Fuel Pump Wtf?!?!?!

C

ChrisF

New Member
Joined
Jul 28, 2001
OK guys here it is:

I bought a car with a loud a** puller style fuel pump mounted over my rear axle. Clearly this is not the way to go.

I order a Walbro 340 and hotwire kit from Jack @ Ractronix. All parts arrive pretty quickly and seem top quality.

Drop the tank, pull out the stock pump hanger/float bracket and find yet *another* fuel pump in there. :eek: So at a glance I assume someone is pulling fuel through the stock pump. :confused:

Upon further inspection, I see hand engraved numbers on the top and bottom pump, "1576" and "2661" respectively. On it's end, it says "AC" and "1503" (AC Delco?)

The problem is this: The pump that was in there is about 3/4 inch longer than what is in there now, and even using the special rubber bottom plug supplied with the kit, the pump is too short, if using the "pulsator" as the instructions say to do. Additionally, the female spade terminals on the existing pump harness do NOT interface whatsoever with the provided pump and harness supplied, and there are *no* extra crimp on spade lugs or anything. :confused: :confused: :confused:

I am baffled. Is this some kit made 10 or 15 years ago for these cars, and I now have some incorrect or "other" bracket? What about the connections?

I am NOT read **NOT** suggesting that Racetronix has done anything wrong, it would seem the problem is the mods done to the vehicle before I bought it.

ANY help would be greatly appriciated, thanks all in advance.

Chris

cc: Jack at Racetronix
 
did it come with any high pressure 3/8 fuel hose?????

i never use the pulsator, and use the supplied hose instead-

HTH
 
I'm pretty sure 86's and 87's have different fuel pump wiring. That probably explains why the terminals are different.

as mentioned don't bother with the pulsator. Use some High pressure fuel line instead.

It was common practice in the late eighties/early 90's to leave a dead pump in the tank and use a puller. The stock pump only has to supply volume and the puller supplies the pressure. This works good in theory until you fast forward 10 years and the original sock is collapsed and clogged.
 
OK, the hose would take up the shortage, what about the wiring issue?

(PICS AVAILABLE)

Thanks again guys,
Chris
 
Did the pump come with a spare plug and wires?If so,you'll have to splice in the new plug.Been there,done that.
 
Send me a few of the pictures and I'll compare it to my stock '86 pump.
 
Not too wild about any splices immersed in fuel or fuel vapors....

UNGN, pics coming...

I think i might be able to take the spade lugs I have and slide them into the plastic connector supplied with the pump, I just have to remove the wires- therefore a coninuous lead.

I have the length issue resolved, just remove the pulsator and use the hose.

Someone hamfisted this one before me it seems, I think the Racetronix kit is nice stuff.
 
That plug looks like a racetronics problem. The plugs you have on the sending unit are the originals. I'd cut the racetronics connector off and splice on an insulated spade. you want to separate and insulate positive from negative as much as possible. very hard to do if you reuse the racetronics male plug without a female plug.

Definately cut the neck down in the pipe off or atleast open it up as much as you can.
 
UNGN, to the defense of Racetronix, another member on here showed me pics of his 86 plug and setup, and the harness Racetronix supplied would plug right in....seems like this is either a different version GM may have used, or something aftermarket?
 
Originally posted by ChrisF
UNGN, to the defense of Racetronix, another member on here showed me pics of his 86 plug and setup, and the harness Racetronix supplied would plug right in....seems like this is either a different version GM may have used, or something aftermarket?
Click to expand...

My sending unit looks just like yours. The black connector is racetronics, right? Maybe there is an adapter cable to go from the connector to the factory set up that you are missing? where's your old pump? is the cable still attached to it?
 
UNGN (and others) Thanks for the help....

Not too wild about any splices immersed in fuel or fuel vapors....

I will get this worked out I'm sure...:confused:
 
I am remember the topic of splicing inside the tank coming up before. The general response was that there will be no oxygen in the tank (or not enough) for a fire to begin. Realistically how would any manufacturer get away with putting an electric pump inside a fuel tank if there was a danger that it could ignite the fuel. I say go ahead and splice away.
 
if it makes you feel more comfortable, use shrink tubing and solder the connection away from the car. Then no bare wires would be exposed. I don't like crimp connectors anyhow.
 
Turbo Mike- The kit I have has the same harness...

UNGN, the plug in the pic I sent is the other end of the harness that plugs into the 340, exactly like the one pictured in the message Turbo Mike sent. The pump that was in my tank had two spade lugs on it.

I also agree that any connections made in tank should be soldered and shrink wrapped, if they are not a factory style plug connection.

If my hanger and harness look entirely stock just like UNGN, then there must be two types out there. What made me think it wasn't stock is the hand engraving on the pump that was in the tank.

Thanks again all you guys!

Chris
 
Originally posted by Quick6'n'-K.C.
86/87 and tta have the same wiring
the plugs are the same
Click to expand...

The '86 GN pump hanger wiring is NOT the same as '87. The '86 has spade terminals and the '87 has a connector plug. See Casper's for the wire adapter they sell just for this reason.
 
nick--- perhaps all the 86's i have worked on are updated with 87 hangers????????
i have done 20 or so in the past 2 years, and as simple as it sounds, all i have had to do, is plug in the harness supplied with the 340m pump kit :confused:

i showed chris a photo of my 86 hanger sitting on a shelf last night, and it has the plastic end that plugs right into the supplied harness

hmmmmmm-
maybe its just luck that i havent ran into this problem before-

also 2 weeks ago i just did a 340 pump on my 87 limited-- it has the correct plastic connector, yet it was made 9-86
which contradicts what youve just told me--

im not making a stink over this, i told chris what to do last night on aol im, and i thought we it figured out last night--
just cut the harness ends off and use some connectors and go with it--
HTH
 
86's definitely different.......as Nick knows all to well when we set out to change my stock pump, low those many years ago, on my daily driver 86 GN.....we had to do it twice.....once to find out we didn't have the proper connection and again after obtaining Casper's adaptor
 
All the in-tank factory Delphi terminals / connections are crimped, NOT SOLDERED!
There is no issue with crimp terminals in the tank provided they are crimped properly.
Soldering the connection is a good idea if your crimps are questionable.
All crimp terminals must be nylon. Vinyl types are NOT resistant to gas and should not be used.

The universal Walbro to GM adapter harness has a GSS style connector at one end which plugs into the pump and bare leads at the other end. Nylon butt connectors are provided.

The best way to address your problem given your facility is to cut the bare terminals off the end of your factory harness and the female connector off the end of your Walbro-GM adapter and butt splice them together. As long as the crimp is solid there will be no issues PERIOD! A good set of Channelock 909 dimple crimpers from Home Depot is a good addition to your tool box. (http://www.channellock.com/product.cfm?group=10&num=6) Crush type economy crimpers are not recommended. Heatshrink tubing is not resistant to gas (unless it is the Teflon type) and will quickly dissolve. Teflon heatshrink is very uncommon / hard to find and has a very small shrink ratio. It is not required for this application.

You MUST use the GSS/ Walbro connector to lock into the pump. Using simple insulated push on connectors on the pump is a BAD idea and could be dangerous!

The only other way to connect the pump directly to the factory bulkhead connector with no splices is to have RACETRONIX (not Racetronics) supply you a Walbro to Delphi adapter. One end would have the Walbro/GSS style male plug and the other end would have the Delphi pins that would be inserted into your bulkhead connector.

The pulsator should be removed from the system and replaced with the supplied length of rubber hose. No pieces of factory hardware should be used / mounted on the Walbro pump. Only the supplied Walbro rubber mount should be used to sit the pump in the hanger. The rubber hose holds the pump in place at the top.
You may use a nylon tie to secure the body of the pump to the sending unit to add additional support.

Jack :cool:
Racetronix
 
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