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MG MGB Technical - Fuel pump points gap

The fuel pump in my 71 roadster started to play up. Sometimes it would only work after giving it a knock. So I stripped it down and found the points to be burnt, cleaned them but found it difficult to understand any of the information regarding setting the gaps when reassembling. Basically I adjusted it so that it works but am not confident that it is correct. Any advice please.
What is the opinion regarding the later electronic pumps, are they more reliable than the original pump. I have noticed they are cheaper than the original from Burlen. I was thinking of keeping one as a spare.Trev
Trevor Harvey

Have you seen this?
http://sucarb.co.uk/technical-electrical-fuel-pumps-reassembly.

Essentially a matter of twisting the diaphragm and shaft that goes thru the rocker of the points assembly. The diaphragms can get "tired"; might be worth replacing that too.

If testing dry the speed of tick is much greater than when pulling fuel thru prior to a first start. Sort of woodpecker on speed!

Electronic vs. electric: your current electric one gave warning (after XX years?) of impending failure. An electronic would not have done so. However keeping a "points" type as a spare would mean the points would oxidise thru lack of use. So an electronic is probably a better bet.

However your refurbished one will last for ages!
Michael Beswick

Don't get an afrter-market plastic-bodied Moprod electronic pump, they have a bad reputation. I binned (well, keep it as an emergency spare) after several bouts of short-stroking that left me stranded until it decided to start working properly again. Knocking no help with those!

Contacts do need careful setting-up after refacing or replacement. I found the SU Burlen info less than adequate, this worked for me http://www.mgb-stuff.org.uk/pumpr.htm
paulh4

Incidentally, I was watching a documentary about a major service to a cross-channel ferry last night. The captain showed how they still used paper charts and parallel rulers saying "They still work when the electronics don't".
paulh4

Both my V8's have two pumps plumbed in with a change over switch. This proved beneficial last year in two ways. The S U just burned out while parking at an event. The back up was a Facet, a flip of a switch and I was up and running again. What this also showed was that the S U had been under delivering. There was a marked difference in performance on the way home.
Allan Reeling

Trevor - "The fuel pump in my 71 roadster started to play up...So I stripped it down and found the points to be burnt..."

If the existing pump has just now started to "play up", I would have to say that the pump gave you excellent service. The procedure that Michael sent you is the proper way to adjust the points.

"What is the opinion regarding the later electronic pumps, are they more reliable than the original pump."
The all electronic pump is a very reliable pump if it gets past the first several months. When they first come out, there was a lot of failures in the first couple of months (weeks?). What I have found, after having many of them sent to me for repair, is that the piece called the Hall mask was not adjusted correctly. They were usually adjusted at the point where the pump started running and were cinched down at that point rather than finding the central point between the two extremes where the pump would stop running. I have received very few of the electronic pumps in recent years, which tells me that the factory people assembling and adjusting the pumps correctly. In use, I have had one in our TD for somewhere between 15 - 20 years that has not missed a beat. That said, you can't beat the points style pumps that are correctly set up and it has never had a situation where the inlet side to the pump has not clogged to the point that the points will not throw over. Cheers - Dave
DW DuBois

I switched to SU electronic fuel pump in 2002 when the original began leaking. I have had no problems since.

Cheers
Gary 79 MGB
gary hansen

Thanks for the replies,
As an update, after cleaning up the points and setting it up as best I could, I have since done about 200 miles in the car without a problem so I assume I might have got it right, but I now cary a spare in the boot.
Trevor Harvey

This thread was discussed between 29/06/2017 and 02/07/2017

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