<VV> fuel pump question

[Tony Underwood]

At 07:31 hours 10/06/2005, Arthur Landis wrote:
>I have a '66 Sport Sedan with a freshly rebuilt 140.  My mechanical 
>fuel pump is 4 months old (2500 miles).  I've had to tighten the top 
>screws on it 3 times because it starts leaking after a while.  Is 
>this a common ailment with mechanical fuel pumps?


Sometimes, yes.


>Is there a cure?

Yes.  Keep snugging the screws.  The top diaphragm will eventually 
seat in and the pump will stop weeping.   It's the nature of the 
beast with the material being used in many new series pumps.


>Has anyone tried to take the top screws off and put lok-tite on the threads?

I wouldn't recommend it.   The screws loosening isn't the 
problem.  It's settling of the gaskets and diaphragms that cause the 
screws to loosen slightly.


>Is there a good (better) mechanical fuel pump to replace this "new" 
>pump?  I don't want to go with an electric fuel pump.


There is an issue with some mechanical fuel pumps in that they were 
assembled with the wrong gasket-diaphragm material, a rubbery 
compound that had no fiber reinforcement which was responsible for a 
lot of early pump failures.   Most of these bogus pumps have been 
weeded out of the system but on occasion one will still pop 
up.    It's easy to check the pump for the fiber reinforced material 
by looking at the edges of the diaphragms around the sides of the 
pump.  If you look close (use a magnifier if need be) you'll be able 
to see the threads in the good pumps.   No fiber/threads, expect it 
to be trouble sooner or later.

The right pump will last for decades and never give you any 
problems.   You need not resort to an electric pump when good 
mechanical pumps that work fine are to be had.   You just have to 
dodge the few bogus pumps that might still be out there...  check to 
see that yours isn't one of those non-fiber reinforced diaphragm 
variants.   Again, for those who didn't hear it back when it was 
being beaten to death, I have photos of good vs bogus pumps which 
demonstrate the differences between the two.



>If this is a question that has been asked to death, please indulge 
>me because I'm fairly new here.

...Just because somebody came in after the last bell sounded doesn't 
mean their question has no merit.


>The last time I asked a question I received a derogatory and 
>insulting reply because I asked something that had been discussed a 
>lot in the past.


Ignore them.   Ask your questions and don't worry about it.    You 
might wanna mention to them that you weren't there for the previous 
discussion, so as to remind them that the world isn't running 
according to their time schedule.    I've missed topic discussions 
and then asked questions, been told I was a day late etc...  didn't 
worry about it because somebody somewhere would usually provide me 
with an answer.

Isn't that what this list is for...?


tony..