Electric fuel pump issues

[julian hood]

Have not been able to run my A 4 since this summer. Been on the road doing boat shows. Can't crank the engine now. Checked spark , compression, suction on carb, all good. Checked inline fuel filter, noticed fuel separation. Assume that it has water in it. Tried draining gas tank by hotwiring bendix electric fuel pump, pump runs, getting nothing. Unscrewed cannister ceramic filter came out but not much gas. Fuel pump is probably 30 years old. Is there a replacable diaphram for this pump or should I buy new pump?

[Don Moyer]

Julian,

I have no experience with Bendix fuel pumps, but most electric fuel pumps don't lend themselves too easily for rebuilding. However, I can't understand why your fuel pump would fail just sitting there while you were away. It appears to me that you may have a restriction somewhere on the inlet side of your pump. There's also the possibility (depending on the amount of water that was in your fuel) the internal parts of your fuel pump may have suffered corrosion to the point that it simply won't work.

Don

[julian hood]

Don,

I was having issues with fuel starvation this summer. I did clean the carburetor before I left for the road. The pump runs but nothing comes out. I will check for a blockage.

Thanks
Julian

[jhwelch]

I had a great failure along these lines a few months ago. My motor was
dying from fuel starvation and I was happy to get a short tow to
anchor and look into it. I ended using compressed air into the hose from
the tank to dislodge whatever was sticking in the pickup tube.

-jonathan

[JimG]

On my maiden voyage, my engine quit (I was moving the boat between to harbors), and I re-built my fuel pump on the water. As I remember, there was a hollow shaft that slid inside a solenoid that was simply gummed up. I removed it, just cleaned it with a plastic picnic knife, cleaned the simple flap valves on both ends, and reassembled it and it worked just fine. I have a spare on board now, but the original one is still working two years later.