So after installing my RB Dellorto carb yesterday (and being very pleased with the results), I decided to install my new Carter 7psi fuel pump tonight... and encountered a strange problem.

With everything hooked up correctly and triple-checked (I am 100% positive I have everything hooked up right), there is no fuel coming out!!! The pump makes lots of noise, but doesn't seem to be doing a damn thing.

In fact, after lying under the car for 4 hours trying to find potential problems, I have reduced the system down to: the line from the gas tank going straight to the fuel pump, through the pump, and out a short hose into a jar.

Even with this simple setup, nothing comes out of the pump!!

I'm sure I have gas in my tank - I had 1/2 tank going into this and I didn't spill that much on the ground lol. My gas guage also reads plenty of fuel.

I am also sure I have it wired correctly - in fact I even tried reversing the pos/neg wires just in case they were mixed up. No help.

I'm pretty sure that this Carter is defective; although it's strange that it makes noise, it sure doesn't appear to be doing any pumping.

Has anyone else had this problem with the Carter? Is there anything that anyone can think of that I'm doing wrong?

I'm now totally fucked, since I cut the wires off the stock pump with no wire lengths left (stupid stupid stupid...) so it's doubtful I can reinstall, and the shop I bought the Carter from is 6 hours away where I go to university (I'm at my parents' house.) I also have a weekend-long course 4 hours away starting on Saturday morning. Also, even if I could put the stock pump back on, I don't want to since it's totally inadequate for my Dellorto.

Man, I'm so pissed about this...

 

how did you mount the pump? carter says to mount it vertically. if you have it horizontally (like in the stock locationg) then it is possible that it will not work that way.

 

Naw, it's mounted up and down on the side of the frame rail, where everyone usually mounts it.

The only deviation I made from the instructions is that I used the 'negative' wire going to the stock pump instead of grounding to the framerail. I don't see how that would make any difference - it still makes noise and seems to run, just no pumping lol.

 

Same thing happened to me. It turned out that the wires that fed the stock pump didn't give it hardly any juice. Not sure if they were corroded or what. I ran wires directly to the battery and mounted a switch on the dash. Fired right up and pumps like mad. Good luck.

 

Same problem exactly? Hmmmm... really eh!!

Interesting... another thing that I found strange is that the pump doesn't seem too loud (compared to what I had heard about it) Maybe it isn't receiving enough voltage to do its job.

What kinda wire did you run, just standard 14 guage stuff? Did you run negative to the battery or just ground to the chassis?

Thanks a lot man, this could save my *** if that's the problem

 

possible that the stock pump is not that good of a ground?

 

Well I happened to have some 10 gauge lying around so I used that although it was major overkill. I think the carter pulls like 4 amps or something. But yeah, before the new wiring, my carter was very quiet. When the pump actually got some juice that thing is pretty loud. Not horrible, but definately noticable.

 

Riff raff, good point, that probably factors in as well.

Neanderthol, Thanks again man.. I was really beating my head against the wall with this one. I'll try re-wiring tomorrow and update you guys with some hopefully positive news... (I also stripped the thread off the mounting stud thingys when I took them off, so I get to improvise when I put it back on... what a day lol)

 

Try it remotely from the battery first. Use long enough wire that a spark won't blow you up!!!
That way you won't have run wiring and spent down time to no avail.
If it does not work, then try priming it. Are you absolutely certain about the fuel lines? You did say you spent four hours under there; but the lines do snake around and kind of reverse the entry into the stock pump that would make the the most sense at first glance. I.E., You could have it backwards.
(If you don't know what I mean, then you'd better have a look-see. Otherwise you know exactly what I mean!)

Hopefully it just want's to be primed or some-such.
HOWEVER...Though I use my stock wires, the wiring allows such piddly juice, that when I turn my signal light on, my fuel pump oscillates! In fact, the tone goes down when I switch just about anything at all on. So there's no doubt in my mind that you will benifit from a wiring upgrade, but it might not be your innitial problem.
BTW, what year is your car? My 85GS had both wires coming straight from the pump (I.E., No wiring to the chassis type ground like you mention.)

Neanderthol-
Was your like that? (Two wires from the pump)
Where do the pump wires end up? I'm looking to upgrade, but still want to use the ignition switch. I'm assuming that there is some safty gadget that one of them must go into that shuts it off in case of a roll?

Would be funny to find out that the stock pump is actually fine for most carbs like the Dellorto, Weber, ect; But that all along it's been the really shitty wiring!

 

Silver, before you do anything else to the wiring try grounding the pump directly to the chassis. It could simply be a really bad ground that is causing this.

On mine I measured almost two more volts at the pump by grounding it directly to the chassis as opposed to using the stock ground wire.

 

Wow, 4A? In the case, the stock wiring will not be able to support that current flow very well...Rewiring would probably fix it. You can use the stock fuel pump wires to activate a relay to switch your fuel pump on and off via the new wiring.

 

Silver: If you want to test the voltage on the wiring, check it where you had it mounted (w/voltmeter) and if you don't have one handy, then listen to the pump. Then open up the hood and get a couple of small peices of wire and wire the pump (in your hand at this point) directly to the battery and then see if the pump sounds the same. (ie. more noise meaning more voltage).

I was thinking the same as Sterling, maybe the pump (like most pumps) needs to be primed. It's probably a good fuel pump, but not the best air pump.

Other then that, you should have the problem licked. Good luck.

 

SilverRocket all you have is a pinched line...check the pickup line I'm 150% sure is pinched somewhere or clogged, check filter. There is no electrical problem if it's making noise it's working.

 

did I mentioned that you tested your simple system using the original stock line? use another just inmersed in gas...bet you anything that's your problem.

 

See what happens when you run a budget Carter?

 

I would guess so.

My old 81 GSL had an 85 SE 13B with a Dellorto carb, and I did not upgrade the fuel pump. I did need a new regulator though.

That car used to Haul ***..

 

you stay out of this mar3.

 

Thanks for all the tips guys, I'll be heading out to pick up some wiring and new hardware as soon as my sister gets home from work and can drive me...

Excuse my ignorance, but how exactly do I prime the pump? I assume this means that the pump is bad at sucking the gas out of the tank when there's air in between, and I need to give it some liquid to pump. So how's the best way to do it?

 

Mar3, I'm a student and this one is plenty expensive for me lol... besides, it is reputed to be very good and is rated at much more flow than my application requires. Anything better would be total overkill (this already is).
So what's the problem?

 

Damn Silver: you should put it in on Sat night or Sunday morning. You would have had the help of 30 people..

I don't know how to prime that puppy, but make sure gas is coming out of the line going to the pump and then connect the line to the inlet of the pump. Should work, but I'm not talking from experience w/those pumps, just logic. Then turn the pump on and make sure it's pumping gas before hooking up the outlet of the pump.

Bucket and rags are always a "+"

 

Just talked to my dad and he's got a hand syphon pump dealie that'll work, sweet..

I can't wait to lie under the car again and get sprayed with gas (note the sarcasm). Last night I got splashed in the eyes, not much fun lol. Wore my safety glasses after that.

 

This ain't a brake system...as long as your tubing is sealed from the gas can to the pump, you don't need to prime it. It will pump air as effectively as gas (at least a gerotor-style pump will... ), so if you've got gas in the can, then the pickup is covered and gas will eventually get sucked into the tubing by the pump. If this were not true, then you'd have to pull the pump and "prime" it each and every time you ran out of gas and I know that's happened to everyone here at least once!!

 

Silver, are you sure the pump's mounted correctly? It has a designated inlet and outlet. They could be the wrong way around.

 

Yeah, I'm sure. I spent hours triple checking everything last night. I just picked up all the wiring and hardware I need, so I should be trying this out tonight.

I'm more and more convinced it's the wiring issue - the pump certainly was a lot quieter than I expected last night, and didn't vibrate at all. Also when I felt the end of the tube, I could feel air being pushed out but only very subtly. I was expecting it to be much more powerful, and I'm hoping it will be with better power.

The only other possibility is that the pump is defective - but that seems unlikely, I mean isn't it a fairly simple device? Seems to me that if it's making noise it must be doing whatever it's supposed to. But what do I know lol.

I'll let you guys know what happens tonight, thanks again!

 

Like I said before... try grounding the pump to the chassis first before you start messing with the rest of the wiring.