Electric Fuel Pump Opinions??... (PICS ADDED!)

[FRANKdaTANK]

Hey all,

I wanted to get some opinions on electric fuel pumps for older trucks. I have a '67 F100 with a 390 FE. The engine is not the stock one. The truck has a custom made 10 gallon fuel cell mounted under the bed, near the rear of the truck.

I basically haven't started the truck for about a month until 2 weeks ago. It was a little hesitant, but drove fine the first day. I went to work fine the next day, but then it left me stranded...

The fuel stopped getting to the engine. So my mechanic friend and I narrowed the problem down to the fuel line being clogged coming out of the tank. The current manual fuel pump and filter were just replaced about 7-8 months ago and still seem to be working fine. The problem is that the guy that ran the lines did a crappy job because it comes out of the bottom of the tank about 3 inches (in the front of tank), then almost takes an immediate 90° turn straight up to the underside of the bed, then over to the frame, then towards the front.

My buddy suggests putting an electric fuel pump (6-7 psi low-flow) near the tank, and running the line better, after cleaning out the tank. He really believes in electric pumps, but I wanted some more thoughts from anybody with ideas or personal experiences with their trucks...
Also, curious about fuel line size?? Mine might be too thin but not sure. I wish I had pics, but none at the moment. I might try to get some this weekend.

I would appreciate any help.
Thanks,
Frank

[fordman]

i have had severe problems with mechanical fuel pumps. i cant even get new ones to work for some reason or another. i think they may be sucking junk up into them. becuase the truck has sat too long. almost 9 years now because it wont start. anyway i think a clean fuel ssytem is what you are after. i do not know anything about using both a mechanical and a electric in tandem with each other. electric pumps can also go bad. i do knwo that. and they cost more to replace. that is all i can say.

[FRANKdaTANK]

fordman, thanks for your input.
Yeah I do know that the first thing we do is going to be cleaning out the fuel line (or just replacing it if too small), and try cleaning out the tank as best as possible. I know that is my main problem.
It's just that my buddy is wanting me to put an electric pump on it so bad, that I just want to see if anybody on here has used any on their trucks.
The pump I ordered is actually about the same price of the manual pump I replaced last summer. It's a low-flow electric pump (4-7 psi) and was only about $37-$40. The high-flow mechanical pumps are about $150, but I should only need low-flow from what I've been told. The stock one I replaced last summer was about $35. (those prices are with my discount tho)

Thanks,
Frank

[FRANKdaTANK]

Yeah I don't know much about any of these pumps... I got one the other day and will hopefully get a chance to work on the truck this weekend. I was gonna get a 4-7 psi electric pump from Mr. Gasket, but the guy at the parts store told me that he sees people bring them back alot. So he recommended an AirTech electric pump with 5-9 psi for about the same price.

Here are some pics of my current fuel tank and line situation... You can see the 90° turn straight up. There is a small kink in the radius, but not sure if you can see in pics...

Does anybody know what the piece attached to the tank is ??? Is it a check valve or something??







And here are some of my truck just for the heck of it... The day I brought it home after being stranded at work...
(The cones weren't for my truck BTW)




Frank

[mljjones67]

Hey Frank. A little off topic but can you add some pics of your winch on your trailer? I need to mount on to mine. Thanks

[Tim P.]

Hi Frank I have a simular setup as far as the motor is concerned,,, now I went originaly with the holly blue pump big waste of money quit working within 4 months. Now I have the Carter competion series electric pump Silver Pump #180-P4600HP rated @ 100+ gph @6-8psi. I have had this same pump for 4years going without a hitch or issue running 110 octane fuel. IMHO this is an awsome pump they do have a step up from this but unless your running allout racing highRPM stuff this silver pump will do you right I got it at Jegs for $81+ship. I got mine bolted to the frame under the seat area near the tank using 3/8 fuel line all the way to carb. Never had a fuel starvation problem yet or vapor lock issue in hot weather either,,,this is the cats meow for your needs. This is a rebuildable pump if needing a rebuild in the future they sell kits for them. Best wishes on your venture.

Tim

[FRANKdaTANK]

Hey Frank. A little off topic but can you add some pics of your winch on your trailer? I need to mount on to mine. Thanks

Hey,
I guess I shouldn't have said "I" brought it home... . The newer F150 belongs to a buddy of mine and that's his car trailer too. I can get some pics the next time I see it...which might be this weekend if we work on the truck. Because he wil need to load my truck back up to haul to the shop.

Frank

[FRANKdaTANK]

Hi Frank I have a simular setup as far as the motor is concerned,,, now I went originaly with the holly blue pump big waste of money quit working within 4 months. Now I have the Carter competion series electric pump Silver Pump #180-P4600HP rated @ 100+ gph @6-8psi. I have had this same pump for 4years going without a hitch or issue running 110 octane fuel. IMHO this is an awsome pump they do have a step up from this but unless your running allout racing highRPM stuff this silver pump will do you right I got it at Jegs for $81+ship. I got mine bolted to the frame under the seat area near the tank using 3/8 fuel line all the way to carb. Never had a fuel starvation problem yet or vapor lock issue in hot weather either,,,this is the cats meow for your needs. This is a rebuildable pump if needing a rebuild in the future they sell kits for them. Best wishes on your venture.

Tim

Hey Tim,
Cool man. Thanks for the advice. I think I'm gonna try the one I have for now, since it's so close to the weekend. But atleast we can get the line ran better and clean the tank out...I think that's most important for starters right now.

I will keep everybody updated if we get to work on the truck this weekend.

Thanks,
Frank

[mouse]

that is one way to make a tank out of a sheet metal, solder it together

[sgs]

It comes down to; If you want to use an electric pump put it in. They work. Some are better than others. For pure reliability you can't beat original equipment. we all like to modify our trucks and make them run better or have more power or whatever, but when they were designed, they were designed to go many miles as trouble free as possible. I don't see where you have a plumbing problem so severe that a mechanical pump won't draw fuel through it. No argument that the original Ford pump was probably better quality than all of the Mexican rebuilt junk, but a quality rebuilt mechanical should do the job with no worries attached for as many miles as you will ever put on your truck.

sgs

[Physics Guy]

The mechanical pump will work fine as long as 2 things are true.
1. The path to the tank is unobstructed.
2. No air can get sucked in to the line.

When you pressurize the line (Carter seems to be the best pump based on past experience) you might find that air leak.

[FRANKdaTANK]

Wow, these last few posts were exactly what I've been looking for. Thanks for all of the great input and advice!!

Unfortunitely, we didn't get a chance to work on the truck yesterday like I'd hoped... But hopefully devoting all of next Friday or Saturday to it.

Banjo, sorry for the way I typed that... I meant the 390 is not original to this truck. My truck originally came with a 6-cylinder. The 390 was supposedly rebuilt before putting it in this truck, but it is a 1969 or 1970 engine. I was told it came out of an old Air Base truck, but as far as I know, the engine itself is still stock (no race performance mods).
We undid the bolt on the bottom of the brass piece and nothing came out...but looking up into the opening, there's only about a pin size hole in it. But that's basically how we narrowed it down to the line being clogged due to junk in the tank. Either way, I think we are gonna try running the line at a less steep angle.


Maybe I should leave the mechanical pump on and still hook up the electrical pump near the tank.. And hook up the electric pump to a switch to just use during start-ups and troubled times like Banjo said he did with his '68.
...I'm just leary about this new electrical pump not be reliable... I've heard other people say they had problems with flooding too, and there is still the possibility of it burning up.....then I'll just be stranded again.

Thanks,
Frank

[Tim P.]

I want to clear a couple things up concerning electric fuel pumps ,,,,, first they work better pushing fuel than pulling fuel,,, second they should be mounted as close to the tank as possible if there mounted remote versus in tank style. The reason for this is it is les likely to suck air unless your very low on fuel in the tank plus the pump doesnt have to work as hard to pump fuel and holds a consistant pressure in the line and stays cooler as well and it is best to upgrade to a 3/8 line and I would use 3/8 rubber fuel line from the tank to pump and for a short length to the rigid steel 3/8 line and as the pics show that brass fitting most likely has a small opening in it as well for the flaired fitting threaded to it if you went to the hardware store and looked at that type fitting you,ll see alot of restriction feeding the fuel line right off the bat much less than 5/16 so your already starving the fuel system with that setup as is.
Just a though to consider.

which stands for reason why you might be having pumps going bad or burning up.

[Alvin in AZ]

http://www.panix.com/~alvinj/file12/bendix6volt.jpg

That's a 6 volt Bendix that I have wired up to the momentary-on-switch that used-to operate the sissy ;) windshield washer. LOL :) All I use it for is to fill the carburetor before I try starting the pickup. It's been working great for that job since the mid 80's and it was an old-used-up-looking sucker when I got it. :)
It was in one of the boxes of junk that came with an old VW dune buggy I bought in the early 80's.
(I built three engines out of all the junk. :) Don't know nuthin about V8's tho. :/)

Like Tim sez, the electric fuel pump needs to be low in the system, instructions that come with 'em say
that too, BTW. ;)

Alvin in AZ

[FRANKdaTANK]

Some more very nice points. Thanks again.
Yeah I know the electric pump needs to be as close to the tank as possible and I know it does better pushing than pulling. But I was just clarifying in my idea as to leaving the mechanical pump up front where it sits now instead of putting a block plate on.
If I do this idea (leaving mechanical pump and installing electric pump near tank with switch for when I need it), should I go to a lesser electric pump?? The one I have now is 5-9 psi ...i can take it back and get the 2-4 psi pump they had...since I will only need it to help on hard starts or after sitting for awhile.

And I agree that something is wrong with the fuel line and that brass piece coming right from the tank. This is the second or third time I've had a problem with the line getting clogged....so this time I would like to do more than just a temporary fix. I don't know what the guy was thinking when he ran this line...

Frank