replace fuel pump???

Wondering if I should replace my fuel pump.

have a 74 and it has been running just fine. The carbs were recently rebuilt at the MG shop and everything was tuned up.

A few days ago the car started to sputter , excelerate slowly , lost speed going up hills.
I changed out the fuel filter but that did not fix it. It seems to be fairly consistent but not constant. I was going up a hill losing spead - car backfired and then picked up speed and stopped sputtering for a while.


Maybe I got some bad gas or I think that maybe the pump is starting to go.

This car is new to me and I don't know to much about them

thanks
Steve

Or it could be electrical. Time for a tune-up.

Just a thought, but I see so many carbs come in that the float bowls are full of rust sediment, that it could be an issue. I do try to notify all senders of what evidence I can find from the carbs I receive. Even in a rust free car, it is not uncommon for the fuel tank to rust in from the top (from dust/grime build up between the tank and the bottom of the boot.

I wouldn't replace your fuel pump, but if you don't know its condition it is time for a rebuild.

If you like tinkering with fine instruments then the fuel pumps are fun to work on. If that is not to your taste, you could see if one of the guys on the BBS would rebuild it for you.

I would change the diaphragm and the points and clean everything up. You should be good to go for many miles. You might also check the past postings for enhancements to the pumps. They can be converted to pointless operation. Another alternative is to put transient voltage suppressors in parallel with (or even as a replacement for) the condensor. I posted the details a long time ago but it should still be in the archives. Once you eliminate the arcing of the points they will last almost forever.

BTW - for some reason Victoria British has more pump components than does Moss.

Now I see that you did have a tune-up. Assuming all is good there and you don't have a condensor breaking down on you or a coil going south, you would want to do the tests for fuel pumps.

I forgot to add that the car stalls periodicly ( one in every 15 times) when I stop at a red light or getting off the freeway.

I did have everything tuned up when they rebuilt the carbs. New floats were put in as well .

See my article Fuel Delivery Troubleshooting Guide at: http://homepages.donobi.net/sufuelpumps/Fuel_Pumps/Fuel_Delivery_Troubleshooting_Guide.pdf
to see if you are having a fuel pump problem, clogged line, air leak, etc. It the problem is fuel pump, you can rebuild it as Terry suggests or have one of the several people in the US who do SU fuel pump rebuilds. I am taking myself out of the running because I have had to suspend work on the pump earlier this year in order to get my 86 year old mother moved from Sacramento up to the Seattle area so she is close enough to us that we can help her out.
Cheers,

A reserve fuel pump on an MGB is a very good Idea. I found that a good substitute was from a '82 Subaru, which apparently is the same as a Mitsubishi, or Honda civic. Generic Japanese low pressure fuel pump.
My faviorite spot to keep them is at the back of the engine compartment, up the top and either side. There are a couple of small compartments convenient to stash a fuel pump out of site. As per Davids article, you can suck fuel through a "dead" SU. Also you can push fuel though a Subaru pump with an SU, so you can simply put them both on the same line with an electrical switch to switch from one to another.

And next, a reserve ignition box like the Nascar boys have.....

Here in the Portland area it has been quite cold (below freezing) in the mornings and that coupled with the fact that we have to run 10 percent ethanol my car doesn't run well until the temps come up in the middle of the day. It's been dry enough so I've been driving the B this week to work. I wonder if the ethanol is knocking stuff loose in the fuel tank.
DW

David Walsh Wrote:

There are places where you really don't want to break down. Places that will seriously damage your health and well being.

Well

It looks like it was a combination of things.

I had just had the carbs rebuilt but it needed some adjustments.

distributer cap needed to be replaced- timing needed to be adusted a bit and the little idle set screw was stripped and slipping out of adjustment.

It is running smooth now

thanks all for the help

steve