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MG TD TF 1500 - Fuel Pump Backup

Yesterday the old MG rode home on the back of a tow truck. As I suspected, my fuel pump was not operating properly. I read the archives and have effected repairs by cleaning the points. Bench testing pumping kerosene it worked fine. I am contemplating carrying a backup pump but wonder what type. One post in the archives noted a Purolator Pro 42S. I know carrying a backup may seem silly but once burned........

Any input would be appreciated.

JF
J FLESHMAN

You may consider the following options:

1. Replace the points in your pump with a solid state switching system. Several people make them, and plans are on the internet.

2. Buy a new SU electronic version of the same pump from Moss. I did that and have had no problems for several years. It looks the same. You need to specify positive or negative ground when ordering. They are different.

3. There is a TD MK 2 version SU Fuelpump that has 2 complete pumps. It is a double ended version of the stock pump that was used on the factory built cars. This is also available new from Moss.

Other brands of pumps available today are all solid state, so there are no points to wear out, so why not stick with a SU or modified SU for authenticity sake ?

regards,
Larry
larry ayres

Moss (and every other auto parts place) sell a little solid state pump that some put inline with the SU...you can hide it down behind the tank?
You could also carry a little piece of emery paper and just clean the points when they clog up....! I pull the cover off mine once a month and give it a little clean....seems to keep it running!
gblawson - TD#27667

Send your old pump to Bave Dubois( he's on this list). He will convert your pump to solid state, and you'll never have another problem. no need to carry a backup.
L.A. Leclerc

I have been carrying a reserve fuel pump since 1996 in our TF. Last year we used it for 1 1/2 days on our return from Gatlinburg Tennesee, to Sarnia Ontario. It is a rubber stoppr to fit into the gas tank, this is fitted with a plastic tube about 4 feet log to go into the front seat. At the end of the tube is fitted a 'doctors' blood pressure pump. About 4 to 6 pumps per minute was that was needed to pressure up the gas tank, and keep us running. Barbara pumped us all the way home. What a woman! True story, Byron.
JB Warwick

Thank you Larry L. for the very enthusiastic endorsement of my solid state conversions. I am however a big advocate of back up fuel pumps. No matter how reliable a given pump might be, there is always the off chance that the pump will fail (they are after all, an electro-mechanical device and that makes them automatically suspect and not to be trusted). I have an article on a couple of web sites regarding a permanently installed back up fuel pump (written primarily for the MGB, but applicable to any car). It consists of a cheap electronic fuel pump such as the Facet or Carter (around $40 at NAPA, mounted back near the fuel tank, plumbed in series with the primary pump and the power to the two pumps run through a single pole, double throw switch so either pump can be selected. The advantage to this arrangement is that if the primary pump fails, a flip of the switch will get you home without having to swap out a fuel pump at the side of the road (a really terrifying experience with a MGB or any other car where the primary pump is under the car). My article can be found at: http://www.mgexperience.net/article/backup-fuel-pump.html

The TD MKII used two standard, low pressure pumps plumbed and wired in parallel. To my knowledge, they never used a double ended pump in the MKII (the low pressure version of the double ended pump was way too expensive for the factory to have ever put in a T series car). The plans for the transistorized modification of the pumps are something that I put out many years ago (they are also in one of the back issues of the TSO). Try as I might, I have not been ale to purge those plans from the internet. The modification works, but just. It has a design flaw in it (I am not an EE) and it eliminates the natural arcing of the points to where the film that develops over time is not burned off of the contacts, resulting in, (you guessed it) failure of the pump ;). A person would be better served to just go with the original points design of the pump than use the original transistor modification that I came up those many years ago (and have since abandoned). Cheers - Dave
David DuBois

My solution to this problem was first to install a dual fuel pump ala TD MK II then convert the pumps to solid state. Thanks Dave DuBois for your help with one of them. But here's the hooker, I only connect one pump up. Then if the first one fails all it requires is to change the wire supplying power to the pump(s). Then when I get home I know which pump has failed and can remove it with confidence that I have got the one that was giving trouble.

If I hooked both of them up one could fail and I would never know it. Then if the other failed I'd be in the same trouble as a car with only one pump.

In thinking about why Abingdon installed dual pumps on the MK II the only conclusion I can come to was for reliability when racing. No way could the most hopped up TD burn all the fuel a good pump was capable of supplying.

Just my $0.02 worth!
Cheers,
Bob
R. K. (Bob) Jeffers

"If I hooked both of them up one could fail and I would never know it."

There is a better way. I have LEDs in series with each pump so I can watch each working.

Denis
Denis L Baggi

This thread was discussed between 12/10/2007 and 15/10/2007

MG TD TF 1500 index

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