A tip on those pesky SU fuel pumps: aka, why banging on the fuel pump makes it
work.
I have been experiencing a fuel starvation problem in my TD after I let it sit
for a week or more. It will fire up, the pump is ticking slowly but a block
from my house the car dies for lack of fuel in the carbs. Verified by
removing the float bowl top and finding the needle valve open but the float on
the bottom. The pump is still ticking but no fuel is being pumped. A few
hard raps on the valve body section of the pump gets the fuel flowing again.
Thinking it must be the one way valve under the outlet union on the pump, I
removed the union and the valve and the two flat discs that are the one way
valves and sure enough there was considerable hard residue carbon coating on
each. Cleaned them off with my finger nail and some carb cleaner and
reinstalled. All seems to be fine. I wonder how many of us have cussed at
those SU pumps and the only problem was sticky valves not letting any fuel
out. So if your pump is ticking but there is no output, your problem could
well be these little flat discs stuck closed with carbon buildup. For me the
problem never seemed to occur if the car was used frequently or once it passed
that one block away from the house hurdle.
John F. Quilter
1951 MGTD, 1960 Morris Minor, 1969 Austin America
Brisbane, California
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