Fuel pump replacement on 280zx

Ped

Ped

Club Member
Yesterday I got my 280zx exhaust fiasco resolved successfully, and tested out the new idler bearing on the same run, sweet no problems, delighted... until a couple of miles from home the fuel pump started a continuous whine which got louder. :(

Then I got stuck in a traffic jam for half an hour with the throttle dying, only being corrected by me jumping out in the car and banging the spare wheel on the boot floor which temporarily revived, otherwise progress was reduced 1st gear with the engine idling, about Zimmer pace - I only just made it back home so...

Ordered up a new fuel pump (non Nissan) from Mike Feeney today, hope to get it sorted for Japfest. I will see if I can post some pics of the swap as I do it, apparently small adaptations are needed. :smash:
 
Ped

Ped

Club Member
New fuel pump arrived next day from Mike Feeney along with a pre-filter to sit between tank and pump.

new_pump.jpg


Here is the old pump.

old_pump.jpg


As you can see there is not much room, especially if you are trying to work on it lying on your back with the car on stands. Not impossible, I just did not fancy it, I have a half a tank of fuel which I did not fancy spilling onto my driveway, so I decided in the end to put the car into a local garage to get the pump replaced. Should be straight forward to sort with it up on a hoist.
 
Ped

Ped

Club Member
Well, still no fuel pump fitted, hence my absence from Japfest. As mentioned earlier, I dropped the car off at a local garage to get it fitted, after confirming off the phone them saying they were happy to do it and knowing the pump was not a straight swap and may need adapting slightly and there was a pre-filter to add. "Oh yes, I've checked they are fine to do it" was the reply.

Got a phone call Friday afternoon 2pm: "The pump doesn't fit..."

Needless to say I just took it off them in disgust.

So... have booked it in with a company who should know what they are doing. I would have put it in with them in the first place but they were fully booked last week and a further away from my house. Bearing in mind the pump is whining away. So have explained everything again and again "Yes" they can do it. This time I will triple check they are up for it before I leave.

It should not be this hard.
 
Ped

Ped

Club Member
Well finally got the new pump and filter fitted at a company in Reading. Turned into yet another saga, people seem to have stopped using their common sense... anyway its done and seems to run fine. The moral of the story is: if you have access to a ramp or pit DO IT YOURSELF! I just didn't have that option.
 
racer

racer

Club Member
Agree with you there mate. Always better doing it yourself if you can. Glad it's up and running.
 
Ped

Ped

Club Member
One last note: I had to get a step down fitting from the fuel tank hose (internal diameter about 12mm) down to 8mm (id). The fuel filter and the pump have 8mm fittings. I sourced the step-down from Pirtek (Fluid Transfer Specialists) in Reading (counter service), they were really helpful in finding a comparable item off the shelf (which was imperial), they crimped a section of marine grade fuel line onto the step down fitting while I was there. So if you need fittings, fuel lines etc worth looking them up online. They seem to have branches around the UK.
 
Ped

Ped

Club Member
OK, an update on the fuel pump replacement done back in Jan 2014... it packed up.

This is bound to be down to the clown who fitted it - without the pre-filter (after me specifically telling them that they had to), then running it. When I found out they hadn't added the fuel filter, I got them to add it in. But it looks like that probably was enough to start it's demise.

I was on the run back from Simply Japanese and the cars power seemed a bit down at first, then the familiar juddering followed by the squealing noise from under the tank. I just made it home and no more, another few miles and it would have packed in.

I ordered up a replacement from Mr F but only got round to fitting it last weekend. I wasn't looking forward to it as I don't have a pit or ramp, but in the end it was fine and a lot less hassle than getting some muppet involved.

The replacement Mike supplied is a Walbro and not a Sytec pump, but the threaded ends are the same, as was the overall size. The foam sleeve that fits over the pump was thinker and better quality than the Sytec version.

I got a good test run (60 mile round trip) in it up to Kop Hill Climb on Sunday and its now running great again... with no leaks fortunately.

The moral of the story, yet again, is do it yourself.
 
Mr.F

Mr.F

Inactive
The moral of the story, yet again, is do it yourself.
Click to expand...
The real moral is to always fit a pre-filter with close tolerance rotor vane pumps! Cannot emphasise enough how important this is - the smallest particles can destroy a pump instatntly.
 
Ped

Ped

Club Member
Mr.F said:
The real moral is to always fit a pre-filter with close tolerance rotor vane pumps! Cannot emphasise enough how important this is - the smallest particles can destroy a pump instatntly.
Click to expand...

Yes, Mike agreed with you there. And having stressed this to the chap who was fitting the pump originally he promptly ignored me! He then ran it and happily told me it was ready. I then said "you did fit the pre-filter..." :beatdeadhorse:
 
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