Short Fuel Pump Rebuild Issues

[Kevkeller]

I had an old pump I wanted to rebuild after my rotor overheated and the plastic melted. I was able to get a rebuild kit including a new rotor from Vintage Euro Parts.

One of the issues I had was that one of the  brush holders had broken off. With a little help from Bob Youngman I was able to fix it. Maybe this will help someone else.

There is a fiber plate that the brush holders attach to. Each holder has two small tabs that go through holes in the plate which crimp to the plate. My tabs had broken. The fiber plate is mounted to the pump frame on two posts that each have a washer that is held on by peening the post top.

The first thing I did was to use a boring head on my mill to remove the peening on the post. This allowed me to pry up the washers. The first came off nicely but the boring bar slipped on the second which cracked off the top of the post.

I was then able to pull off the fiber plate. I spent a while trying to figure out how to remount the brush holder because there isn’t much room to attach anything. I decided to make copper rivets from 14 gauge copper wire. I used a number 51 drill on a block of metal. I would slip the wire in the hole and cut off the wire maybe 3/16” then peen the 3/16” bit to make a head. It didn’t look beautiful but works great. I drilled new holes through the fiber plate for the rivets. The brush holder was remounted and the rivet peened on the other side.
You have to be careful about the bottom of the rivet not touching the metal pump case otherwise it’ll short. There is a cutout below where the brush tabs crimp to prevent shorting but you still need to keep the rivet head small and flat. I had to grind part of it away to keep it from shorting.
The fiber plate was reinstalled. I got the washer on the good post and peened. As for the other post I thought about drilling and threading a screw but the plate was in pretty tight and shouldn’t move so I left it alone.
Another issue I came upon was a leaking check valve that lets the air out of the pump case. I opened it up and removed the caked on sediment to the plastic valve and the metal seat.
After putting the pump together my outlet check valve wasn’t sealing either. So I put it on my lathe and cut out the aluminum seat.  I took the plastic valve plate and sanded it smooth. You can see all of the sediment left on the remains of the cut valve seat. I’m not sure if I could have removed that by soaking or using a ultrasonic cleaner. I’m in the process of making a new aluminum seat for the valve.  I’ll show a picture after I’m done .

[Kevkeller]

More pics.

[Kevkeller]

More. 

[Kevkeller]

More.

The 3rd picture is what’s left of the fuel pump discharge check valve seat I cut out.  It wasn’t going to seal in that condition.

I probably should have tried cleaning with an ultrasonic cleaner first.

[BaronYoungman]

Excellent work

[Kevkeller]

Thank you Bob. 

I guess there is a small spring in the fuel pump discharge check valve. I never saw it and must have lost it. I ordered some copper spring wire .010” to make a new one.

Hopefully that’ll get the valve working again.

[stickandrudderman]

Nice, a mill is one of those bulky tools that I can never justify owning due to space/cost/number of times used but they certainly do come in handy!

[Kevkeller]

It does take up room but between that and a lathe they’ve paid for themselves many times over. They also make unique tools that I need to fix the Mercedes.  I made several tools to work on the power steering, fuel injection pump, suspension, etc.

I’d hate not to have one. In addition I have a small Sherline lathe and mill which would have done the job also. They’ll fit in a very small area. I recently bought a 15 m wood schooner in Honfleur France I plan on sailing to Florida. I wouldn’t mind bringing a Sherline lathe/mill just in case. You never know when one can save the day.

[Kevkeller]

I have another old pump I am rebuilding also. This one had a rotor commutator in very worn condition. I used the lathe to turn the commutator down to a smooth surface again.

[Kevkeller]

The copper commutator tends to smear so you have to scrape out the lands between each one. I used a lathe cutter and slid it horizontally across the commutator. Then I ground a hack saw blade to clean up the lands by hand.

[Benz Dr.]

What you've shown above is an important step when cleaning up a commutator. 

[stickandrudderman]

They’ll fit in a very small area. I recently bought a 15 m wood schooner in Honfleur France I plan on sailing to Florida. I wouldn’t mind bringing a Sherline lathe/mill just in case. You never know when one can save the day.

Love this! 

[Kevkeller]

The Rose de Savannah

[stickandrudderman]

Beautiful!

[Kevkeller]

Never thought I’d buy a 15 meter wooden schooner on the other side of the earth from where I live but I did. It’s is beautiful.  Looking forward to some good times sailing Florida and the Caribbean.

Believe it or not I never stepped foot on it. But it’s in top shape.

[yves]

If you want a nice stop before crossing the "pound" you are welcome in LA ROCHELLE  ...!
 

[Kevkeller]

Thank you. I’ll keep that in mind!

[Kevkeller]

Back to the pump.

Just finished the discharge check valve. I made the spring.  The picture was a practice spring.

[Kevkeller]

The spring came out about perfect. It was comparable to the other check valve I have.

Came out very nice.

[h100vw]

Looks good all finished up! Kev

Have you applied power to it yet? I just rebuilt one the same. Had some dramas to get around but not like yours.

I feel the impeller is a tiny bit too thick for the casing, when I do up the cover screws all the way it doesn't turn. If I back them all off half a turn or so, it runs fine. No leaks but it doesn't sit right with me that they aren't done up.

I'm going to take it apart again and see if the original one is better. If not I'll use some wet or dry and rub it down on a piece of glass.

Anyone had this experience?

[Kevkeller]

I’ve run the pump dry with some 30w oil lubricant and it seems to turn ok. I think it does turn a slight bit slower when tightened but I’m thinking with gas it’ll run ok.

I do plan on running some diesel through it sometime when I get a chance. 

I bought an extra impeller if I remember I’ll measure the thickness.  The only problem I had with one was it was too tight on the shaft. I filed it with a needle file slightly.

[mistertj]

I'm having a similar issue with the brush holders and wondering if something like a JB Weld or super glue would work to hod the brush holders in place?

[mistertj]

Just saw your post on the sticking fuel pump impeller. Had a similar problem years ago. Had taken my pump apart to "check" things out. When I put back together and applied power at the bench...got a spark but no rotation. Took apart and put some 400 grit wet sandpaper on a flat metal place. worked each side for 2 to 3 minutes and then did same to the bottom plate. Cleaned everything up, oiled and reassembled with a new O ring. Ran fine! It may have just been a tired O ring but what ever it was...it fixed it.

[Kevkeller]

I don’t know personally but I think Bob Youngman said that JB Weld might eventually fail. Maybe if you got it through the hole and it flared out on either side.

I did contemplate making a new brush holder from a sheet of copper. It wouldn’t have to be the exact carbon copy.

If you’d like I could try shaving off the sides of the top of the hold down rivets so you can take off the plate and try to copper rivet the brush holder back in like I did. Then peen the plate holder mounts.

Kevin

[mistertj]

Hi Kevin - Thank you for responding. The brush holders are still holding in place but they rock enough so that I can get a small screw driver tip underneath as can be seen in one of the photos. With that in mind, was thinking that it wouldn't need much more to hold the front of the brush holders down and thus the JB Weld thought. Since you took your brush holder plate out, what on the other side? Is it just a couple of brush holder tabs that are bent over to hold things in place?
The other idea I was toying with is to drill a small hole in the middle of each post and then try to crush the post enough to get the washers off. If that worked, could just re-peen the posts when putting things back together.
Anyway, I've put a little dab of JB Weld on the phenolic plate that the brush holders are mounted on to see how good it adheres. We'll see. Appreciate your input. Thank you.

[mistertj]

What diameter would you guess the posts might be?

[Kevkeller]

Yes they are bent tabs. I would probably guess your tab was broken like mine was. Here is a picture of the back of the plate.

If you zoom in you can see one side with the originals and the other side with the rivets I made.

[Kevkeller]

If you’re talking about the posts that hold the plate down I’m guessing 3/16”-1/4” maybe.

You can see them in one of the earlier pictures.

[mistertj]

Hi Kevin - Got the brush plate off by cutting into the washers on the posts with a cutting disk and Dremel tool. Once the plate was off, drilled a hole in the center of the posts and threaded with 3.05 tap. The photos tell the story. Will put some Loctite on the threads when I reassemble. Oh yes, bent the brush holder tabs so they are tight again. Success!

[Kevkeller]

Nicely done. Saved another pump and $1000++.

Just looking at the picture with the screws in it. You might want to try to get different head screws so the brush coil wire doesn’t touch them.