If your Midget has the same type of pump as the MGB i.e. the SU
reciprocating type that stops when the system is up to pressure the problem
will almost certainly be electrical and not the diaphragm. A sharp clout
may get it working for a while, but you need to get at the pump and clean up
the contacts that are in the electrical end of the pump. Alternatively it
could simply be that there is a break in the 12v or ground feed to the pump.
If you listen carefully by the pump while you turn the ignition on and it
makes a single click you can be sure it is the points stuck together.
However if they are burnt and not making contact you won't hear the click,
but the fix is to clean and check the points in both cases. This used to be
a routine maintenance item on the square-riggers and the pump was usually
very accessible. But in MGBs a capacitor was fitted in the pump to stop the
points burning, which it does - for the first 100,000 miles or so! On MGBs
at least this capacitor probably led to the factory putting the pump in a
position that renders getting at the points in-situ almost impossible.
Later pumps have diode protection which is even better than the capacitor -
but the factory also moved the pump so that its electrical end stuck into
the boot/trunk making the electrical end accessible again. The higher
position of the RB pumps also means that it can be changed without having to
drain the tank and without fuel running out all the time. And yes, lack of
use may have contributed, new pumps come with a leaflet advising to clean
the contacts if the pump doesn't work initially before returning the pump as
faulty.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Nory" <Nory3@webtv.net>
To: <mgs@autox.team.net>
Sent: Thursday, August 22, 2002 3:00 AM
Subject: Fuel pump
> This should be an easy one for all you experts- I think I know the
> answer, but I'd like confirmation before I start throwing money
> around.....
>
> The fuel pump on the Midget isn't pumping any fuel, and it's clicking
> away as if it were out of gas, but the gas tank is full of fresh fuel.
> Is the diaphragm on this pump shot? Or might there be a different
> problem causing this behavior? The car has been in storage for a while,
> if that has any relevance.....
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