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MG TD TF 1500 - Electronic SU meltdown

Folks -
Was at Abingdon Spares this morning picking up some bits to take to the GOF, when behind the counter, I noticed a SU pump that apparently had a meltdown.

Noticed there was a little red tape hanging off it, and thought that was the code for positive ground transitor ignition.

Inquired to the kindest lady I have ever met... "Is that an electronic SU?" Which she replied "That's a fuel pump".

I haven't heard about many / any melting down like this... anyone?

Blair

If anyone will be in Painted Post this week, I will be there with my TD, NH liscese plate, say hi. NEMGTR #993,
Blair Weiss

Blair - The red tape is used to indicate a positive ground pump on the newer pumps (AZX series). It doesn't matter if the pump is a points style or an all electronic pump, the tape color is the same. I was just at Burlen Fuel about a week ago and talked to their all electronic fuel pump expert and confirmed what I had suspected about the circuit board in them. If the pump stalls in a current on condition and is left with the power left on, the quenching coil onthe corcuit board will burn out and damage the circuit board itself. While this will stop the pump from running, it will not necessarily cause any external damage to the pump. The older points style pumps that are stalled in the current on condition and the power is left on, will heat the coil up sufficiently to cause signs of overheating on the externals of the pump. There are two things that will cause a pump to stall in a current on condition. The first (and probably the most common) is the result of the points sticking. The second and more obscure cause is a clog on the inlet side of the pump (such as rust coating the filter int he tank) and is the reason I recommend that owners check their tanks if I find any rust in the pump that I am working on. The clogged inlet line to the pump is the only thing that will cause an all electronic pump to stall in a current on condition.

It was interesting to me to find that the electronic fuel pump expert at Burlen Fuel was unaware of what was causing the boards to burn up in some of the pumps that were returned to them. Since he was never involved with the cars that the pumps are used on, he was not aware of the rust problems that can occure in the tanks. He and I must have spent nearly an hour comparing notes while I was there and I found it to be a most informative session.
Cheers - Dave
David DuBois

This thread was discussed between 07/09/2004 and 18/09/2004

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