fuel delivery issue!?

[Jarred]

Guys, i'm stumped.

I've got everything hooked back up in my engine bay, except i've gone to start it, and it's just not getting fuel.

it'll fire up for a bit with juice down the gullet, but other than that, nothing. there is no fuel coming through the fuel filter, and yes there is fuel in the tank (i can still taste it!)

So my geuss is it's the fuel "pump" that hangs off the engine block, next to where the oil filter goes. here's where'd I'd hang a pic, but I can't get onto photobucket atm.

So what do we think? what else do I need to checK? Should i whack the other pump, from my old engine?

p.s. I can suck petrol through the filter in the pre-"pump" line, but when that fuel line is on the pump, there is no fuel coming through the line/fuel filter.


any help appreciated as always!

thanks guys
Jarred

[greasykitchen]

This might not be the wisest thing to do but it might help to see if your fuel pump is working (did it on my old Beetle recently).

Take off the hose from the pump to the carby at the carby end and start the engine, but only for a second. Have someone else to help as if the pump is working fuel should come out of the hose. Try to catch the fuel and/or mop it up. If not, the pump might be stuffed.

I'm not an expert though - does the pump suck the fuel through the filter and the hose?

Hope this is one the right track.

[Preen59]

If that fails swap the pump over. Its a snack. 2 bolts.

[Jarred]

If that fails swap the pump over. Its a snack. 2 bolts.

you think that's the go? the one off my old engine should work. it did before.

and there isn't any petrol getting past the pump to the carb, there isn't any petrl flowing through the fuel filter (before the pump)

[Peter Jones]

You have got the hoses on the pump the right way round haven't you?

[Preen59]

you think that's the go? the one off my old engine should work. it did before.

and there isn't any petrol getting past the pump to the carb, there isn't any petrl flowing through the fuel filter (before the pump)

Get your bloody O fixed, or get a new keyboard.

can you suck it through? Like is there flow? If there is just replace the pump. Look at it this way, the pump is the only thing you changed in the fuel system when you swapped engines, so what else can it be?

I sucked my tank dry a few times when my sender unit failed, and the pump in my car had no issues drawing it up from the tank with an empty line.

[GoLfMan]

sounds like the same prob i had with my weber when i put it on, would run when i wacked fuel down the gullet then die

fuel filter man, my one worked before then died, i know yours is new buy for the sake of $4 try a new one

[Preen59]

You have got the hoses on the pump the right way round haven't you?

Haha, yeah good point. Remember, when you're looking at the engine from the front of the car, the inlet is on the left of the pump.

Actually you might want to swap them around just to be sure anyway, depending on how your return line runs, you might have mixed them up.

Once again, Pete comes through with the ideas.

[Jarred]

my o decides to majically re appear again. this keyboard is whack.

actually Pete, I didn't test them the other way around, although I did have the inlet on the left, like Preen suggested.

I will buy a new filter, for 4 bucks, why not, and then try, and mix up the lines, and then put my old one on.

My reasoning was similar to Preens, if everything else worked before, why not now, whats changed? that's what led me to believe it was the pump. and yes, I can suck petrol through the filter, by sucking on the end that goes onto the inlet of the pump.

quick question though; will i have to drain my oil for this? am I going to make a big mess if i dont?

[Preen59]

my o decides to majically re appear again. this keyboard is whack.

actually Pete, I didn't test them the other way around, although I did have the inlet on the left, like Preen suggested.

I will buy a new filter, for 4 bucks, why not, and then try, and mix up the lines, and then put my old one on.

My reasoning was similar to Preens, if everything else worked before, why not now, whats changed? that's what led me to believe it was the pump. and yes, I can suck petrol through the filter, by sucking on the end that goes onto the inlet of the pump.

quick question though; will i have to drain my oil for this? am I going to make a big mess if i dont?

Good straight forward thinking. Nah you might get a little dribble off the bottom of the plunger but that's it. Your oil is in the sump, remember?

[Jarred]

.... Your oil is in the sump, remember?

yea, just wanted to check, as i only filled it up yesterday! hahha

thanks for you help fellas, will get back to you tomorrow, hopefully with some good news and noise!

[gldgti]

not all the fuel pumps are created equal.... ive seen them with the inlet/outlets reversed.

its easy to pull the pump and pump the lever up and down by hand to find if its working. they REALLY work well if they are working at all.

[Golf Loon]

Very likely the diaphram on the pump is dry and rooted if the engine has been sitting around.

Put your old one on and dont forget the plastic block underneath it.

[Jarred]

It's ALIVE!

it's always the small things. that stuff you up, liking putting the fuel lines on the wrong way at 7pm, and wondering why at 8pm, the car still hasn't started.

So really, more of an operator error than a fuel pump problem! So thanks to Pete, for mentioning this. Would have taken me ages in my current panic'd state to figure that out!

in other news. the car starts. It may be running on 3 cylinders, although I'm not sure. I do have one odd spark plug in there atm, the others are ok.

I do have some more questions though:

I may have damaged the distributor/vaccum advance body, when installing the engine, if so, how hard is it to swap out a distributor?

and

The crank pully, for the water pump and alternator, How hard is it to get one off an engine, and put it onto another engine? (if this makes any sense at all?)

thanks guys.

[Peter Jones]

5 minutes for both tasks.

Pete