>> Most electric fuel pumps will also restart if you switch the
>> ignition off and on again a few times. Easier than crawling under
>> the car in the wet. They normally stick because the coil moves the
>> point, but it doesn't make good contact. Switching the ignition off
>> and on moves the point, often enough to make contact again.
>>
>
> I thought that was why they mounted the fuel pump as easily
> accessible from outside the car (I have bashed a few back into life,
> myself, before taking the hint and replacing them) - rather than like
> the Rover SD1 where it is neatly hidden almost in the middle of the
> underside of the car behind a protective shield - which took a
> pounding once or twice :-)
>
Actually, for those of us with LHD Bs, the fuel pump is within arm's
reach of the driver's seat. Sure, it's on the other side of some sheet
metal, but a well-placed smack or two with a suitably blunt object on
the passenger's side vertical panel (just above the floorboard) can
resuscitate an ailing fuel pump long enough to make it through that
nasty intersection. It's a coming-of-age moment, of sorts, when you
know enough about your car to casually swing your arm over the
passenger's seat, grab the large screwdriver that's strategically
placed there, and whack your way back into the stream of traffic. But
yeah, at the first convenience, do take it out and service it...
Todd Mullins
muses@cableone.net
'74 MGB Tourer in a jillion pieces
'87 VW Cabriolet daily driver
'84 Bertone X1/9 for the wife
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