dr bob

Gotta decide whether you want to depend on a marginal pump while driving the car. My vote is replace with new. Play with the old one until the smoke leaks out then toss it.

For those playing along at home:

The electric fuel pumps in our cars use a series of rollers that depend on fuel for both cooling and lubrication. We take a pump out of use and it dries out. And rusts. Then when we decide to put it back in service, it's noisy or doesn't run at all. You really don't want to run the pump with the tank completely dry either. Even in service, a car that sits a lot will suffer when water falls out of the ethanol in the fuel, and rusts the pump insides. Removing a pump and storing it for a spare or for an extended service? Run some Marvel Mystery oil or ATF through it to keep everything lubricated, then put it in a sealed plastic bag.

If your car sees infrequent use, invest in some fuel stabilizer additive if you are using an ethanol blend. Our winter fuel here is ethanol-free, but doesn't get reliable for a while after it's introduced in the fall. So the last couple tanks in the car get a dose of Sta-Bil Marine to help sweep out any moisture in the bottom of the tank, and tie up any remaining during winter storage.

Scott: You can spray it inside with Kroil, or a mix of ATF and acetone 50/50 will do it. The acetone thins the ATF and allows it to penetrate the gaps in the rollers. The acetone evaporates, leaving the lubricating ATF in place. Give it a day or two then try putting 12V on it again. Once you are done with that, toss the old pump and enjoy the comfort that comes from having the new reliable pump installed.

drscottsmith

Thanks all - Dr. Bob, I am like you and think there is a piece of mind factor to know that the tank is clean as well as new components through to the fuel line to the engine.

I think having new back there is a good thing - and my investment to get there is minimal so far, so I am hoping this will get things running and we'll go from there.

Thanks all -

-scott

Chris Lockhart

I guess I should've prefaced my Kroil recommendation with a caveat. My point was to get the pump operating good enough to start the car for verification purposes, before dumping thousands of $$$ into something with a trashed motor. Definitely would want a new Bosch pump in there before it hits the streets. :-)

jtrygstad

I vote for replace the old pump (33 years!). Cross-reference flow and pressure and consider Pierburg as an alternative when shopping for a pump.

16vsilverstreak

On my '83 the (external) pump would move then instantly get jammed forward and reverse. I dissected the pump, bits of sediment were jamming the impeller on the inlet side. I loosely reassembled the pump (housing destroyed during dissection), applied 12v and the motor is still good.

dr bob

There are available tricks with compressed air and such to try and dislodge debris in the rollers. "bumping" the motor forward and back may help a little in getting crud out, but you stand the same chance as pulling junk further in.

Thinking about how easily accessible the original strainer can be for inspection and service, and how religious we are all about inspecting and replacing it. I was just mentally gymnasticizing the option of putting some version of a paper gas filter into the suction side between the tank outlet nozzle and the pump inlet. Only works for cars without the in-tank pump for a couple reasons, but might be interesting to explore. Thinking along the lines of the vintage Fram G3 or similar, inline plastic housing with 10mm - 3/8" nozzle on either end. It's tank pressure only, but might suction-starve the main pump in the hottest weather. But you could see the bubbles when it did, if that's any consolation.

jpitman2

These pumps dont like running dry AFAIK...See if you can test it wet - kero/paraffin for safety

jp 83 Euro S AT 56k

Dave928S

+1

I've tested mine using fine cut kerosene, which I happen to use in my parts washer. Great for safely verifying flow before installation.