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10/22/2014 7:33 AM  #1


Electric fuel pumps?

I am having a lot of failures with the Holley electric fuel pumps on the race car. It is a 400+ horse 5 liter. I run two pumps sucking from the back corners of the fuel cell. There are check valves to keep from back flowing. Is anyone having good luck with another pump?

 

10/22/2014 8:09 AM  #2


Re: Electric fuel pumps?

I'll second that! I don't know why ,but Holley fuel pumps are junk! I went through 3 of them in ah year on my street car. I was looking into retrofitting a OE fuel injected car pump into mine. With a pressure regulator and ah return set up. I think that would be the most reliable.


It's hard to type "funny"
 

10/22/2014 8:19 AM  #3


Re: Electric fuel pumps?

I just remembered , When I was having the same issue. I talked to ah tec at holley about my problem and he told me that there pumps require a 2 gauge wire ,powered directly off the battery. Apparently there pumps are rather delicate and if they don't get a CONSTANT source of voltage . They'll over heat and die.

Last edited by Derek (10/22/2014 2:30 PM)


It's hard to type "funny"
 

10/22/2014 2:11 PM  #4


Re: Electric fuel pumps?

Well if these guy need that kind of current, I don't think they are what I need. I am looking for something that will maintain 11 psi at the carb, My regulator is mounted right next to the carb and has an outlet for each carb inlet.
Thanks for the info.
Dave

     Thread Starter
 

10/22/2014 5:53 PM  #5


Re: Electric fuel pumps?

What is the failure mode, the pump or the motor?
Is the pump portion damaged like was running dry? 
Or is the motor burning out?
If the pump runs dry, it could jam and cause the motor to burnout.  So, if both the pump and motor are bad, I'd suspect the pump is running dry and solve that issue first.
Is the backflow check valve located as close to the end of the line inside the tank?
And, I agree a #2 wire seems quite excessive for this application.


65 Fastback, 351W, 5-speed, 4 wheel discs, 9" rear,  R&C Front End.
 

10/22/2014 6:04 PM  #6


Re: Electric fuel pumps?

Wow, 2 gauge wire? I would suspect 10 gauge would be sufficient!
 

 

10/22/2014 7:45 PM  #7


Re: Electric fuel pumps?

I run a Mallory comp 140, ran it for many many years with zero issues,  a 110 or 70 series might fit your application.  I run mine with a return line setup, and I recommend it, any electric pump will live longer and work more efficiently with a return setup rather than a dead head setup.  Never saw a need for a check valve deal when feeding from bottom of the tank/sump.  It's also best to mount the pump as close to the tank as possible.  Mine is powered by #12 gauge wire, no issues.

Last edited by Nasty65 (10/22/2014 7:46 PM)

 

10/22/2014 8:26 PM  #8


Re: Electric fuel pumps?

Just got the dishes done so now I am back to the problem. The failure mode is the motor in the pump leaks some black stuff around the seams and then just quits running.so I am guessing it over heats. With the two pump set-up the one pump does most of the work and the second one just dead heads most of the time. It only comes into play when the other starves for fuel when the level gets low enough that the other pump sucks air on left hand corners. This only happens late in a race. So I figure the pump dead heads for about 25 minutes. I am looking at a center sump to put in the fuel cell that has three trap doors to keep fuel on the pick up and go to one pump. But I would still like to keep the second pump as a back up and only use it when I get a fluctuation in fuel pressure. I know the return line ones are supposed to fix the problem, so I may also put in a regulator near the pump and tank with a return and set at 15 psi or so with the regulator at the carb set at 11 psi. I am just not sure how two regulators will react? The check valves are so the pump that is sucking fuel does not pump it back to tank through the pump that is sucking air.  I'll look at the Mallory units. Thanks for the info.

     Thread Starter
 

10/22/2014 9:50 PM  #9


Re: Electric fuel pumps?

Seems to me the pump would do better if mounted below the fuel level.  I have a brand new Holley Red pump I used for about five minutes if anyone needs it...  Not a garage point, but a reasonable price.


Money you enjoy wasting is NOT wasted money... unless your wife finds out.
 

10/23/2014 7:55 AM  #10


Re: Electric fuel pumps?

Steve,
I agree it would be better under the tank, but the tank is about the lowest thing under the car and ther is really no safe spot for it under there. Most of the cars is see have them in the trunk like mine are. They end up less than 12 inches above tank bottom. I am putting one of these in the center back of the bladder to hopfully eliminate the need for two pumps since I think is issue is the one pump takes over and the other only gets to have flow if the first one sucks air late in the races.

     Thread Starter
 

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