The Gribbin
Active Member
- Posts
- 336
- Location
- Gloucestershire
My pump died last year, and I have finally got around to pulling it apart to see what went wrong, or see if I could revive it... and swap over the sender unit so my fuel gauge would read true.
I remember Shifty saying that you could clean a gauze filter on the bottom of the pump, so removed the outer cover, and found the gauze, totally blocked with black snot... Result, I thought, a quick clean and it would come back to life!
When I cleaned the gauze (carefully with a brush and meths), horror, there was a hole in it... looks like the snot had blocked it up so much that the pump had sucked in the gauze - I think this, because the hole in the gauze lined up with the hole in the inner plate leading to the impeller.
So it was F****ed, so might as well rip in and see what had really gone wrong. The aluminium collar holding the gauze in place would turn but not come off, so I ended up pealing it off - point of no return - it would never go back on after this... The snot was equally thick on the inside of the gauze... despite looking clean from the outside.
Once split I could see the wear on the impeller surfaces where it contacts with the outer plate (one with the hole in it) and the pump body... looked like a mini LP record!!
So I think my dabbling with Bio diesel might have caused the snot build up in the tank... this then blocked the gauze filter... which the pump then ingested... followed by more snot and then unfiltered debris, to the point where the pump shat itself... in fairness it did get me home, although it felt like I was running on three cylinders. Once home and switched off, game over, the engine wouldn't fire/run, until the pump was replaced.
I have attached piccies, to show what I found... your comments/ thoughts on other possible causes would be of interest...
Apologies for the wayward focusing on the piccies... I think you can get the idea.
I remember Shifty saying that you could clean a gauze filter on the bottom of the pump, so removed the outer cover, and found the gauze, totally blocked with black snot... Result, I thought, a quick clean and it would come back to life!
When I cleaned the gauze (carefully with a brush and meths), horror, there was a hole in it... looks like the snot had blocked it up so much that the pump had sucked in the gauze - I think this, because the hole in the gauze lined up with the hole in the inner plate leading to the impeller.
So it was F****ed, so might as well rip in and see what had really gone wrong. The aluminium collar holding the gauze in place would turn but not come off, so I ended up pealing it off - point of no return - it would never go back on after this... The snot was equally thick on the inside of the gauze... despite looking clean from the outside.
Once split I could see the wear on the impeller surfaces where it contacts with the outer plate (one with the hole in it) and the pump body... looked like a mini LP record!!
So I think my dabbling with Bio diesel might have caused the snot build up in the tank... this then blocked the gauze filter... which the pump then ingested... followed by more snot and then unfiltered debris, to the point where the pump shat itself... in fairness it did get me home, although it felt like I was running on three cylinders. Once home and switched off, game over, the engine wouldn't fire/run, until the pump was replaced.
I have attached piccies, to show what I found... your comments/ thoughts on other possible causes would be of interest...
Apologies for the wayward focusing on the piccies... I think you can get the idea.
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