoline and that will likely cure your problem, or find a fuel pump that states on the box/instructions that it is compatible with the moonshine fuel.

 

There was a carter electric on my dads 70 satellite for 30 years, it finally went out and i used a holley, still running today. Maybe you just have bad luck with them

 

If you have the room between the frame rails,Go mechanical.Get a pump that you can turn the in/out ports plate under for clearance.

 

That's what I suspect. I've been running a Holley blue pump for something like 20 years. It gets clean fuel. I learned that lesson a long time ago...doesn't take much to jam a pump and kill it

 

Hard to find gasoline around here, everything is 10% ethanol.
The squirrel is correct you need clean fuel before the pump. I can't believe how many fellas I see runing the pump before the filter.

 

Been running Carter P4070's for years, quiet and reliable. I run a filter in front of them. They are the standard replacement pump on carbureted fleet vehicles at work, so that says something for them.

 

that's how mine LOOKS, because you can't see the sock in the tank. Here's the poop from Holley:
"For performance vehicles, 3/8” I.D. hose is recommended. We strongly urge the use of a coarse screen-type filter before the pump and a high quality filter after the pump."
http://www.holley.com/data/Products/Technical/199R7914-3rev2.pdf

 

I was going to suggest that if you REALLY want to run an electric pump, get an assist pump from an early FI Ford truck. What I realize is that, without a return, your pump will repeatedly overheat and you will kill it.

Go mechanical if your engine has a spot for it. Your system better be perfectly clean and a sock behind the pump and a pressure release and return to the tank if you want to run an electric pump. The only time I have trouble with my mechanical flathead is if I let it sit more than a few months and try to start it. 2 tries with starter fluid and the pump is doing what it was made for.

 

I would move it closer to the engine. Your pump will have all the fuel pressure in the line from the volume of fuel in the tank but will have to work it's ass off to get it the rest of the way up tp the motor.

If you move it closer to the engine all the fuel volume pressure from the tank will assist in the draw so the pump only has to make up the last foot or two to the engine.

 

I actually use a nascar type pickup and a filter on mine. I have never cared for a sock. Not that your setup is wrong.

 

Normal street performance electric pumps intended for use with carburetors do not need a return line to survive. Although it might help prevent vapor lock...but that's a different subject.

 

huh?????

I don't even know where to start with this one....

 

About a year ago I was looking for an electric pump for a restored 32 flatbed w/flathead 4. Sacramento Vintage Ford listed a couple, but wouldn't send them out. When I called, they said they have been having lots of trouble with pump failure due to the ethanol in the fuel and were looking for one that would survive. The western states all mandate 10% corn, so finding pure gas is not an option anymore. They finally did come up with one a couple of months later and it seemed to work fine, but it's not an every day vehicle and it hasn't seen even a year of use. It looks to me like anyone building a vehicle now has to design the fuel system to be ethanol compatible

 

there are still a few mom n pop stations out this way that still sell sober gas. hell a couple of em still carry non-oxy fuel as well. sad thing is, you wont be able to get 100ll for much longer without the shit being drunk... friggin epa

ya, i kinda wrinkled my brow at that one too...

 

I have some boat tanks that have a little pump bulb. I'm guessing that he is thinking about a pressurized tank.

 

i always thought those squeezy bulbs on a boat motor fuel line was for priming?

my thought about the statement the guy made that got squirrel and myself wondering is this...

why would it be "better" to have an electric pump closer to the motor? unless you change from a small line to a larger diameter line, you arent going to lose any pressure from near the tank to the motor... not in that short of a distance.... unless i'm missing something here?