How to test fuel pump out of tank?

Hi Everyone

I have a problem with my Freebie which I think I have narrowed down to the fuel pump. I am about to shell out for another one but I thought there might be a way of testing the original pump, out of the tank?

Does anyone know if there is a way of testing the original fuel pump?

Thanks

Ian

if you remove the pump , you will be able to give it a good clean there is a mesh filter , make sure it is clean , they usually wear on the motor commutator, not the pump itself,, if you rig up 12v you will be able to test to see if it spins ok, inspect the commutator for excessive wear

While you can run the pump out of the tank, bear in mind that the motor is cooled by the fuel running through it. So keep any test runs short. The other problem with a non immersion test is motor load. When the pump is in the tank, the motor is pumping 60+ psi of pressure so loading the motor is high. Out of the tank running light may not show up a fault at all.
The best way to test them correctly is to pump fuel as normal. It best if you can pipe the fuel back into the tank through the fuel filler tube. If some kind of restriction is added to the pipe, then the pump will be pressure loaded at the same time as pumping volume.
Obviously fuel is dangerous so you need to be careful using this method.

nodge68 good point about testing, running it light will only prove that it spins freely,

in the past i have tested the flow rates of the pre pumps by taking the pipe off before it goes to the filter and into a bucket, again you have to be careful, also note there is a pressure switch on the filter if the pressure isnt sufficient the engine wont start

Thanks for the excellent responses, I will give it a try in the morning by rigging up a fuel line back into the fuel filler pipe, with a clamp on it to provide a bit of pressure. Hopefully, this will tell me if I need another pump or not...

I appreciate the replies, helpful as always!

Regards

Ian