Poor quality fuel pumps

[bugeye88]

Get a good gas cap if needed, put an electric pump after the mechanical one with switch in the cabin, use ethanol treatment every fill up. If this doesn't do it call an exorcist!

Rob
Bugeye88

[cedryck]

What about ditching the mechanical altogether? Have folks done that?

[slowmo]

Absolutely. I have left it disconnected and hanging on the side of the block until it warms up a bit. I will then fabricate a plate and abandon the dang thing altogether. Putting on an electric fuel pump was the end of those particular issues...though I have others...not all related to Series Rovers.

[cedryck]

Thanks Slo mo, and Bugeye 88. I will when time permits, remove the mechanical, fabricate a close off plate, and install the electric pump after the two tank switch over vavle. But just in case the ghost rears it's ugly British head, Bugeye do you know of any good exorcists in the New England area?

[SafeAirOne]

But just in case the ghost rears it's ugly British head, Bugeye do you know of any good exorcists in the New England area?

The Jeep dealer?

[slowmo]

Ha. I just remembered an inspiring fuel pump story. I bought the new mechanical fuel pump last summer hoping it would relieve the vapor lock problems I was having.

After a day or so I had the same problem...truck dead. I noticed fuel was leaking at the pump which was a hint. Background info: I was coming back from lunch in my office type clothes. I couldn't see the source of the leak from the top so I took off my shirt and shimmied underneath. I could see it was leaking between the sediment bowl and the pump, so I tightened the bowl clamp...to no avail. Fiddle-dee-dee.

I removed the pump (now I was adorned with black arms and face having had to work under the greasy beast). The rubber seal between the bowl and pump had swelled to about twice its' normal size (great selection of gasket material my little Pakistani friends) and of course it no longer offered any way of creating a seal. I dug around in a nearby trash can, found some cardboard, made a new gasket, reinstalled the pump and was back to work. (Fortunately no one called the police since a shirtless, grease covered, apparently homeless dude was combing through trash cans.)

Back at the office I couldn't put my shirt on because I was covered in blackness. So in I trudged, shirtless with my shirt in my teeth, straight to the rest room in an attempt to cleanup (I had appointments so going home was not an option). Being the owner of the company I'm sure I provided the employees with another story of crazed behavior to discuss over the dinner table with their loved ones.

So thank you Pakistani Guy. Thank you indeed.

[offshoretitan]

So this is still interesting to me as I drove this truck over the weekend, and in the same spot on my trip, engine dies. Starts immediatlely and runs fine till the next time. It seems like to avoid vapor lock the system needs a vent, but is not the tank vented enough at the cap? I think it is a combination of these awful mechanical pumps, and lock.

I've had experience where the diaphram in the mechanical pump was weak and when run for a period of 20+ minutes it would lose its ability to actually stroke firmly enough to pump the required amount of fuel. After a period of rest / cool down it would again power the vehicle for 20+ minutes. It was very frustrating! A new mechanical pump cured the problem.

[cedryck]

Thanks all for the feed back on the vapor lock issue's with mechanical pumps. Thought my 88 was possessed and I am glad, (not) to hear that others have suffered a headache with this annoying issue. SloMo that is an hysterical story you tell, thanks.
The strange this is I never had this issue for a bout 6000 miles of driving, just started about 2 months ago.

[leafsprung]

Use a genuine pump either NOS or rebuild a genuine pump. I put lots of miles on series rovers in all conditions and have gone through every iteration of electric and mechanical pump.

[rejeep]

I have also found the quality of aftermarket pumps to be rather shoddy..
I am suspect that my current aftermarket unit is leaking back into the engine contaminating my oil...

snagged a NOS one to swap out this spring when the rover comes out of hibernation.