"one piece at a time"

yup. Always check the simple things first!

I'd like to make a slight deviation to your post for the sake of knowledge AND entertainment.

  If the bubbles are coming up around the bottom of the bowl, the gasket is probably bad. You can only squeeze them a certain number of times. Ive also seen the gasket surface on the pump body corroded so that the gasket couldn’t seal. If there’s a chip in the edge of the glass it may not seal. As I said, I’ve seen the pump body distorted by overtightening of the bail. If the surface that the gasket rests on is not flat, it will leak. The glass will not deform to fit against a non-flat surface. If the glass catches on the edge of the lip on the pump body before it contacts the gasket, the body is warped. 

Edited by Bruce W - 11 Apr. 2024 at 1:08am

Bruce W wrote:   Yep, Lee, that’s probably tied for first place with the loose inlet fitting, followed by a bad bowl gasket. A case in point:   One guy changed his fuel pump on the trail twice in the same day, with no improvement. Convinced himself that an electric pump would be the only fix. When we got back to the TDR he went to town and bought a pump. I helped him install it. His tank-to-pump line had three hose splices in it. That’s six hose-over-straight tube clamped joints, with no apparent fuel leaks. We used the hose connection nearest the tank outlet to plumb in the pump. When we turned the pump on, his “fuel line” became a sprinkler.    I’m sorry guys, but I have spent years fighting and studying these fuel delivery problems. I have had all of them. I have learned how the system works, and how it fails to work. I know what the signs are and what they can tell us, and most of the time I know how to fix them. Please listen, especially if you’re coming to the Fall Colors Tour.  BW

mbullism wrote: mikec4193 wrote: ...trying to take them out into the wild... Do or do not... there is no try  ...and I take general exception to the word "heaps", lol.  You take them "out into the wild" knowing that should something happen you will get everyone, and everything, back... somehow.   The rest is the simply the modern day construct known as inconvenience-

Precisely☝️and well said 👍🏽 The fuel line on these fine old rigs is probably one of the MOST overlooked parts, one would assume if it’s not leaking it must be good to go…. I would bet most of the fuel pump issues at the fall colors tours I have been to were the fuel line itself and had nothing to do with the fuel pump ⛽️

Lee

That is my biggest fear with these old heaps...trying to take them out into the wild...

Lee MN wrote: How old is the fuel line from the tank to the fuel pump, as Bruce said they can have pin holes and not leak a drop of fuel but suck air excessively, I have seen this as well, the problem get much worse with elevation☝️ Lee

Bruce W wrote:   Air bubbles in the pump bowl are a sure and certain sign of air entering the “suction” side of the fuel system. Air will actually enter where fuel will not leak out. Atmospheric pressure v/s pump vacuum is a powerful force. Possible places for air leaks are:   The “shepherd’s crook” pickup in the tank.     Connecting fitting at the tank outlet.    The line from the tank outlet to the fuel pump inlet. Pieces of hose and steel or copper line, spliced together with hose clamps. The most common problem.    Pump inlet hose, same problem.    Pump inlet fitting loose. It usually tightens up pointing the wrong way, and rather than risk breaking or stripping something, guys back it up and leave it loose. They figure if it leaks fuel they will have to deal with it. There is NO fuel pressure here, and as I said above, atmospheric pressure v/s vacuum is a powerful force, the result of which can’t be seen.    Bowl gasket. It must be pliable, not wood hard, and the surface it seals against must be smooth and flat. I have seen pump bodies warped by overtightening of the bowl bail.    Its not to hard to see, if the bubbles come in through the fuel inlet ahead of the screen stand, the air is entering from before the pump or at the inlet. If the bubbles appear around the glass bowl, well, there’s your sign.    At any rate, bubbles are not good. You want the pump to be pumping fuel, not air.    Now. All of this applies to the original style glass-bowl fuel pump. The modern split-bowl pump is a whole ‘nuther story, the last page of which I haven’t seen yet.  BW

Edited by nofender - 09 Apr. 2024 at 8:41pm