Had a fuel pump failure this weekend. Fortunately I was safely parked in a lot,
where I could replace the pump after calling my wife to bring the tool box and
go pick up a new fuel pump at the parts store. The new pump cost me a fortune
since it was my only choice at 4:30 on a Saturday afternoon. I'm going to have
a spare $22 one on hand from now on. I was about 30 miles from home so I
figured by fixing it there and driving it home I came out even by saving on the
towing bill. Anybody have towing Ins. with their vintage car insurance
policies?
The pump which looks similar to the one the big three offer does differ in that
it has this "hand pump lever" on the bottom that apparently lets you operate the
fuel pump by pulling up and down on the lever. I have no idea why you would
want to do this? Anyone know if this was an original feature that the new
pumps sold by the big three decided to leave off? The box the pump came in says
it was made in Italy. I noticed some other parts (dist. cap, rotor, condenser,
points) I've bought from the same parts store were also made in Italy. Anyone
else out there encountered Italian parts for Triumphs? Your experiences? I've
noticed my German designed (body) English car seems to do just fine with the
infusion of Italian parts except that it veers towards every Alpha it sees and
starts running hot.
When I replaced the pump it came out in pieces because the pump lever arm that
sticks inside the engine had lost the pivot pin that it rotates on and also
holds it into the pump. The problem is the pin and the end of another rivet
that got sheared off the lever arm were no where to be found. In the short term
I decided to see if I could "grab" these pieces by putting a 35 lb. pull magnet
($9.49 at Eagle hardware) on the bottom of the oil pan. Hopefully this might
gather the pieces and keep them on the bottom of the pan until I get a chance to
pull the pan and recover the metal pieces. Might even collect some other stray
metal particles. Now I can order that spare pan gasket along with the spare
fuel pump.
Bud 71TR6 CC57365
P.S. I'd had a problem with my idle dropping about 200-300 rpms after revving
and, with normal driving, at stop lights, etc. Most times the engine would
bounce back to normal idle but some times (especially lately with cooler
weather) it would just die. I'm guessing that was a sign that my fuel pump was
not 100% at the lower rpms and a precursor to its total failure. I know that
with the new fuel pump I don't have the bounce at low rpms now.
|