Facet fuel pump Problems!
Turbo Mini Forums

Hi.

The mini has a Red Facet fuel pump, however I have difficulty starting the damn thing, is the pump mounted too high?



Its not a recent pic, the level on the regulator at the moment is about a 1/4 up from the bottom

It has fuel but not much, have stuck about a fiver in?

This is my one and it works fine, i just put it on for a min then start the car.


simon

I have started posting on Instagram also my name on there is turbomk1golf

Nothing is impossible it just costs more and takes longer.

So it doesn't need to be mounted at bottom of tank? I might take the regulator/filter off? Am I supposed to see the regulator filling up?

Cheers

Edited by dischub on 24th Oct, 2010.

yes mate has it worked before? is the filter clean in the pump.
have a look how i plumbed in my last car it looks different to how you have done it.

I have started posting on Instagram also my name on there is turbomk1golf

Nothing is impossible it just costs more and takes longer.

Yeah the car has run before, just usually takes a few turns to get started but nothing was happening today.

I've bought the car like that, from memory
on the pump the IN is at the bottom with a pipe coming from regulator and the OUT at the top which is the pipe taking the fuel under car to the front

I might try bringing the Reg and pump down to the boot floor to see if that makes any difference? Or taking the Reg out and have a pipe going directly to the pump?

Cheers

right i am all most sure your reg is plumbed in worng.

I have started posting on Instagram also my name on there is turbomk1golf

Nothing is impossible it just costs more and takes longer.

Hmm I have no idea to be honest, I think I saw the instructions for the reg in the spares box that came with car. If it was plumbed in wrong then surely it wouldn't run all them other times? I think its been running like this since the engine was rebuilt 20k ago.

Appreciate the help.

Edited by dischub on 24th Oct, 2010.

Found the instructions for the Reg, the pipe/connection pointing down is the inlet and the other the outlet.

In your pic of the yellow mini, it seems the pump is plumbed in before the reg so its pushing the fuel into the reg? Where as mine seems to be plumbed in after so its trying to suck the fuel from the reg?

Is that the problem?

Edited by dischub on 24th Oct, 2010.

What carb do you run?

It's very unlikey that a pump will affect the starting unless your float bowl is emptying.

Edited by wil_h on 24th Oct, 2010.

Fastest 998 mini in the world? 13.05 1/4 mile 106mph

They're twin 1.5" SU

Have you actually checked to see if fuel is getting to the carb first? Pull a pipe off at the carb.

as above i would check the flow rate at the carb, then give the carb a good clean, check the float is at the correct level etc.

Edited by MarkGTT on 24th Oct, 2010.

I was going to do that but it started getting dark, I'll give it a try tomorrow!

Cheers

Have you set the pressure in the regulator? Theyre not necessarily at the correct pressure, you want 4psi.
Ideally the pump should be lower as it is gravity fed, then pumped to the carbs.

Paul

I seriously doubt it!

Seems to have sorted itself? Gave the battery a quick charge and yanked the choke harder and it burst into life, so I'm guessing the choke cable is not pulling the choke out properly? I've got a new problem though, see Clutch rattling thread

Was still having problems so I took the Reg out today

If you look at my pic above its hard to see how it was working as a reg anyway as it was setup to suck the fuel from the reg then pump it round

Seems to be a bit better now, I'm going to mount the pump lower and closer to tank instead of it being above the battery :-

Quick question, is the regulator really needed? The way it was setup before the regulator wasn't really acting like one as the fuel was not being pushed through it?

Thanks

Edited by dischub on 31st Oct, 2010.

Weber carbs can cope without a regulator but SUs are a bit fickle and need one if you have a high capacity pump like the Facet.
The idea is the pump pumps too much pressure and the regulator (after the pump) brings it to the correct pressure

Paul

I seriously doubt it!

Right, got in the mini today. Last used yesterday. Would not start, complete pig just keeps turning over and over even with the jump pack. Took the spark plugs out, sparks ahoy so put them back in. Must be that bloody fuel pump at the back not pushing enough fuel. Come up with a quick plan, get a spray bottle and fill it with unleaded, take the filter off and squirt some of that stuff into the carbs. Get back in roars into life as I would suspect, so squirt some more down and start keeping the revs high in hope it will bring the fuel from the tank and it done the job.

What is it with the pump? It seems to take ages to bring the fuel up to prime the carbs? I've located it lower right next to the tank but its such a pain.

It will be fine for the rest of the day, only when its left overnight and try the next day its a pig again?

regulator should always be after the pump

Finally worked this one out and I feel like a tit!

Checked the fuel which was coming to the carbs properly, what I didn't check was whether the choke was coming on properly, the cable wasn't pulling it far enough to actually push the jets down and richen mixture

It now starts perfectly

Doh!