I was stranded briefly the other day when my TR6 started, sputtered, died, and
wouldn't start again. On inspection of the fuel pump I saw a bent wire sticking
out near the manual pumping lever. It's an AC pump, original I'm pretty sure. I
disconnected the fuel line from the pump, cranked the engine, and got a big
squirt of gas. Next I looked for spark from the coil wire and got it. Then I
looked inside the distributor, saw nothing but clean contacts and walls, pulled
on the spring-loaded center contact a bit, replaced the cap, and cranked the
engine again. Started right up. Hard to believe I did anything to fix the
problem, so I pulled the fuel pump when I got home. The bent wire turned out to
be a spring designed to pull back when the manual lever was pushed, but it was
bent and detached from one side. It turns out that the lever springs back
nicely without the wire in place. I cleaned up everything and replaced the pump
without the spring. Then I saw that the pump is unavailable at Moss and
Victoria British and sells for $120 at TRF! The spring is not available. There
is a replacement pump without a manual lever for only $30. I probably could
bend the spring back into shape, but I'm leaning against doing anything. Is
that spring really necessary?
I'll probably buy the $30 pump and keep it with all the other spare parts I
carry, but I'm curious about the original pump.
Tim Gaines
Clinton, SC
1974 TR6
1980 Spitfire
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