Fuel pump

[Louis]

So I lost another fuel pump on Thursday. This is my 4th one in 720 hours. I have been using the Mr gasket from AutoZone. It only has to suck fuel for 3 Ft but it has to push the fuel 13ft. Dodge extended van.

Any suggestions on a pump that might last a little longer. I keep a spare on the truck. That's what saved on the job. Just finished spraying with the hydro force and it died.

Thanks

 

[Desk Jockey]

Is it getting too hot? Heat seems to shorten the life of them. Can it be mounted in another location?

 

[Louis]

Its inside the van away from the truck mount about 8 inches off the floor. It has been very hot here last week.

 

[Becker]

All mine have ever been mounted to the frame under the van, pull a few feet push a few feet, I've have some last only a short time, but most last 1000s of hrs.

Something is not right.

Whats the failure? Does the pump sound like it is trying to pump? Or nothing?
Could be vapor lock, I've had that problem on my 2010 with a 405 in it on some of the super hot days, not sure why the other van does not suffer from the issue at all.

 

[Lee Stockwell]

Its inside the van away from the truck mount about 8 inches off the floor. It has been very hot here last week.

It needs to be mounted UNDER the van, near the fuel tap location, prefferably secured above a frame section.

It will then be cooler and PUSH all the way. My remote thermometer shows ambient temperature in the van often pushing 120 deg.F.

I carry a spare, like you, but pumps last over 1500 hrs (2yrs).

 

[Desk Jockey]

We too mount them under the van to a frame member. Its a rare issue for us to lose a fuel pump.

It has to be the heat killing them. Move the next one, take a marker and write the date on it. See if it lasts any longer, hopefully it does.

 

[Jack Zipper Zerkie]

My chevy engine is fuel injected so I remove the gas cap to lower the pressure in the tank and replace it after the job. jz.

 

[dealtimeman]

Jackie I am not not an engineer by any means, but I believe you are wasting countless hundreds and hundreds of dollars a year ( based on current gas prices and time spent removing and replacing your gas cap on each job) doing what you described above.

Not only that, but at here in Texas, gas has a good bit of ethanol in it and will absorb moisture from the air as you "vent" your tank, this will eventually gum up your fuel lines and injectors on both you tm and van motor.

 

[dealtimeman]

So I lost another fuel pump on Thursday. This is my 4th one in 720 hours. I have been using the Mr gasket from AutoZone. It only has to suck fuel for 3 Ft but it has to push the fuel 13ft. Dodge extended van.

Any suggestions on a pump that might last a little longer. I keep a spare on the truck. That's what saved on the job. Just finished spraying with the hydro force and it died.

Thanks

Call cobbs and get one of the ones larry sells, the ones from autozone from mr gasket are really bad and have no quality to them at all, also as stated above mount under the van clos to the tank as safely possible.

 

[glenboy]

Buy factory replacement

 

[Louis]

I built my truck mount so there is no factory replacement. I will make a bracket and mount under the van I always had 2mounted on the wall of the van where the fuel line came into the van so if it went out just move the hoses to the other pump, wire it and back in business.

How far can one of these little pumps push and does it shorten the life of the pump? You need 2-3psi but how much psi do you lose on a long run? I increased the hose size to 5/16 to help with the flow and a large fuel filter. I even have a fuel pressure gauge by the engine to monitor the pressure.

 

[Becker]

My chevy engine is fuel injected so I remove the gas cap to lower the pressure in the tank and replace it after the job. jz.

Pressure in a tank would help it squirt, your method is useless.

I can't recall ever having a tm and van that was not fuel injected, and removing the gas cap was never suggested or done.

Yeah. I'll keep it capped.

 

[renegade_cowboy]

That is great advice with mounting it under the van on the frame.. make sure that it is mounted horizontal and not vertical too.

 

[realclean]

Most here are correct. It is better to have the pump push.

Look for a Facet brand pump. I have over 3k hours on one with no problems.

 

[realclean]

Oh the model number is 40104.

 

[dgardner]

How far can one of these little pumps push and does it shorten the life of the pump? You need 2-3psi but how much psi do you lose on a long run? I increased the hose size to 5/16 to help with the flow and a large fuel filter. I even have a fuel pressure gauge by the engine to monitor the pressure.

Louis - for flows this low you only lose pressure when the pump has to lift fuel - in other words when the fuel line goes uphill. for every 3 feet change in elevation (approximately) you will lose about 1psi.

As everyone has mentioned, it's easier for the pump to push than pull so closer to the tank is better, within reason. It's especially bad if the pump has to pull uphill - i.e the pump is higher than the fuel level. If you can, mount the pump at or slightly below the normal fuel level.

 

[GeneMiller]

Change your wire to a larger gauge ( 14 to 12 ).

Gene

 

[Louis]

I will ck the gauge of wire

 

[dgardner]

Change your wire to a larger gauge ( 14 to 12 ).

Gene

Gene, the little low-pressure fuel pumps draw typically less than 2 amps. The Facet cube pumps draw about 1.6A, 14 gauge wire is plenty big. Bigger wire certainly won't hurt, though.

 

[GeneMiller]

Gene, the little low-pressure fuel pumps draw typically less than 2 amps. The Facet cube pumps draw about 1.6A, 14 gauge wire is plenty big. Bigger wire certainly won't hurt, though.

I agree it should be large enough but I remember my avenger 210 used to eat pumps until I went to the next larger size.. The heat these machines put out cause strange problems. Won't hurt trying.

Gene

 

[dgardner]

Won't hurt trying.
Gene

True dat....

 

[Shane T]

Just another thought here about fuel pumps. If the pump sounds like it is trying to pump, sometimes what looks like a bad pump can be fixed by priming the pump. On occasion if I run my fuel tank to low while driving the truck mount pump will not pump after I have filled the tank. I will take the suction side hose off the pump and gravity feed the pump to get it re-primed. My current pump has over 3000 hrs and still going strong.

 

[Shawn Forsythe]

That is great advice with mounting it under the van on the frame.. make sure that it is mounted horizontal and not vertical too.

Brent, not true about the orientation. Some fuel pumps absolutely MUST be mounted vertically in order to function properly. The pumps that Hydramaster uses, and many Prochems use must be mounted nearly or completely vertically or they WILL fail. By "fail", I mean you will damage the fuel pump, rendering it inoperable. That is not to say the model Louis is using will have that problem, but it is a concern that should be addressed by heeding the mounting directions specific to the fuel pump.

 

[handdi]

i had a prob very sim to this on my camper.Come to find out i had a very small hole in my rubber fuel line.
So really look at your fuel lines also see if any chapping join on there

 

[Louis]

So I had to make a bracket to mount it under the van. It works great now. Holds at 4psi the whole day. Fuel filter is full. Before it would be maybe a quarter full of fuel.

Thank you

 

[Becker]

How do you know it is holding 4 psi? You have a fuel pressure gauge?
My problem has a cage around the fuel pump.
Past I just used a previous hole in the frame or loosed a nut on the frame somewhere to support the fuel pump.

At least it is working for you. Under the van is far better than inside.


....

 

[Louis]

I put a gauge right before the motor so I can see the psi. Seen so many post about fuel pumps over the years I figured it would be a good idea. When it was in the van it would drop after a couple of hours. Did a stone job yesterday for 5 hours and it held 4psi the whole time.

I mounted it 5 inchs away from the tank.

 

[realclean]

I put a gauge right before the motor so I can see the psi. Seen so many post about fuel pumps over the years I figured it would be a good idea. When it was in the van it would drop after a couple of hours. Did a stone job yesterday for 5 hours and it held 4psi the whole time.

I mounted it 5 inchs away from the tank.

What brand did you go with this time?

 

[Louis]

I used the Mr gasket that was barely working. Now it works like a champ. In the morning the fuel filter used to be empty, now it stays full from the pressure of being next to the tank.