engine and drivetrain Safety Announcement: Replacement Mechanical Fuel Pumps

[AceAndrew]

^  Yep. still do for the race cars (just do NOT run a stainless-braided flex line to it, it will fatigue the fitting).  Strangely enough some of the knock-off webers come with threaded fittings out of the box.

[Mike Self]

Same thing happened on the factory fuel pump fitted to my Renault 4CV--except on the Renault, the outlet side of the fuel pump was aimed at the distributor.  The result was a small fire, but quickly extinguished with a bucket of water (all that was available).  I was able to drive the car home with only slightly toasty ignition wires!  

 

Lessons learned:  

 

1.  support the fuel line so it isn't dangling from the fuel pump inlet or outlet nipples (on the Renault it was copper and nearly 2 ft long)

2.  Slightly ovalize/deform the brass nipple and drive it back in place with a lead or copper mallet

3.  then peen the area around the nipple

4.  carry a proper fire extinguisher--then one of Murphy's many laws says you'll never need it.

 

cheers

mike

[dlhoovler]

I've had an extinguisher in the '02 for years, but the only car I've had actually catch fire was our "new" car, a 10-year-old Plymouth Acclaim (don't judge me any more than I already do myself), when we were living in Kentucky. The valve cover bolts loosened up, and when my wife pulled into a very steep driveway, oil dumped onto the exhaust manifold and caught fire. A couple of passing rednecks on an ATV yanked their t-shirts off and put the fire out with them and a bucket of water.  I'm not kidding.

 

I drove over and figured out what had happened (to the car, not the rednecks). Tightened the valve cover down, patched up two scorched wires to the oxygen sensor, and the son of a gun started right up. Ginger didn't believe me when I walked in and announced that we could drive it home.

 

Incidentally, the person she was visiting bought the car a couple of months later...

 

-Dave

Edited May 22, 2015 by dlhoovler

[beammmer]

I put JB weld on it and reinstalled.

Blasphemy!!!

Oh, that was before my current job.

Don

[ray_]

Blasphemy!!!

Oh, that was before my current job.

Don

 

I'll do better next time!

 

4799!!

 

[zinz]

Holi cannoli.... I can't believe the '75 didn't burn to the ground this morning...

 

I've been resurrecting this car and have only been commuting with it for 2 weeks.  I'm getting onto a highway this morning and running up through the gears and she sputters and dies... I'm pulling to the side, thinking what the heck???  It had been running pretty well.  Then I see condensation all over the hood, right above where the carb sits...  oh shiitake...

 

Pop the hood and fuel is EVERYWHERE.  Sure as shootin', the damned nipple on the high pressure side of the mechanical fuel pump popped out and the pump doused the "cool" side of the engine bay with gasoline.  

 

I was able to tap it back in place, and was pretty close to home, so I limped it back to the driveway.  Got out my tools and repaired it by firmly seating the nipple, then with a sharp center punch, peened the aluminum housing around the nipple to lock it into place. Seemed pretty tight, so I drove on to work...  SCARY.

 

Here's a pic....  I'm thankful the car didn't catch fire... it pumped gas straight on the alternator...any spark would have set it up.   ....also totally bummed....the gasoline stripped the paint off my brand new (installed on Sunday) 320 radiator... crud.  Thankfully, I had a gallon of water in the car and was able to dilute the fuel spill.

 

 

I will take some better pictures later of the fix. I'm surprised more cars haven't caught fire.

 

Be safe out there...

 

Ed Z

Edited May 12, 2016 by zinz

[jimk]

Sure as shootin', the damned nipple on the high pressure side of the mechanical fuel pump popped out

  So what you are sayin is that unless you are up close and personal with a newly purchased car, "Check your Nipples!".

[borgpj]

Amen on the JB Weld solution!  02 has not run for about 10 years, but when it gets close, I will doublecheck all the press-in fuel lline fittings and JB Weld them if needed.  My experience with JB on fuel lines involves the fuel line inlet on a Rochester Quadrajet.  All the threads had stripped out of the carb, so in a Hail Mary shot, I JB Welded the inlet filter back in.  It has held fast for 2 years now.  No leaks.

[zinz]

Believe me... I'm telling all the local guys and y'all too...  If you have a mechanical fuel pump, peen those fittings NOW.

 

Ed

[Greg R aka Big_Lebowski]

Glad all turned out okay Ed! 

[skipsfcr]

Yikes Ed! Close call! Mike Wooldridge of Hot Springs, AR had the inlet nipple pop out of his 38/38 (as Toby and others referenced in the older part of this thread) enroute to an event we attended at Lane Motor Museum in Nashville on 04-04-04. He wasn't so lucky. If he hadn't been quick with an extinguisher his beautiful red '71 would've been crispy fried. He managed to skate by with damage to the paint on the hood and minor engine bay damage. Scary stuff.