An Interesting Fuel Pump Discovery...
So this weekend I had the chance to do a bunch of “stuff” to the truck and one of them was hooking up the new electric pump for the old Weber. (Yes, another PO adventure...) I found it strange that, even though the mechanical pump and all the lines to the tank are still installed correctly, when I cut the return line to cap it, there was not a drop of fuel in it and, judging from the interior of the old rubber line, there hadn’t been for some time.
Now, this could mean a lot of things, but I took it to mean that the volume of fuel circulated back to the tank (at least in this example) was so low as to not matter.
Initially, my plan was to get the new inlet hose installed and then monitor to see if I needed to run a return line. While I’ll still do so, it’s interesting that the mechanical pump gave no signs of being “tired” and it had definitely been replaced at some point.
Right now, I’m waiting for the fuel pump block off plate gasket to get here so I can actually get back to driving and see how the electric pump performs versus the mechanical (likely not much difference) as well as fuel economy. With that done, I can move on to tweaking the timing a bit after a tune up on the ignition system.
Oh, and I’ve read quite often in these pages about “non caustic oven cleaner” for tidying up under the hood and I want to add to that list - basic bathroom spray foam cleaner - the type you use to hose down the shower and toilets with - is also very good. No non caustic on the shelves last week at the grocery store, so I grabbed this on a whim. Sprayed the engine bay down with the hose, hit it with the bathroom cleaner, then a scrub brush to loosen the dirt, and sprayed it down again. I already had the alternator out , so I could be a little more aggressive with the hose, YMMV. Overall, the engine bay is far cleaner than any of the $10/can stuff from the auto parts store!
