Fuel pump failure and fix

All,

I mentioned briefly in the Nathan Woods ride day thread that my fuel pump had gone out during the ride. Well today I was able to find the problem and fix it.

I had first checked to see if I was still getting voltage at the plug for the fuel pump, which I was. Once I got the tank off I was able to get to the two prongs up inside the connector and using my ohm meter I found the circuit to be open.

I pulled the tank off and found the ground wire disconnected and just hanging there. When I put it back on the connector was loose. So, I tightened up the connector by sort of crimping it down, but, when I put it back on it still did not have a snug enough fit for my liking.

So I crimped it down some more, and then used .027" safety wire to wrap around it to tighten the grip the connector had on the blade, as well as wrapping it around the connector up higher and then tied it down to part of the pump housing to keep it from coming off again. I did the same for the positive side for good measure. I have included a couple of pictures but they are not the best quality. However, you get the gist of it.

Put it back together and had the fuel pump running and the bike started right up! If you look closely at the top photo you can see where I drilled the fuel pump holder right over the plastic tangs on both sides that hold the assembly in the holder itself, then installed a #4 wood screw on each side. There have been a few reports of fuel pumps jumping out of the stock housings leading to failures, so when I put my sub frame fuel tank on I went ahead and added an ounce of prevention to the aluminum fuel pump adapter that we supply.

Yep, they are totally immersed until you get low on fuel. Sparks shouldn't be a problem as the mix is too rich to ignite, no 02. Still not something you want happening!

I would add that there is a lot of fuel line inside the tank, has to be to be able to pull the stuff out either end. And this has a lot of mechanical effect on stuff flopping around.

The connectors rely on a very small pin in the slip on connector to pop into a corresponding very small hole in the blade to hold it. On mine this tab that has the pin had lost most of it's "spring" effect and would not lock into the hole.

Probably the best solution is what Busa did, solder your wires on as a preventative fix.

Although I feel pretty confident of my safety wire job, and the fact I also tied the wire bundle with a ty wrap to the return fuel line, after pulling down some slack on the wire bundle.

You could also probably just run a piece of safety wire through the hole in the spade and wrap it around the connector and then tie it off on the wire just above the connector itself.