Of Divorces and 7,s and previous owner's tinkerings....

[DB6]

A previous owner installed a Facet "cube " type pump up under the rear boot tray near the fuel tank, with new filter on the pump and a then a pressure regulator just before the line runs into the 40 DCOE Webers.

The pump is the correct output, pretty much the baby of their range.

Anyway, the live wire was run from a new seperate conector one line to Ignition, power line thru firewall along tranny tunnel then used a 1/4 inch hole that was already there (on side of tranny tunnel near top just before it meets the rear back rest/firewall, he grommeted , taped, strapped, did a really nice looking job.

Last Friday night running great from Seaside to Cannon Beach on the Coastal Highway (this is one of the most scenic drives anywhere, (you have to drive the Oregon Coast before you pop your clogs); when splutter , cough, splutter, DEAD,..rolled to side of road, flash lite showed blown fuse on the new fuel pump line,of course no fuses with me, but I did find a Bud can, beat it up with a brick and rolled a strip around the fuse, fired up, now at this point I should have headed home but feeling how clever I was at fixing the problem decide to push on into the nite, dumb idea.

I splutterd to a stop 2 miles on, now pitch black, my bud can fuse holder has melted;but with my teeth and keys I strip the wires make contact but no clicking from the pump.

Time to call a friend who is local and has one of the few trailer we can get this car one, (he races Miatas and has great ramps for low cars,BUT no bars on my cell phone, walk 3 miles, ( for me a Marathon) get cell, he comes right out, even tho he was getting ready to drive to the Utah Speed week on the Salt Flats, (you really do find out who your fiends are when you have a divorce or buy a 7),l( or in my case get divorced then buy a 7, which is still cheaper to maintain than my ex, does not call me an A-Hole and is prettier, I,m not bitter tho,lol,lol); anyway thanks to Dr Mark Stephanelli, (what's better than having a buddy who is a doctor and a Brit car fanatic with a 4 car garage and a lift and drops everything to come and pick you up at 9.30 pm on a Friday night..

 

The Diagnosis:

the prior owner had left @ 15 inches of wire (don't ask me why) which got snagged on the Uni Joint where the prop shaft meets the dif and ripped the wire apart, the reason it worked for a while was as the prop shaft turned it allowed the wires to kiss now amd then, hence the few extra miles on the bud can fuse.

When I asked hiw why he used that hole he said, "well because it was already there".!, nice guy tho, and God know s we all do dumb thing in or lives.

 

By the way, are the Facet Fuel pumps always clicking, I believe they are but someone was saying they only click and pump till the pressure is built up, I think they click and pump all the time, right???

 

[blami]

Interesting problem, diagnosis, and story so far. I say 'so far' because you may have an additional problem---I think that your pump should stop clicking once pressure is built up.

 

If it continues to click I think that you may soon have to call on your Dr. British car guy friend again.

 

One other thing, if your pump is clicking during normal operation and you can hear it in your Seven, then your car is way too quiet.

 

Bart

[DB6]

Hi Blami,

Well from what I hear Facet along with other electric pumps ALWAYS run, they may be louder and faster on the initial prime but I really think you will find that they do not stop once pressure is reached.

Once the car is running all I hear is that exhaust next to my ear,lol.

And the car runs well, I think the adavnatge of the elec is that they prime once the key is turned, on my 1.7 Ford Cross flow with the Webers there are no chokes and if the car sat a while it took a lot of turning for the old mech pump to prime.

[MHKflyer52]

Have a Facet pump in my car and it runs all the time and clicks all the time. That is normal for the pump.

I know the road you were stranded on and yes it is a nice ride in a 7 especially this time of the year.

Still have property in Newberg and a little place called Neskowin.

[DB6]

Thanks Martin, thats what I hear,

I think it's one of the best roads anywhere, you are right, Facets and nearly all elec pumps click and run all the time.

Stop by next time you are passing thru., buy you a pint at the Goose Hollow at The Cove, , are you going to the meet in Canyonville meet, I have one other poss 2 sevens from OR going.

[SkinnyG]

I'm onto my third Mr.Gasket (Facet) pump in 8000km's. The latest design is slightly different, and MUCH quieter than the cube.

 

But since they fail so frequently, to stop this last one from failing I bought an AC/Delco pump (EP12S) Airtex E8012s equivalent, and I keep it in the boot.

 

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/lethal-locost-cacks-its-second-fuel-pump/1441/page1/

 

 

[DB6]

I have a 1.7 supersprint by Racetune UK, it's a 1,7, with twin 40 DCOe's, puts out @ 160, just a street car.

The Facet that is in now is the baby of the range, what gph and pressure / what specs would you recco, whats the best brand? do they all fail??damn.

[pi7ot]

DB6, Your narrative/description of the fuel pump circuit does not mention a relay to minimize the load on the ignition switch and minimize the voltage drop to the ignition system.

 

Perhaps you could add one during the repair?

 

The unsheathed power wire to the fuel pump suggests that the PO also had shorting problems with a different fuel pump circuit.

 

 

m

[DB6]

I did check all that but anyways thanks.

My problem was a live wire ripped out by a drive shaft due to a silly installation.

My car is 26 years old and in its life had many ppl work on it, some good, some bad, some things just human error.Nature of the beast.The reason for switching to electric V mech pumpwas just the whim of a prior owner.These cars, probably more than any other are well ..."Mr Potato Head " is very apt, but what , why and who did the work varies, the personal variations are what makes us all, and these cars differ, I just get pissed off at stupid .

Regards

David

[blami]

David,

 

The stock Facet pump in my 1993 Caterham (45 DCOE carbs) has been reliable.

 

Pegasus Auto Racing Supplies has 6 different Facet Pumps available, 3 cube type and 3 cylindrical pumps. According to Pegasus, both type of pumps have low power requirements (about 1 amp at 12 volts).

 

Details such as max pressure, typical flow, max flow, and fitting sizes are listed in their catalog or on their web site:

 

www.pegasusautoracing.com

 

Bart

 

 

[rv-4mike]

The boost pump in my airplane is the same Facet pump. 300+ hours of operation with no problems. They are the standard in the RV series of kit planes (5000+ currently flying) and I've never heard of any problem with them.

 

Mike Wills

[gjslutz]

1050 hours on the one in my RV-4.