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MG TD TF 1500 - electric fuel pump drawback

Hi !
Just for information but we all know it.
Run out of battery few days ago in my garage. The car had been standing for weeks.

Then I realized how useless is the cranking handle. There was not enough voltage to activate the pump.

French cars of this era have mechanical fual pump with manual lever. Much better in this case.

Laurent.
LC Laurent31

Laurent - An easy fix, get a Battery Tender or other brand of a smart trickle charger and connect it to the battery during the winter months. This will keep the battery exercised and at a full charge without over charging it. I have one of the Battery Tender plugged into an outlet in the ceiling and a dedicated plug in our TD and whenever it is in the garage, we make sure that the Tender is plugged into the receptacle in the car. Cheers - Dave
DW DuBois

Laurent, see http://www.ttalk.info/LockePump.htm, or
http://www.ttalk.info/EmergencyPumpII.htm Bud
Bud Krueger

A lot of British cars also had mechanical fuel pumps, e.g. TR3, etc.
Keeping the battery charged with a battery tender / trickle charger is a good plan anyway to prevent the battery deteriorating.
An alternative strategy might have been to draw off enough fuel from the tank to fill the float bowls, then start the engine manually with the crank / starting handle. Once running, the dynamo / generator should have got the electric pump going, and the engine would have continued to run. Messy, but any port in a storm.
Dave H
Dave Hill

Messy yes but that system once got me home two miles at a time when I had a blocked fuel line.

Jud
J. K. Chapin

You also need electricity for the ignition. You would have to crank a bit to cause the generator to generate enough electricity to energize the coil.
D. Sander

I had a tiny Renault once that had a mechanical fuel pump with a hand-operated function.

Also had a crank handle I believe.
P G Gilvarry

You can have enough power in the battery to run the ignition but not turn the starter.
Dave H
Dave Hill


You can also have enough power to run ignition and pump but not starter. In this case, and only in this case the crank handle is usefull.

I think that I will never crank enough to generate any voltage greater than 12 V with the generator. I would have to crank at a speed of 1500 RPM !

I have a tiny Renault with the hand lever pump. And I always use it when I start the car standing in the garage for few days. This avoids using the starter for tens of seconds just to pump the fuel to carb.
And here is the real plus for the electric ful pump.


Laurent.


LC Laurent31

The key to an operational fuel pump is to keep it maintained just like the rest of the car. However, an easy to carry alternative is a rubber plug just large enough to give a tight fit in the fuel filler. Drill that for a tight fit of a long piece of flexible hose and a rubber squeeze bulb on the other end of the hose.
Should the fuel pump stop, insert the rubber bung into the fuel filler hole and work the squeeze bulb enough to pressurize the fuel tank. A few squeezes occasionally will be enough to get you home.
Lew Palmer

Lew, see my earlier post on this topic. Bud
Bud Krueger

It’s a clever idea and looks very easy and inexpensive, so I am going to have to put one together just in case. Might try an air bed pump instead of the rubber bulb.
Dave H
Dave Hill

Dave H
You need to have a one way value at the end of the pump or in the line so the pressure is maintained in the tank.

I am using a builders pressure pad for adjusting doors etc, or you can get a blood pressure pump. Getting the rubber plug is harder.
Stuart
Stuart Duncan

Sorry Bud, I only scanned the thread without bothering to delve into the links.
Lew Palmer

Yes, it certainly needs a one way valve. Lots of rubber bungs on eBay.
Dave H
Dave Hill

Here's what I carried in my TD for some years. Had both a squeeze bulb and an inexpensive aquarium battery powered air pump in case I got too lazy to squeeze the bulb. :-) Have no use for it now though since I've sold the TD.

L Karpman

See from early in the thread:
http://www.ttalk.info/LockePump.htm, or
http://www.ttalk.info/EmergencyPumpII.htm Bud
Bud Krueger

I was thinking just the opposite about electric vs. manual pumps. After a long winter sleep my electric fuel pumps are so easy to get my cars started with. Turn the key wait a short bit and the carbs are filled and I am ready to start in less then 10 to 15 secs of cranking. TD starts after 2 to 3 cranks.

Fast forward to the manual pump TR6 even with a hand primer pump lever. It takes forever. I had converted the cars with older manual pumps to electric and will convert the TR6 this winter to electric.

Key is the battery tender.

Honestly the fuel injected cars of today solve problems like starting, mixture control, idling, etc.

Joe

JWP Policastro

My TR3 mechanical pump got the job done very quickly (one of the plus points on a car with lots of negatives). Maybe the TR6, being designed for fuel injection, had some other issue.
Dave H
Dave Hill

I could always mount a beer keg on the hood and remove the fuel pump
M Grogan TD23816

There is always the old gas can on the scuttle trick.
While this has the pump working gravity will make a good pump also.

That's Donnie Eckel NE dragster Champion owner.

Jim B.

JA Benjamin

Dave I too find my TR3 to be a quick starter after a long layover. Not sure why. I am running DCOE 45 Webers not sure if that has a impact.

Never thought of the fuel injection design on the TR6 engine design as having an impact. Interesting thought. The US never got to experience the TR6 fuel injection system due to government restrictions which really lowered the performance of our TR6s.


Joe
JWP Policastro

The TR6 fuel injection system gave plenty of power, as long as it was working. A friend of mine had one and on a hot day in summer, even in England, it would fail. I believe there is a fix now though.
Dave H
Dave Hill

This thread was discussed between 11/01/2018 and 20/01/2018

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