Alky Pump Replacement - Do/Dont's???

Darkstar72

Active Member
Joined
Oct 1, 2017
Morning all...I'm looking at changing out my Alky pump as the age of it is unknown to me and I would just feel better with a fresh pump on the car for safety of my engine (and wallet). Are there any tips or items I should know before swapping out the pump? How do you all drain the tank for the pump replacement? Should I just get a good turkey baster and pull the current alcohol out of the reservoir to put back in the can until the pump swap is over? How do I prime the new pump once installed on the car? Sealing the lines?

I think you get it...this is my first alcohol injected car so I want to do it right avoiding any common mistakes newbies might make along the way.

TIA.
 
Well, I looked underneath the car over the weekend and looks pretty straightforward to me. I guess if I run into any issues I will just use the ol' search function or put it out on there on the tech pages on Facebook.
 
Let me know how you make out. I need to swap mine as well. My concern is draining things, how much comes out, do I need to plug anything, does it need to prime once replaced, etc....

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
 
Let me know how you make out. I need to swap mine as well. My concern is draining things, how much comes out, do I need to plug anything, does it need to prime once replaced, etc....

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

I will update once completed...I had planned to remove most of the alcohol out of the reservoir with a turkey baster or manual transfer pump so I can put it back in the can. I assume whatever is left in the lines will just leak out when I disconnect them and will catch that in a bucket to just dispose of it later. I found through searches that pump will prime after the install and may take a few hits of the test button with gain on 8 to get it primed. I also saw on some thread searching this weekend that there are 2 wires that can be jumped to prime the pump, but I'm not sure which those wires are as I will cross that bridge when I get there.

It appears that most of the fittings I can see have Teflon tape on the threads to seal them so I will likely continue with that.
 
Morning all...I'm looking at changing out my Alky pump as the age of it is unknown to me and I would just feel better with a fresh pump on the car for safety of my engine (and wallet). Are there any tips or items I should know before swapping out the pump? How do you all drain the tank for the pump replacement? Should I just get a good turkey baster and pull the current alcohol out of the reservoir to put back in the can until the pump swap is over? How do I prime the new pump once installed on the car? Sealing the lines?

I think you get it...this is my first alcohol injected car so I want to do it right avoiding any common mistakes newbies might make along the way.

TIA.
Disconnect line from nozzle and you can pump the contents out through that line into a container via key on engine off and the prime button. There will be some residual meth in lines that spills but most will be gone. I highly recommend the tester @Razor aka Julio sells. Ive hooked the tester up and slid a piece of cardboard under the pump the help spot drips and then turn tester wide open and let it run for a minute or so and have found fittings seeping, pumps leaking that are very new due to contaminated methanol, etc.

IMO its best to rebuild them every 3 years I keep a spare ready as well.
 
Disconnect line from nozzle and you can pump the contents out through that line into a container via key on engine off and the prime button. There will be some residual meth in lines that spills but most will be gone. I highly recommend the tester @Razor aka Julio sells. Ive hooked the tester up and slid a piece of cardboard under the pump the help spot drips and then turn tester wide open and let it run for a minute or so and have found fittings seeping, pumps leaking that are very new due to contaminated methanol, etc.

IMO its best to rebuild them every 3 years I keep a spare ready as well.

That is my plan with the pump I will be taking off...I will have that pump sent out this fall/winter to get rebuilt by Julio and then will have that on the shelf as a good spare for next time. I purchased a new pump from Julio as my replacement. After this replacement I do plan to swap out pumps every 2 years as I have found Julio recommend on numerous threads.

The tester is on the list of items to get in the toolbox for future use/diagnosis, but, as with all things when you have 2 little kids, I have to prioritize my spending a bit.
 
That is my plan with the pump I will be taking off...I will have that pump sent out this fall/winter to get rebuilt by Julio and then will have that on the shelf as a good spare for next time. I purchased a new pump from Julio as my replacement. After this replacement I do plan to swap out pumps every 2 years as I have found Julio recommend on numerous threads.

The tester is on the list of items to get in the toolbox for future use/diagnosis, but, as with all things when you have 2 little kids, I have to prioritize my spending a bit.
Cool deal, Also dont EVER use a container that EVER had oil or fuel in it EVER. The residual fuel will kill teh pump. Cant brake cleavner it out ,etc. Fresh clean container ONLY for your methanol. Same goes for your meth fuel supplier be sure they only use a pump for meth only. If they have 55 gallon barrels of various fuels and use one pump for all, the meth will be no good. Fresh meth with a pump only used for meth only. If your reservoir had contaminated fuel in it replace it!
 
That is my plan with the pump I will be taking off...I will have that pump sent out this fall/winter to get rebuilt by Julio and then will have that on the shelf as a good spare for next time. I purchased a new pump from Julio as my replacement. After this replacement I do plan to swap out pumps every 2 years as I have found Julio recommend on numerous threads.

The tester is on the list of items to get in the toolbox for future use/diagnosis, but, as with all things when you have 2 little kids, I have to prioritize my spending a bit.
Same here. I'll pop the new one in and send the other to Julio for a rebuild.

Julio mentioned he likes the Loctite 567 thread sealant over the teflon tape. I picked up a small tube for my job.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
 
Cool deal, Also dont EVER use a container that EVER had oil or fuel in it EVER. The residual fuel will kill teh pump. Cant brake cleavner it out ,etc. Fresh clean container ONLY for your methanol. Same goes for your meth fuel supplier be sure they only use a pump for meth only. If they have 55 gallon barrels of various fuels and use one pump for all, the meth will be no good. Fresh meth with a pump only used for meth only. If your reservoir had contaminated fuel in it replace it!

All my methanol is VP M1 that I have in the 5 gallon sealed containers from them. I only pour direct from the container into the reservoir with a clean/new funnel so I think my contamination is off my list of suspects. I honestly just think this pump on the car is worn out/old. It will still control knock under 20 lbs of boost but once I max up to 23 psi boost the KR starts creeping up.

Thanks for the tips!!
 
Same here. I'll pop the new one in and send the other to Julio for a rebuild.

Julio mentioned he likes the Loctite 567 thread sealant over the teflon tape. I picked up a small tube for my job.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

Nice! Thanks for letting me know. I just picked up a medium tube to keep on hand. I had some older ARP thread sealer I've had forever, but I've never really liked it that much.
 
To empty the tank, place nozzle hose from pump into your container (Secure it so it won't come out!), KOEO, add 20-30 psi regulated pressure to the MAP sensor.
 
this is my first alcohol injected car so I want to do it right avoiding any common mistakes newbies might make along the way.
get a pressure gauge and look at pressure this is key and or just send out the pump each year for rebuild.the good news is the m15 nozzle only needs 100psi to flow the 15gph, the pump really has to fall off to be shy on delivery depending on the requirments of the car.
 
Just use the prime button

I did that exact thing tonight and tank was empty in about 2 minutes. Thanks!

In taking the pump off I only found thread sealant on the fittings going into the pump head nothing on the supply or feed lines. Is that typical? Should I throw a dab of sealant on those when it’s going back together?
 
Let me know how you make out. I need to swap mine as well. My concern is draining things, how much comes out, do I need to plug anything, does it need to prime once replaced, etc....

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

Speed...I got the pump off last night in about 30 minutes which included me going back and forth to get the right wrenches. I did pump out the old fluid by putting the gain on 8 and hitting the test button with the hose disconnected from the nozzle in the up pipe. It will be going back together tonight as I had to order that Loctite since the local parts store did not stock that sealant. I should be making test hits again by Thursday night (too much other stuff to get done before vacation to get the car out before that).
 
I did that exact thing tonight and tank was empty in about 2 minutes. Thanks!

In taking the pump off I only found thread sealant on the fittings going into the pump head nothing on the supply or feed lines. Is that typical? Should I throw a dab of sealant on those when it’s going back together?
Whatever you use be sure and not get it sloppy and into pump or lines.
 
Whatever you use be sure and not get it sloppy and into pump or lines.

I never go gonzo with thread sealant, I only use enough to spread evenly on the threads. A little dab will do ya is what my Dad always told me.

I got it all back together last night, all sealed, let it cure overnight (even though that might have been overkill, whatever), filled the tank the this morning, and it's alive!! Put the gain knob on 8 and used the test button to prime it up...no issues at all. No leaks found whatsoever. It was a very a simple process and probably only took me an hour of my time total from draining, removing, swapping fittings, and reinstalling/priming. Not a bad job at all. Thanks everyone.
 
I, too, am replacing my pump. I disconnected the hose from the nozzle in the up pipe, turned gain to 8, and hit the test button with KOEO to drain the alky tank, but no alcohol flows from the hose. The red light comes on when I hit the test button. What am I doing wrong? Thanks.
 
V6...are you hearing the pump coming on when you hit the test button? I had heard at times there are issues with the pump losing the prime and need to jumper pins at the 3 bar MAP sensor, but I have not had to do that myself so I can't speak to that whole process.
 
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