Hello All
Today, went for a drive and the FE "konked out" after a little while, just like running out of fuel. Plenty in the tank.
A bit of fuel down the throat of the carby and started ok and of course didn't run for long.
Noticed the fuel in the fuel pump bowl did not seem to cover the filter completely (is this normal?).
and has an air pocket in the bowl. Also notice small bubbles coming up the inside of the bowl????
When I got home, (towed!.. AANT is good)....I undid the fuel line at the carby and turned the engine over, squirted fuel. re connected and runs ok now.
Sooo...should there be an air pocket at the top of the fuel pump bowl when its running? Or should it be full.
If it should be full, how do I "bleed it" or otherwise to get rid of the air.
If it is ok to have the air pocket as it runs ok now, then I will have to look at some other reason it stopped.
Thanks guys.
In my experience it?s normal to have some sort of air bubble trapped in the pump glass bowl. Obviously not down the pick up / strainer screen. maybe check your lines and hoses, even filter if fitted for leaks. Possibly sucking air somewhere along the way.
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It's normal for there to be air in the fuel bowl, above the level of the gauze filter. At least in suburban driving. After a long drive at highway speed, the fuel bowl generally fills completely with fuel.
"Small bubbles coming up the inside of the bowl" is bad. Soft-drink or beer-size bubbles (choose your poison) coming up from the bottom of the fuel bowl indicate a leaking seal around the bowl. Bigger bubbles coming up from the rectangular inlet just below the gauze indicate a leak on the intake side of the fuel pump. The braided hose, if you've still got one, is the prime culprit. The rubber cracks and air leaks in. Fuel may not leak out because there's a slight vacuum at the pump inlet.
Check also that your fuel cap is the vented type. If the cap's not vented and the fuel tank and lines have no leaks, after driving for a while a partial vacuum occurs in the tank, causing fuel starvation. Go for a drive with the fuel cap removed and see whether there's any sign of fuel starvation.
Rob
Thank you guys again.
Replaced the flexible hose that feeds the fuel pump line, cleaned the bowl gasket and reset. Seems to be running ok now.
Bowl fills up nearly to the top now and seems to be ok. Been on a couple of drives around town as well and going ok..(Cross fingers)!!!!!!!
Thanks again for your help o far...
Thinking all was good, a couple of drives and it was till.....died again, noted the fuel level was below the strainer, so emptied the rest out, a bit of gritty bits on top of the strainer, cleaned that, re-installed the glass bowl and cranked over. filled up nicely and got home.
Grrr, anyway, as I have replaced the flexible hose, got a vented fuel cap etc, I replaced the diaphragm and little valves in the fuel side (Suck and blow sides) . I noted that I am still getting a bit of gritty material on top of the strainer. I wonder if these little gritty bits are allowing one of the valves to leak or not shut off completely, not allowing the fuel to pump up to the right level sometimes. As it is quite intermittent.
Anyway, drained the tank, not all that much (gritty bits) came out, so maybe the hard lines are providing the gritty bits.
Has anybody installed an extra inline fuel filter as a precaution?
Any other ideas, or have to flush the fuel lines if that is what is needed????
I have installed a filter between tank and pump although I am told this can create its own issues and I did at one point get air leaking in at the filter hose connections. They were perished. Apparently it is better to blow rather than suck through the filter as the pumps are better than pushing the fuel rather than trying to pull it. Also factory setup uses the steel braiding on the fuel hose to earth the block. Easily remedied with an earth strap. I also bent up and flared a new hard line from the tank to the pump. Not hard to do if you have some decent tools.
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Thanks Errol62
Went for another short drive and it failed again, the level of fuel was below the strainer, and would not pump up.
Just undo the bowl, drain and turn the motor over till it fills up again. Then all good (for a while). No air bubbles, so not sure what is going on.
Drove home with the fuel cap off, just in case the venting cap wasn't venting. Got home ok, so going to get one of those cheap plastic caps and try again.
Once home, cleaned the lines with metho and compressed air, some "bits" come out but not much.
Maybe give the filter a miss then, but even if I installed one, it's not going to find the issue me thinks.
So,,,,, have reconded the fuel pump (diaphragm, seal and valves etc), cleaned and pressurised the lines, no air leaks apparent, new vented fuel cap. Not sure what else it could be.