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RE: More fuel pump questions...

To: mgs@autox.team.net
Subject: RE: More fuel pump questions...
From: daneli@umich.edu (Daniel Greenberg)
Date: Fri, 13 Sep 1996 00:32:35 -0400 (EDT)
>> 
>> This is NOT encouraging! <g>   If the stock fuel pumps are such garbage,
as you describe, is there a better alternative?   
>> 
>
>No no no! The pump is not garbage. You just have to make sure that the
>points are properly adjusted and not burned. Many people have tried to
>put on some aftermarket pump to increase reliability. The SU pump is a
>low pressure pump. Many of the after market pumps are higher pressure.
>Using these can cause carb overflowing and other problems.
>
>Fix up your current pump and you'll have good service from it. Plus it
>is easier to remove than the clutch M/C.
>
>
>- -Mark "Click Click Click...." Jurras
>
>

I agree that most of the aftermarket SU replacements
are no good, but I'm not certain how much reliability one 
can expect from an SU either.  Somehow I can't bring 
myself to add "fuel pump points adjustment" to my list 
of regular maintenance items.

For a long time I couldn't understand why people complained 
about SU fuel pumps.  For over 10 years - since I first purchased 
my MG - I didn't have a bit of trouble with my fuel pump, 
even though this was my daily driver and even though I 
drove the car through many a harsh Michigan winter.  In 
fact, the pump was so reliable I had never performed any 
maintenance on it at all!

Finally, the pump housing started to rust and a small leak 
developed.  When I removed it from the car I was surprised 
to find that my SU fuel pump wasn't.  Rather, it was a
Japanese unit manufactured by Mitsubishi.  I cursed the DPO 
(foolishly in this case) and installed the proper SU replacement.  
This was one of the new, more reliable SU's with diode.  4 months 
later, the new pump died.  I tried a few aftermarket replacements, 
but none were acceptable.  (One didn't work at all, another had 
peculiar mounting requirements, pressure was excessive on the third, 
etc.)

I finally took the old Mitsubishi pump, which I had saved, 
to my local Honda dealer.  The parts man came up with a Honda 
part number: 16700-689-055.  I purchased the pump and installed 
it and it has worked without incident, or maintenance, ever 
since.  (It has the same pressure output as a stock SU and it 
fits, with minor tweaking, into the stock bracket.)

I know some may wince at the thought of putting Japanese parts 
into a British car.  (Maybe the association of "Mitsubishi" with 
"Zero" has not been lost entirely from our historical 
consciousness!)  Admittedly, there is a certain charm to stories 
about bringing SU fuel pumps to life with deftly placed hammer 
blows, or with clever bungy-cord contraptions.  Maybe dealing with SU 
fuel pumps requires that unique mix of character traits between 
self-reliance and masochism which makes owning these cars so special.  
On the other hand, from my point of view, when the fuel pump dies 
on the freeway, or in heavy traffic, the balance shifts too 
far in the direction of masochism!

Dan Greenberg
Ann Arbor, MI


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