[Healeys] fuel pump

Hank Leach gradea1 at charter.net
Sun Jul 30 15:58:14 MDT 2023 

Stevedores! Back in the day the Austin-Healey 100 body parts were
"upgraded" to use a steel bonnet and boot lid in place of the original
aluminum style. This modification was directed at the behest of Donald
Healey, himself, who upon bringing his cars to the US experienced
major damage to them from stevedores walking over the cars to get from
one end of the hold to the other. Cars are stuffed together with as
little as 3" between them.
I wrote an article in the J/F 2023 edition of the Austin Healey
Magazine discussing the issue and just how badly these cars were
treated by the shipping companies trusted with their safe delivery.
Many cars were damaged and required extensive body repairs at the
receiving port dealer. Some cars were so sadly treated that they had
to be scrapped.
As Al notes-"the joys of travel" can be directly related to those
individuals who are paid handsomely to deliver cars across the seas in
one piece, not necessarily in a good piece. Hank

	-----------------------------------------From: alfuller194 at gmail.com
To: "Bob Spidell", "Michael Oritt"
Cc: healeys at autox.team.net
Sent: Sunday July 30 2023 2:33:19PM
Subject: Re: [Healeys] fuel pump

	Good question on just what was the sequence of events that led to the
ignition switches being left ‘on’.  

	One clue might be in something I neglected to mention in my prior
post: they also drained the fuel tanks. And by drained, I mean every
drop of fuel! At least one car leaked out of the fuel tank drain on
refueling, because the drain plug had not been secured after the
draining. 

	If you think it through, I bet they didn’t drive them into the
container and then do the de-fueling in the confines of the container.
Rather, drain the fuel or pump it out before pushing the car in and
securing it. This sequence would provide more opportunity for the key
to be left on. In the end, we do know how the cars arrived, but not
how they got that way. Ah, the joys of travel!! 

	---------------- 

	All the best, 

	Al Fuller  

	FROM: Bob Spidell 
SENT: Sunday, July 30, 2023 7:52 AM
TO: Michael Oritt 
CC: alfuller194 at gmail.com; healeys at autox.team.net
SUBJECT: Re: [Healeys] fuel pump   

	re: "He said _"When the cars arrived in Norway in early June, several
hadignition switches left in the 'on' position and the battery master
switch_
_also left on"_ which would explain why the batteries were run down."

Dang. Missed that (still on my first cup of coffee). But, how do they
shut their engines down if they leave the ignition on? That's one
screw-up I've never managed in 55 years of driving (sometimes, it's
hard to shut them down even with the ignition turned off). They would
have had to leave their keys in the ignition; is that required for
shipping?

re: "Also, if any of the cars had points ignitions and the contacts
were closed would not that contribute to current drain, if not a
burned set of points?"

The points should be able to handle the load, limited by coil
impedance; it's when opening the points suffer erosion. The coil would
likely be damaged, though, since without the engine running the
primary coil circuit is almost a dead short (usually 1-3 ohms
impedance).

	On 7/30/2023 7:37 AM, Michael Oritt wrote:     

	Bob--   

	He said _"When the cars arrived in Norway in early June, several had_
 

	_ignition switches left in the 'on' position and the battery master
switch_
_also left on"_ which would explain why the batteries were run down.  


	Also, if any of the cars had points ignitions and the contacts were
closed would not that contribute to current drain, if not a burned set
of points?   

	On Sun, Jul 30, 2023 at 10:17 AM Bob Spidell  wrote:   

	That's kinda odd; did they leave GPSs or some other electronics on?
 Nothing on a stock Healey should be drawing current with the key off.
 I've left the cutoff 'on' for months without draining a battery.

 'Modern' cars are a different story; they'll run a battery down in a
few
 weeks, with anti-theft, remote unlock, etc. drawing current
 continuously. Also, I think battery quality has gone downhill overall
 since most are now produced in Mexico.

 On 7/29/2023 9:44 PM, alfuller194 at gmail.com wrote:
 > Humm - low battery causing the pump to effectively 'stall' is
something to
 > think about...
 >
 > On a related note, I have my fingers crossed for my own battery!
The car is
 > due to be shipped back from Norway any day now, returning from the
European
 > Healey Meet. When the cars arrived in Norway in early June, several
had
 > ignition switches left in the 'on' position and the battery master
switch
 > also left on. The result was several of the cars needed new
batteries before
 > going anywhere. This was despite most everyone having printed
'starting and
 > storing instructions' in the car calling for the battery master
switch to be
 > used. Like I said - fingers crossed...
 >
 > As to the Healey Meet - great roads! One of my favorites is
Trollstigen
 > ['Troll's Ladder']. For a sample, see:
 >  [1]https://www.lifeinnorway.net/trollstigen-norway/ [2]
 >
 > ----------------
 > All the best,
 >
 > Al Fuller
 >
 > -----Original Message-----
 > From: Healeys  On Behalf Of Bob Spidell
 > Sent: Friday, July 28, 2023 7:00 PM
 > To: healeys at autox.team.net
 > Subject: Re: [Healeys] fuel pump
 >
 > Conceivably--note: 'conceivably'--less than 12V at the pump would
leave the
 > electromagnet charged but unable to fully retract the diaphragm and
open the
 > points (or electronic circuit) to stop current flow. You'd still
have
 > current flowing through the electromagnet, which could overheat
and, well,
 > fry.
 >
 >
 > On 7/28/2023 2:37 PM, alfuller194 at gmail.com wrote:
 >> Jim - I don't recall those messages, so maybe someone with more
 >> knowledge than me can respond.
 >>
 >> That said, I don't see how a low or dead battery would damage a
fuel
 >> pump. I would think the pump would see just the circuit as
unpowered
 >> and not work, but not suffer for the experience...
 >>
 >> ----------------
 >> All the best,
 >>
 >> Al Fuller
 >>
 >> -----Original Message-----
 >> From: Healeys  On Behalf Of
 >> healeymanjim
 >> Sent: Friday, July 28, 2023 10:47 AM
 >> To: healeys at autox.team.net
 >> Subject: [Healeys] fuel pump
 >>
 >> i have seen messages on the list where folks have stated that low
 >> battery can cause problems with solid state fuel pump. the battery
i
 >> replaced was so weak it would not turn the motor over even with
plugs
 >> removed. any info on this anyplace on the internet?
 >>
 >
 >

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