Changing fuel pump

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85Santana3

85Santana3

Active Member
Posts
284
Location
Canada
Hello everybody
How easy is it to change fuel pump in series 3 landy?
My fuel pump was heating up and stop sending fuel when it was hot. An incompetent mechanic opened it and made some changes. Now it is not working at all. I am stuck somewhere that towing it or taking a mechanic to it is not an option.
I have to find another pump and take it there and change it myself.
Any advice is greatly appreciated.
 
Did it stop working as soon as the mechanic messed with it, or did it work for a while and then eventually fail? Are you sure it's the pump and just not air in the system.

Col
 
Col thank you for your quick reply.
No. It worked for several days and it was fine (it would showed problem only when it was very hot and I was going up hill) .
Yesterday I drove some 50 km in the morning and parked it for several hours.
It started but after 10 meters then it stopped.
I poured some cold water on the pump. It did not help.
I manually pumped the fuel and could see no fuel going into the fuel filter.
I got 8 liters of fuel and add it to the tank. It started right away but died again after a few minutes.
If it is not the pump, what are the signs of air and how can I fix it?
Thank you for your help in advance
 
Col, this landy is 2.25 petrol and fuel pump looks like the attached file with the pumping lever at the bottom.
 

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Ah, I now see you have a Santana petrol so we are talking about the lift pump. Does the glass bowl have fuel in it? When the bowl is removed to to get rid of the crap that builds up, it can be tricky getting it to re-seal. They are a bit awkward to get at. I removed my dustbin air cleaner to get at mine.

Col
 
It's unusual for them to be affected by heat. If they cause problems it's usually because the sediment filter is blocked or the bowl isn't seated properly on the seal. You need to take it off, remove the bowl and check that the seal is sitting properly. For a long time, I've suspected mine isn't as efficient as it could be and I bought an electric pump to replace it.However, since I bought the new pump, the old one has worked perfectly.

Col
 
To be honest I can't anwer that question I did not pay attention to the glass bowl when this happened and I am nowhere near the truck right now. When I go there this afternoon I will check it. That idiot of a mechanic opened every part of the pump and the glass bowl and banged and hammered the top part very confidently. The top was warped according to him and he put it in a vice and tried to straighten it.
Does the signs tells you whether it is air in the system? If yes what can I do about it?
Thank a 1000000
 
My first reply was made in the misunderstanding that you might have had a diesel, my bad. Petrol landies don't have the same problem with air in the fuel that diesels do. What you say about your mechanic saying the pump was warped sounds strange, they are generally very reliable if not a bit crude. If he has been banging it with a hammer, he may have distorted it so it can't seal properly. If you take the pipe off the carb and manually prime the pump with the hand lever, petrol should flow out of the pipe, if it does, the pump is ok. If not, you probably need a new pump, they are not expensive but are fiddly to fit, better done from underneath unless you have exceptionally long arms. It is always best to fit a transparent fuel filter in line just before the carb so that you can easily see fuel coming through.

Does your land have two fuel tanks by any chance?

Col
 
85Santana3 said:
It has one fuel tank. why?
Click to expand...
Well, mine has two and there is little lever on the seat base for switching between the two tanks. When I first got mine, I didn't know it had a second tank and wondered what the lever was for. I fiddled with it but couldn't figure out its purpose until I drove away one day and after a few hundred yards it conked out. I had turned the lever to the second tank position which was empty. I was wondering if this might be your problem but obviously not..

Col
 
If I understand correctly your solution is to change the fuel pump (based on these signs). Thank you very much for your kind and quick replies.
cheers
 
85Santana3 said:
If I understand correctly your solution is to change the fuel pump (based on these signs). Thank you very much for your kind and quick replies.
cheers
Click to expand...
Yes, given what you said about your mechanic and his hammer, I think the best thing would be to change the pump. Get the best one you can find, a company called Britpart supply them over here, they are cheap and have a bad reputation for quality. Apart from the fuel outlet pipe, they are held on by just two bolts but are fiddly to get at.

Col
 
85Santana3 said:
To be honest I can't anwer that question I did not pay attention to the glass bowl when this happened and I am nowhere near the truck right now. When I go there this afternoon I will check it. That idiot of a mechanic opened every part of the pump and the glass bowl and banged and hammered the top part very confidently. The top was warped according to him and he put it in a vice and tried to straighten it.
Does the signs tells you whether it is air in the system? If yes what can I do about it?
Thank a 1000000
Click to expand...
when you pump lever bubbles will appear in the glass bowl
 
Thank James for your reply.
An update: I went and checked what you had asked me. The glass bowl was clean and clear. Pumping manually made absolutely no difference even though I removed the hose to be sure.
What I did I made a small fuel tank with a water bottle, a piece of rubber hose and epoxy glue. I filled it with the fuel and connected the hose directly to carburetor and tied the bottle to the hinge of front windshield above the hood so they fuel went down by gravity. Truck got started and I drove to somewhere closer to the garage (It would run into problem when I was going uphill or if I went too fast).
It is a ridiculous solution, but temporarily it works.
Since the manual pumping does not work I have to change the pump altogether.
I want to thank you both for your suggestions and help, good to know there is help no matter where you are stuck.
 
There is one thing you haven't thought of and the symptoms fit: It might be simple fuel starvation, probably caused by a blocked filter mesh on the fuel pick-up pipe inside the fuel tank. What happens is that foreign bodies are floating around in the fuel and they gradually gather around the mesh filter and eventually block it sufficiently for fuel starvation to happen. You will notice this first when pulling hard up a hill or maybe when driving hard on the open road; the vehicle will lose power and struggle to keep going. Sometimes when you stop the engine, the pump stops sucking and the debris drops away from the filter allowing you to get going again - until it blocks again. Sometimes the stuff does not fall away at all and needs to be removed manually.
Having said the above, you might still need a new lift pump because it sounds to me as though your 'mechanic' may have delivered a death blow to the poor thing.
 
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