Today I bought an electric fuel pump to mod my fuel system. Does anyone have pictures of the way that you have done this? Did you install a filter before the pump? Where did you get the key-on hot wire to power it? Did you install an in-line fuse? I bought a high performance AC Delco pump the directions say to use a pressure safety switch, min. 14 gauge wire with a 10 amp fuse. Will too much fuel pressure damage things? This install sounds a wee bit more complicated that I thought it would be.

 

For the pressure, it only needs 3-7psi with around 10psi max before problems with the ip happen (timing can also get messed up with too much psi). An inline fuse is ok, and using a relay is good too (depends on the amp draw of your pump). And installing an On/Off switch is good for working on things. A prefilter will save wear and tear on the pump. Can't help you on where to tap power fo it (mines a Chevy!).

 

the one i got only draws about 2 amps.so i just borrowed the hot from the fuel selector valve,as this is the location you want.since it uses such low amps,i didnt worry about a relay or devoted fuse.it might not be the best,but highly doubt il ever have a problem.

location:
right down on the frame rail,just after the tanks and fuel selector valve.
yes.use a filter between the FSV and pump.
better yet,and i may do this,is to install 2 fuel filters right before the fuel selector valve(FSV).
the hot wire here can be found easy with a test light.turn key on to find it,and off to be sure it turns off.
there is a ground in these wires too.i used it to avoid making another contact point that would need cleaning once in awhile.since it was there,it was easier to tap into it too.

you also need to block off the mechanical lift pump.
just bypassing it imho is silly,as it rides on the shaft and uses hp to spin it.(enough to count yes)so may as well free up another pony while your doing it.
plus i noticed a huge difference in sound without it.dunno if mine was going bad or what,but its a lot quieter without it.much nicer.

BB chevy block off plate fits right on.(my package said it fit ford 289-351w as well)

what i did was run new rubber fuel hose.i removed the lift pump to fuel filter metal line,and screwed in a hose fitting.just pull that metal elbow out of the fuel filter,and tell the auto parts place you want a fitting with those threads to fit 5/16 hose.worked perfect!
now i just turn the key,on comes the pump,the gp's light up,and i hit the key.cold start in 2-3 secs(cranking time,after the 10 sec gp cycle of course.i also upgraded to monster bat cables too tho)

don't worry.its quite an easy job.your priming problems are gone for good after this and who know how many hp you free up.(i bet its at least 1 or 2.maybe not tho.)
(im open to suggestions with good reasons to add a devoted relay/fuse and or perhaps devoted hot feed guys if you think this is not ok.but 2 amp avg draw lol.perhaps 3-4 startup amps at most then?)

 

Have you used both tanks with it wired this way?

The two power wires to the fuel tank selector valve run down from the tank selector switch in the dash.
To change tanks, the positive and negative reverse.

I don't have the wire colors in front of me, but as an example with random colors let's say the front tank is selected and the positive wire is yellow and the negative wire is blue.
When you switch to the rear tank, yellow become the negative wire and blue becomes the positive wire.

A better choice would be get power from the fuel shut off solenoid (red wire with green stripe) and use it to trigger a relay.
The use a fuse in the main power into the relay from the battery which would protect the fuel pump feed between the relay and fuel pump.

Depending on which type of fuel pump you used, I could see it running backward or not at all when you select the other tank.

 

oh! nope i havn't tried switching tanks.glad i didn't then.
glad i brought that up.ok,il have to change this then.thats no good lol.
thanks Dave.

 

Could be a bad thing if you were depending on the fuel in the other tank.

And again depeding on exactly which type of pump you used, blown fuses are also possible.

 

The pump I bought is a Carter. I also bought a 30 amp relay, weather proof blade style fuse holder, and a fuel filter. The only filter I could find was a cheap in-line for gassers. Will that hold up to diesel or will it plug it up? Where is the fuel shutoff solenoid located, that sounds like a great place to get my hot for the relay? The pump says to use a 10 amp fuse so I am guessing that it will draw about half that. I couldn't find it printed anywhere. It did say to use a min. of 14 guage wire.

 

I have a question, would it hurt anything to install a fuel pump inline before the mechanical lift pump and what would be the benefit in that setup? There is a huge pump sitting on my frame rail but it's not hooked up. Looks like a giant fuel filter from the outside and I thought it might have been a water/fuel separator but opened it up to find out its a pump. A giant fuel sump pump housed in a can. Cleaned it up and verified it's running and it is so I was thinking of rerouting the engine lines through it after the tank select valve.

 

I have been told that its not the best idea to run them together because if the diaphragm in the mechanical pump should happen to rupture the electric pump will fill the crank case with fuel.

 

Ah. Then it would be okay to install the pump after the mechanical pump without hurting anything. That way if one or the other fails you still have fuel. I'm just not to keen on the idea of putting all my faith into an electric pump and bypassing the mechanical one. How are you planning on installing yours in relation to the mechanical pump?

 

On second thought if the diaphragm did fail the electric pump would still be pulling fuel through and into the crank case....looks like bypassing the mechanical would be the only way around that problem.

 

Most eclectic pumps can't be more then 24 inches above the top of the tank so the recommendation from most is to mount the pump just forward of the fuel selector valve on on the frame rail down by the forward tank. Facet makes a pump that can lift 10 feet but I ended up getting a Carter pump from Poorboy's. I am going to use a relay powered off of the fuel shut off solenoid with a fused hot wire coming from the battery for main power. I am going to remove the mechanical pump all together. I have the same reservation that you have so I am going to carry my mechanical pump and some hose and clamps with me just encase I need to do a quick bypass of the electric pump and reinstall the mechanical at least for a while until I feel confident that my system is reliable.

 

If you install the electric pump after the mechanical pump, when the diaphram ruptured you would be sucking air in through the mechanical pump diaphram.

So the result would still be an engine running poorly.

Best location for an electric pump is right in front of the tank selector valve so you can select either tank and only run one pump.

The selector valve really needs to stay in the system so you can route the return to the correct tank and switch the fuel gauge to the tank you are running on.

I have heard a couple people wanting to use two electric pumps, one for each tank.
But then you have the return line to deal with, fuel back feeding to the non selected tank and electrical issues getting the sender feed to ther gauge switched.

 

FWIW, here is how I did mine.



Power comes directly from the fuse panel under the dash with the ground under the dash as well. I just taped the two wires together and ran them down the frame with the rest of the mess that is there already. Make sure you include valves to shut off the fuel where you're gong to be changing the filter.

Lessons learned:
1) Put a valve on either side of the pump as well as the filter. You shouldn't have to change it often, but when you do, you do.
2) Smaller is better with the filter housing. I picked this up on Ebay for under $50 delivered. So I figured I'd install it and see how I liked it. One of my goals was to keep everything above the bottom of the frame rail, but with this one that means that the top is above the top of the frame rail. If I load the bed and it sags I won't kow about it untill it's too late.

Eventually I will get back under here and make some improvements, fo now I have other issues to deal with, but that's another thread.

Ron

 

I like your fuel filter Ron. I just bought a cheap in-line fuel filter. I like the idea of installing shut off valves. I may re-think my filter arrangement to include shut offs. I looked at filters similar to yours but they were for transfer tanks that you would store fuel in and the smallest inlet and outlets that I could find was 3/4 in. and there was no way to mount it. I got the pump mounted tonight. Going away for the weekend so the rest will have to wait till next week. I try to post pictures when I am done.