Warning to All owners

[Gadgeroonie]

i fitted some new fuel pumps recently and was horrified at the way the pipework comes from the tank to feed the pump

it bends 180 degrees, folds round the frame and then bends 180 degrees again before entering the pump

this is just plain amatuer - the fuel pipe is probably ok when new, but after a few years it will fold on itself and create a fuel restriction.

my pipe work was ok - but was showing signs of collapsing

my advice to any owner is get it replaced with steel bends and unions that can no collapse

i know of two engines that have failed becasue of this pipe

Noble - shame on you

[Stella Artois]

With the relative position of the fuel pump to the tank, why did they find the need to exit the right hand side and place the pump on the left!! Bizarre!

[peterguk M500]

Not mine

[MrCredit]

Yeah, the standard tank take-off position seems a bit hap-hazzard. I would've thought it would've been better to have the tank output on the same side as the fuel pump?
Maybe it was located inside due to fuel surge/movement?

[Mike Tuckwood]

MrCredit said:

Yeah, the standard tank take-off position seems a bit hap-hazzard. I would've thought it would've been better to have the tank output on the same side as the fuel pump?
Maybe it was located inside due to fuel surge/movement?

That would leave it in a worse position, the vast majority of tracks are clockwise which would swill fuel away from the inboard pick up point.

Mike.

[daddysumo]

It's on that side I would say so that the tank can be fitted straight up inside the chassis without any hassle.

[F.C.]

daddysumo said:

It's on that side I would say so that the tank can be fitted straight up inside the chassis without any hassle.

+1
F.C.

[Urbalizer]

That is probably why Noble warn you to not track with less than 1/4 tank.

[Adrian W]

Urbalizer said:

That is probably why Noble warn you to not track with less than 1/4 tank.

No, they warn you because on the early cars, when the gauge read empty it was, on the later cars empty means 20 litres.

[RobP]

Gadgeroonie said:

i fitted some new fuel pumps recently and was horrified at the way the pipework comes from the tank to feed the pump

it bends 180 degrees, folds round the frame and then bends 180 degrees again before entering the pump

this is just plain amatuer - the fuel pipe is probably ok when new, but after a few years it will fold on itself and create a fuel restriction.

my pipe work was ok - but was showing signs of collapsing

my advice to any owner is get it replaced with steel bends and unions that can no collapse

i know of two engines that have failed becasue of this pipe

Noble - shame on you

I also had an issue with the low pressure fuel hose collapsing when the car was under full load and at the same time was heatsoaked. The symptom was the engine momentarily cutting out at around 5k rpm (as if the rev limiter was hit). The cut out was so acute (seen in real time on a laptop) that it pointed to an electrical problem. After much swapping of ECUs/wiring looms etc etc it was eventually tracked down to the collapsing fuel line. What was interesting was the speed with which the fuel rail emptied -pretty well instantly. This was tested by wiring the pump direct to the battery with a switch and completely bypassing the ignition system. With the engine running normally (either idling or at 4.5K revs), turn off the fuel pump only and the engine stops as quickly as if you had turned off the ignition. Probably 95% if not more of the fuel pumped is returned directly to the tank, so I would be surprised if an engine went bang as a direct result of the fuel hose being a bit dodgy. If your AFR shows the engine is continuously running lean then that's another matter. Mine didn't, the engine just stopped when the line fuel line temporarily collapsed and the fuel rail emptied.
Simple cheap alternative to those good solutions already proposed is to replace the OEM low pressure hose with a bit of high pressure fuel line. Never looked back since.
Oh, and thanks to that horrible sarcastic blighter, AdrianW, and to that ignoramus, Yellowshed, for the many hours spent sorting and fixing the problem. At the time it was an unknown fault.

[Urbalizer]

Adrian W said:

Urbalizer said:

That is probably why Noble warn you to not track with less than 1/4 tank.

No, they warn you because on the early cars, when the gauge read empty it was, on the later cars empty means 20 litres.

That is good to know, i always panic when i am low on fuel and the next station says 20 miles

[Jenx]

RobP said:

that horrible sarcastic blighter, AdrianW, and to that ignoramus, Yellowshed

I can't stand them either, Rob

[sjc]

Skippy at NL put in a high presure fuel hose on mine when I asked him to do a preventative spanner check last year.Some of the bends in some of the various bits of pipework look like they were designed by a guy with a degree in origami.

[RobP]

sjc said:

Skippy at NL put in a high presure fuel hose on mine when I asked him to do a preventative spanner check last year.Some of the bends in some of the various bits of pipework look like they were designed by a guy with a degree in origami.

Skip was in on it as well.