fuel pump cable

[donzi]

My 65 fuelie has been breaking fuel pump cables. 3 in the last 4 months.
Any help will be greatly appreciated.

 

[jerrybramlett]

It sounds like your high pressure pump gears are binding. The pump should turn freely enough that you can rotate the gears by hand. In other words, stick a bare cable in the end of the pump and see how hard it is to turn the cable with your fingers. It should feel stiff, but not difficult to turn.
These FI pumps can be easily rebuilt by someone with experience for about $75 labor. If you're going to try it yourself, be aware that anything you damage will be expensive to replace. Used pumps bring $500 - $600 on eBay. Only the carbon bushings, steel main shaft, and the seals are available reproduction.

I am not soliciting your business. There are many folks who rebuild pumps. Try John DeGregory at (724) 832-3786, or Frank Antonicelli at (717) 566-5039. Both are located in PA. Both are honest and very competent.

 

[donzi]

If the pump is binding, why does the cable break at different time periods. Is it possible that the housing for the cable could be the problem?
thanks for your quick response
jim

 

[jerrybramlett]

While I've never encountered a bad cable housing, it's not impossible. Actually, just about any kind of problem is possible in a 40 year old auto part.

Last month I received a unit that had a lock washer and a lead weight sitting in the gasoline residue inside the fuel bowl. If either of these metal parts had been drawn into the gear pump while running, there could have been some serious damage. I asked the owner how those pieces got into the fuel bowl. (They sure didn't flow in with the gas.) He didn't have any idea. He also added that he had always done his own FI repairs in the past.

 

[donzi]

pump cable fix

We had to turn the distrubitor ,that resulted in less of a kink of the cable housing. I am hoping this is the cure for my broken cables

 

[jerrybramlett]

The base circle of a stock FI distributor has a notch machined in it. That notch fits over a pin protruding from the aluminum spacer. The aluminum spacer has another pin on the bottom side that fits into a hole in the adapter manifold. In other words, an FI distributor base is forced to have one orientation only. You shouldn't be able to rotate the base. It was designed this way so the cable adapter would always be pointing in the right direction.

 

[donzi]

which distributor?

Jerry

Are you talking about thr fuel distributor or the ignition distributor?

 

[jerrybramlett]

I'm talking about the ignition distributor. I'm not aware of an FI component called the fuel distributor.

The drive cable assembly connects the ignition distributor to the high pressure pump. The pump is housed in the fuel bowl. The fuel bowl is the lower part of the fuel meter. The little copper tubing which distributes the gas to the individual nozzles is called the spider assembly.

 

[donzi]

Thank you for your reply

I will call
the repair shop in the AM and relay this information. They (the ropair shop) think they can move the distributor amd remove the kink in the cable housing. Do you know where I can get photos of a proper allignment? thank you again for your help

 

[jerrybramlett]

With all due respect to your mechanic, I think he may be in over his head.

If you will send me your e-mail address, I will answer back with some photos showing the distributor mounting base. You'll then understand what I mean about the distributor mounting with only one orientation. It would be even better if you would send me a photo of your current cable set-up so I can see this kink you mentioned. Something isn't right here.

Look, I'm not much on this internet anonimity crap. My real live name is Jerry Bramlett and my e-mail address is jerrybramlett@comcast.net. I'll be glad to give your mechanic FI advice by phone for free. My shop number is (251) 478-4003.

 

[wallyknoch]

FI Cable Fix

A simple fix is just replace the cable with out the housing. If it runs without breaking then you know the housing is bad and will continue to eventually break the cable every time. Dont worry about the bare cable, it will not come out. I removed my housing many many moons ago and still have the spare cable that I never used in my trash tray in the original box. Most of the people dont even know what a FI unit is and wont know it`s missing anyway.