Bosch Fuel Pumps failing

[Roy]

My car had an 040 installed and had ran fine for about 3 months.... then i removed it one afternoon to have a fiddle, and upon re-installation i got the mounting height a little off.

The fact that i was in a hurry to get the car back together and running, i didnt care too much that it sounded like it was sucking a bit of air. So i just made a point of keeping the fuel level pretty high (something i didnt really always do the 3-4 weeks during driving recently around Melb) :Oops:

So my question is, i think fuel pumps use the fuel to cool the bearings, so would the pump sucking air, and cavitating help cause the pump to fail.... my car appears to be doing a lot of cranking and not much firing....

How tolerant are fuel pumps?

[GTRgeoff]

I had one apart a couple of months ago. The actual stainless rollers that fit in the ceramic housing kept jamming, either that or it was the brushes. I'll get it so you can have a look sometime as it is just across the road.

[Chris32]

My car had an 040 installed and had ran fine for about 3 months.... then i removed it one afternoon to have a fiddle, and upon re-installation i got the mounting height a little off.

The fact that i was in a hurry to get the car back together and running, i didnt care too much that it sounded like it was sucking a bit of air. So i just made a point of keeping the fuel level pretty high (something i didnt really always do the 3-4 weeks during driving recently around Melb) :Oops:  

So my question is, i think fuel pumps use the fuel to cool the bearings, so would the pump sucking air, and cavitating help cause the pump to fail.... my car appears to be doing a lot of cranking and not much firing....    

How tolerant are fuel pumps?

Roy -

I installed a 040 in mine almost 18 months ago, and mine made that sucking air noise. I ended up re-directing the fuel return line, as it seemed with the bigger pump, it was casuing cavitation around the pump pick-up, as the fuel return line squirts right next to the pump.

I used a small piece of fuel line, and a aditional hose clamp and directed it away from the fuel pump pick-up. Problem fixed, and it stopped sucking air

I have also spoken to a few workshops about this, and they recommend doing similar. Mine was installed prior to a track day, and performed without any problems, and had done about 50,000km since

I'd say if the pump has sucked alot of air, it may have over heated and damaged a bush/bearing?? Might be worth a shot re-directing the return line like I did, it worked for me

Chris

[Roy]

Chris 32, i did that when i first installed it... it ran spot on.... and it was still there when i re-installed it in a hurry.

So the only way that may have been the problem was in my hurry to get the car back together and drive from Syd to Melb, i mounted the pump higher then previously, or i mistakingly placed the return outlet inside the baffled section of the fuel cell.... Its easy enought to check if the fuel pump has failed, just more fart a55ing about

[Chris32]

yeah, maybe it has just plain old worn out?? All the hoses where tight?

Are you running the standard fuel pressure reg.? Maybe check the fuel pressure with a accurate gauge and see if its starting to fail

[GTRgeoff]

I have seen a car transformed when the pump was replaced. The faulty one was running but at idle the return fuel was almost non existent, and with a few revs just disappeared. GTR pump installed and plenty power now (but not mine which is choking on fuel unless I run almost full advance. The Bosch one he had just siezed.

[knore]

*Replacing fuel pump soon, this is thread i didnt want to see*

Obviously something will fail if installed improperly or abused.

But im leaning more towards a Nismo direct fit 250L/h pump off nengun compared to a Bosch 040, what do you guys think?