Sounds like you found one...yourself.
...Art
On Mon, 4 Aug 1997, Jason F. Dutt wrote:
> For those who would like to know:
>
> I think I have now officially tracked down the problem I've been having
> with my fuel supply randomly cutting out.
>
> As you may remember, I has suspected a short in the positive lead to the
> pump. This has proven bogus.
>
> The reason for this is, the car quit on me the other night (finally), so I
> got an opportunity to examine the various components in aciton while the
> problem was happening. We managed to make it to a parking lot, and with my
> wife sitting patiently on the curb (had to get to the battery compartment
> to check the pump's state; easier than crawling under the car.), and a
> mini-maglite in my hand, I went to work.
>
> First, I started the car again to see if I could duplicate the situation.
> Tick tick tick...the car ran for about 2 minutes, sputtered for 15 seconds,
> quit. I had my hand on the pump during this test, and it wasn't running
> the whole time. The bowls were now empty. I was actually happy, as now I
> could really troubleshoot! Next, I tested my "wire short" theory buy
> hooking up a pair of mini-jumpers I had fabricated earlier directly from
> the battery to the pump. It only ticked a few times. I started the car,
> and it soon died. Wire short theory thrown out, I now suspected the pump.
> Smacked the pump with the blunt end of a screwdriver...no dice. Unhooked
> my jumpers, hooked them up again. Not a single tick. Tapped the positive
> jumper to the terminal intermittently. Tick once. I now ascertain that I
> have a newly-rebuilt faulty pump! (approx. 1000 miles).
>
> Luckily, we were close to the inlaws' house, so I was able to get the car
> there and leave it. I took the fuel pump with me. When I took the plastic
> housing off, I found pitted, blacked points. Ah Ha! I hooked the pump up
> to a 12V with my jumpers with the housing off, so I could see the action.
> The points were arcing (sp?) rather badly. I don't know my electrical
> stuff very well, but I don't think there is a diode fitted; just a
> capacitor.
>
> So...I was off to consult my VB catalog for the relacement part numbers.
> Low and behold, my pump didn't look like either of the pumps shown! The
> bell housing is right, and the pump body, but the area where the
> valves/hoses hook up was totally different. *Grimace* It seems I've been
> had. I went to the guy who put this pump on and asked him about it...
> "Oh...it's from an MG...it's just an older model." Needless to say, I
> picked up a brand new, proper fuel pump, and was credited the fifty clams
> he took from me for the mystery pump. At least he did that right.
>
> As I got in my car to head home, rolling my eyes, I thought, "Srike two."
> This isn't the first time this guy's done something no-quite-so kosher
> IMHO. I had him paint my rostyles for me once. He left the tires on,
> oversprayed all over them, and then used some "tire-black" stuff on the
> tires. It's like a rubber/tar paint. I argued with him over that for an
> hour. His opinion was, "The end product looks good; who cares how you get
> there." I'm more of the philosophy, "Do it right, or don't do it at
> all...I'll find someone else." Meanwhile, this tire-black crap is starting
> to crack...
>
> Anyone know of a good MG mechanic in the Akron, Ohio area?
>
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