Another lift pump lets me down.

rsaltaresjr

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I had my second lift pump fail in about as many years. I had 6.5 psi at the head during this mornings preflight, which is what this pump has always read since new. Pulling my trailer on the highway, I noticed my filter light pulsating on during high engine load. I Pulled over to check it out and found the pressure down to 3 psi. Hauled about a hundred or so more miles and managed to get her home, checked again, now she’s down to 1 psi. I changed the filter, blew out the pressure lines for each tank, and the feed line between pump and head. No change. Definitely the pump. I always make sure that the arm is correctly under the cam lobe when I install these things. I’m tired of replacing these garbage lift pumps every year but, as far as I can tell they are all made in china these days. Is going electric my only option?
 

Clb

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Checked the Stealership?
Read all the horror stories about the world of facett geelectric pumps before committing...
 

rsaltaresjr

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Yeah I have, that’s why I haven’t and don’t really want to go electric. None of the Ford dealerships around here have the original navistar pumps. Just curious if I am destined to just ride with a spare chinesium lift pump everywhere I go.
 

ROCK HARVEY

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I know there have been lots of threads on e-pumps, but I don’t remember anyone mentioning using a GM electric lift pump meant for a 6.2. Both engines use DB2 injection pumps, so it seems to me that the GM pump would work for us as well. Has anyone tried one?

EDIT: actually it looks like the 6.2s use a cam-driven pump like ours do. It’s the 6.5s that have e-pumps. Anyone try one of those?
 
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ttman4

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I been running a Holly Red now for about 6-7 yrs & no problems. Had a Holly Blue before that for several years. No regulators either.
Mounted on frame is my Cat water/fuel screen separator, then the Holly Red. ( I removed the little small screen in the Holly) Then under hood is my last FS1212 fuel filter.
And I run WMO mix, diesel, bar ditch weeds, hay, sage brush, grass clippings, if it burns I run it. Hahaha LOL
BTW I have a 4" body lift & a 4" frame lift so I got more room than usual. Got tired crawling round underneath with my 170# frame....& belly! LOL
 

rsaltaresjr

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That’s some useful info, thanks! I was looking at cdd’s e-fuel kit looks well made but, the price is out of my budget. He’s got some nice stuff but, I still work for a living. Good to know I can get away with a Holley red and no regulator.
 

captain720

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What you need is a system that lets you switch to e pump when the psi on your manual gets low. Gets you home with redundancy. Every system will be unreliable what you need is redundancy, manuals fail and electrics fail.
 

Noiseydiesel

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Electric pump can be mounted on rubber isolators (One version is a metal stud on either side of a rubber block, another version is similar to your wiper motor mounts) to reduce noise/vibration. I am in the process of adding an in line electric with toggle switch and possibly fuel line routing to bypass the manual pump, IF it should fail. I desire to have this done in under 3 minutes on the side of the road. IF I got real imaginative, flip a few switches activating solenoids and bypass and isolate one fuel system to the filter, to activate the other.
Now I should add a see through water separator on the frame with a warning light.
 

franklin2

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I bought this several years ago and mounted it on the frame on the driver's side near the radiator where I could easily run hoses from the original mechanical pump lines. And then just ran a single wire up to the wire that used to power the brake warning indicator. Works fine and is cheap. We had a f350 dump truck with a idi years ago, and a little pump just like this worked for years and years.


I just got a project, a John Deere zero turn with a diesel engine. Electric fuel pump on it went bad, they had the original style with the original plug in on Amazon for $30. I bought it, mowed the grass twice, burnt up and blew the fuse. Guy on Amazon sent me another under warranty. During my 3rd time mowing the 2nd pump quit again. I told him I wanted a refund, no more of those pumps. I decided to spend the $20 on the one above like I put on my idi. Had to cut the plug off and splice the wires, but that little gold square pump worked the rest of the summer mowing grass.
 

IDIBRONCO

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EDIT: actually it looks like the 6.2s use a cam-driven pump like ours do. It’s the 6.5s that have e-pumps. Anyone try one of those?
It's been a long time, but I believe that the 6.2s also used those pumps when they switched away from the square body style in about 1987 or so.
 

rsaltaresjr

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Found this kit today. Looks like the best of both worlds. Lift pump will pull fuel through it when not in use. I can use it for priming the system after maintenance, and it will provide redundancy when the chinesium pump fails. Also provides a nice pre filter. This is the route I’m gonna go. Thanks for all of the input fellas!

 

The_Josh_Bear

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Found this kit today. Looks like the best of both worlds. Lift pump will pull fuel through it when not in use. I can use it for priming the system after maintenance, and it will provide redundancy when the chinesium pump fails. Also provides a nice pre filter. This is the route I’m gonna go. Thanks for all of the input fellas!

For the ultimate in redundancy make sure to put the e-pump in parallel with the lift pump. This is how I have my Facet pump. That little cube will get you home but that's about it. It's not enough for towing as you'll lose some power. Just be aware of that.
It's easy with 3-way connectors and a check valve in each line.
@Selahdoor has a good write-up on the matter that I can't find using the google machine. My google-fu has weakened!

The reason for parallel is so the cube pump won't push fuel through the mechanical in the event that the mechanical ruptures it's diaphragm-- then you'll fill the crankcase with diesel and have a really bad day.

Also make sure the cube is after the main fuel filter. That little pre-filter on it clogs easily, ask me how I know... took me 2 days to remember I even had a pre-filter. Those were 2 long days of tearing my hair out, lol.
 

Kevin 007

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I have switched to E pumps about a decade ago, have gone thru several models and have come to a final setup which seems to work, I won't get into it here.

If anyone out there has an inclination to make a worthy custom part; I think a custom/quality/upgraded etc mech fuel lift pump would be something that sells, and would do the idi community a favor. As far as I know, there are NO quality, long lasting aftermarket mech lift pumps on the market anymore. If there was something good on the market that met or exceeded the factory pump performance, that would be great and im sure many people would be happy to spend a good dollar on it. If I had time to mess with custom fab work, that's the first thing I would play with.
 

hacked89

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I have switched to E pumps about a decade ago, have gone thru several models and have come to a final setup which seems to work, I won't get into it here.

If anyone out there has an inclination to make a worthy custom part; I think a custom/quality/upgraded etc mech fuel lift pump would be something that sells, and would do the idi community a favor. As far as I know, there are NO quality, long lasting aftermarket mech lift pumps on the market anymore. If there was something good on the market that met or exceeded the factory pump performance, that would be great and im sure many people would be happy to spend a good dollar on it. If I had time to mess with custom fab work, that's the first thing I would play with.

Mechanical fuel pump quality does appear to be down. Last summer I had a carter, internally broke. Had a replacement carter, snapped the arm which was installed correctly. Third go I got a rebuilt factory one. This was on a GM engine but same idea.
 
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