Hi All, Has anyone here ever fitted an aftermarket fuel pump in place of the mechanical one? Ours is not long for this world (noisy) Any advice appreciated..

A lot of people did this just to overcome the vapour lock problem. It works well but you have to provide a filter between the pump and tank to prevent damage to the pump itself.

There are basically two types of pump you can get, a roller vane type which typically looks like a small can with a line connection at each end and a solid-state pump which looks like a small rectangular box.

You can get a facet solid state pump for about £40, a roller vane (facet silver top) for about £60.

The solid state ones used to be unreliable compared with the roller vane type but I can't vouch for how things have changed since I had to worry about such things.

The main thing is to avoid too much fuel pressure as it will just flood the carburettor. The 32DMTR and 34DATR carbs are pretty tolerant as they have a nice return circuit but you can still overcome the float chamber valve. In an ideal world you would have a fuel pressure regulator as well to ensure this doesn't happen.

Thanks for that Jimbro, you're a legend.. I was going to fit a pump from an older Mini.. The pressure shouldn't be too great for the 34datr on our GF. Thanks again for the tip on the pre-filter..

The other trick I recall from X1/9OC IcsUnoNove magazine back in the late 80's was a method of running the power for the electric fuel pump via a connection to the oil pressure warning light circuit.
Working with a relay so that the electric fuel pump only gets electrical power when the engine oil pressure is high enough for the oil warning light to be out.
The idea of this being when your engine is not running but the ignition is still on the electric fuel pump is not whirring away pushing fuel past the carbs float chamber valve.....

However considering how the in-tank electric fuel pump on our '93 Uno 1.0ie works...As soon as the iginition is on it constantly pressurizes the fuel lines...
I guess the presence of the return pipe from the x1/9's carb means that you don't necessarily need to do what X1/9OC IcsUnoNove magazine suggested over 20 years ago

jo0lz said:

The other trick I recall from X1/9OC IcsUnoNove magazine back in the late 80's was a method of running the power for the electric fuel pump via a connection to the oil pressure warning light circuit.
Working with a relay so that the electric fuel pump only gets electrical power when the engine oil pressure is high enough for the oil warning light to be out.
The idea of this being when your engine is not running but the ignition is still on the electric fuel pump is not whirring away pushing fuel past the carbs float chamber valve.....

However considering how the in-tank electric fuel pump on our '93 Uno 1.0ie works...As soon as the iginition is on it constantly pressurizes the fuel lines...
I guess the presence of the return pipe from the x1/9's carb means that you don't necessarily need to do what X1/9OC IcsUnoNove magazine suggested over 20 years ago

Click to expand...

Is there any chapter and verse on this? the Mini SU fuel pump set up will also pressurise the fuel lines and as it is low pressure (1.5psi) not overcome a properly seated float valve (in a Mini or MG using that system) but what have owners found here?

cheers

RDS