About 30-40,000 miles back, my stock lift pump died. Not knowing any better at the time, the replacement was put in the tank. I have just recently started making bio D and a about a week ago put a fuel pressue gage after the fuel filter.

At idle I am only getting 9 psi!! Under load the gage will dip below the recommended min of 5 psi. I am going to check the accuracy of the electronic pressure gage with a mechanical one. If I find the gage to be accurate, I will have to replace the lift pump. From doing some research, the FASS system seems to be the most popular replacement. However, $600 - $700 is going to be very hard to come by this time of year.

Does anyone out there have any other viable suggestions for replacing this lift pump?

Thanks in advance

Larry

i would seriously double check that fuel pressure gauge. We have been doing alot of R&D with autometer and they cant seem to come up with parts to work with BD. The sending units keep crapping out and causing false fuel pressure readings. They usually leak out of the connector and short out the harness to the gauge. Check the fuel pressure thread by 51fitter for more info.

Well this is a brand new gauge and is currently running on Dino D. My mechanic is going the check the accuracy for me and go from there.

The sending units we have tried from autometer so far have only lasted a few hours of engine time up to this point. We have not gotten one to last more than a week. The last one we installed went from rhode island to new hampshire which was about a three hour ride and crapped out in the first hour on the way back.

The one I bought is a Westach.

I have an 01 Cummins. The stock lift pump in not strong enough to pump the vo especially when it starts getting cooler. I put a walbro external pump on my rail. Get a constant 15 lbs psi. Anything less than 5 lbs. and you'll burn up your IP. Done that and been there, no fun.

I would also recommend the Vulcan Big line pusher pump kit. This give you a lot bigger flow to you IP. The lp is a Walbro 392 with a pressure regulator and return flow to the tank.

Thanks Carolinablue.....

Where did you get the pump? And how much was it? Does the regulator come with it or is it another item to purchase?

Thanks again

Larry

Ok, the fuel pressure gauge is accurate. So time for a new lift pump. Since the current lift pump is in the tank, I will also have to get a new sending unit so that I can mount the new lift pump on the rail.

All suggestions are welcome!!!

Thanks

Larry

Your in-tank fuel pump might have a clogged intake screen. It'll still draw enough to keep it running, but psi will be low so the more it clogs, the more apparent the problem. Likelihood of this depends on pump config. I had one nearly choked off before I got rid of the tiny disc screen that had been coated with gunk and relied instead on the much bigger nylon screen that the pump lives in within the tank canister.

I think I would have to have a near-death experience from a bad fuel pump before I would shell out the money for a FASS...

The in tank pump is inside a "sock" so not sure that would be the case. I agree, the fass is soooo expensive. I am looking into the raptor brand pump.

Any other ideas?

Larry

Yeah, I'd check the actual inlet on the pump, within the sock...or maybe you can get this info online or from paper tech docs without having to get into your tank per se. Not sure about your particular setup, but the screen on my pump's inlet was not only a smaller mesh than the nylon screen on the cartridge it was housed within in the tank, but much smaller surface area, too - so a tiny amount of gooey off-white stuff (yeah, whatever) that passed through the outer screen choked off the actual pump screen. I took the easy way out on that discovery, based on advice from the pump retailer: throw out the tiny little pump-screen - it's there for gasoline or other more demanding applications. And you (should) have another much better filter before your IP of course, anyway, so the real crap-size criterion here is to not let the pump suck in anything that would jam it.

Imark, I can't remember how much I gave for the pump, seems like it was around $100 off of ebay.
The regulator I got from Wideopendiesel.com for $45.

Carolinablue,

Thanks for the info. Will the Walbro stand up to biodiesel?

the pressure you are seeing from the in tank pump is normal. I assume you have changed your fuel filter?
There was a post on one of the diesel forums i saw where they removed the regulator from the pump and got higher pressure, but i'm not sure on the life of the pump after the mod.

Thanks for the feedback. I decided to bite the bullet and get the FASS system. It is on sale this month with a bio fuel hose upgrade for $526.30 so I broke down and ordered it. Should be here today

Thanks again for everyones input.

I went through 2 walbro pumps. One may have been a bad batch with bad brushes (I did open it and one brush was gone). After the second one died I threw in the trash and bought a mechanical pump that's driven off the crank pulley. That coupled with a kinsler jet can has been working prefectly.

Ok, got the FASS installed and it was fairly simple. We had a little trouble getting it primed after installation but it wasn't rocket science.

Very happy with the results. At idle it gives me 12 psi. At WOT it dips down to 10 psi!!! The truck seems to have more power and runs great.

Larry

quote:

Posted 12 November 2008 05:47 PM Hide Post
I went through 2 walbro pumps. One may have been a bad batch with bad brushes (I did open it and one brush was gone). After the second one died I threw in the trash and bought a mechanical pump that's driven off the crank pulley. That coupled with a kinsler jet can has been working prefectly.

Mike H,

Whats the deal on the pump driven off of the crank pully. I made a gear driven pump for my oil transfer from barrel to barrel that is run off of a drill. It's an oil pump from a small block chevy, I was wondering if a configuration such as yours might work. any Pix?

Dave

I mark you can't go wrong with the fass system. I just recently lost my lift pump as well. It runs like a dream on b100. if you start to notice that it gets hard to start don't worry. the diapharm on your IP may be week from from running only 5psi.