Worldly Scions,
Having recently suffered through some fuel pump tribulations,
I thought this might be useful to some of you. It appears that
there are some defective pumps being supplied these days.
These are the non-descript, straight-arm units with no markings
or identifying letters on the exterior. Apparently they are
manufactured by Q.H. but they come packaged under different
brand names.
The defect is visible at the bottom of the actuating arm.
Look for stress cracks where the arm is bent just outside
where it enters the fuel pump body. The cracks (if present)
are large enough to lodge the end of your fingernail in.
They may be on one or both sides of the lever. This can
lead to the lever breaking off and falling inside your motor.
The story:
Last Saturday my fuel pump failed (stopped pumping) during
the car's annual safety/emissions inspection (a whole sub-
story in itself, but I'll spare you). This was one of the
"Made in Italy" units [not the subject of this email]
and it had given me many years of good service.
I replaced it with a [defective] new unit "from stock" This
particular pump was packaged in a "FAI Automotive" box which
had "Made in England" printed on it. I used the 1/4" spacer
with this pump although it is supposedly not required.
The pump lasted for 3 days or about 50 miles before the lever
snapped off and headed for my engine sump. Fortunately this
happened less than a mile from my home.
I ordered 3 new pumps from a different vendor, which arrived
today. These were packaged in clear plastic bags with a
small label on them saying only "QFP 119". When I saw that
they were identical to the short lived unit, I inspected
the area where the other one had broken closely. Of the three;
one was cracked on both sides of the lever, one was cracked
on one side, and the third looks to be OK. The lever is made
of the ubiquitous "yellow" metal. I don't really trust any of
these pumps any farther than I could throw them.
These might not even last long enough for the pin to fall
out of them ;-)
--
Bob Sykes
"Sometimes one pays most for the things one gets for nothing."
--Albert Einstein
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