Fuel pump, Float chamber...Any ideas?

Hi All,

I have I bit of a dangerous problem with my 1989 mini 30. Its pumping fuel out all over the floor appearing to be coming from the expansion pipe from the float chamber.

My questions are...

  1. float chamber or carb settings to blame?

  1. Fuel pump? could this cause this effect or does the carb purely control this.

  2. Haynes manual tells me that a faulty fuel pump will place fuel in the oil, if so how can I tell? and would that cause the above problem?

I'm really unsure what to do with this, I am usually hands on with this car and I do all my own repairs/maintenance but this time I am stuck

Any ideas will greatly be appreciated.

Dick Jones

Reply to
DJ
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First it reviews if the needle of the floater is working well, this is, if it cuts the fuel flow. It replaces the packing of the deposit of the carburettor. You can lower the fuel level in the deposit to avoid over level, adding a spacer in the base of the needle.

Good Luck and greetings from Santiago de Chile

(sorry by me poor english)

-- SonoMan Austin Mini Blanco 81'

"DJ" escribió en el mensaje news:gTCfg.110$ snipped-for-privacy@newsfe5-win.ntli.net...

Reply to
SonoMan

In message , DJ writes

If you're using a standard fuel pump (not a high pressure one), then the fault is almost certainly going to be the fuel cut-off needle valve in the float chamber. I guess a 1989 Mini uses an HIF carb with the float chamber below the jet, in which case you have to take the carb off the car to replace the needle valve. If it's an HS carb with the float chamber to the side, you simply undo the three screws holding the float chamber top on, carefully pull out the pin to release the float, and remove the needle valve and replace with a 'Viton-tipped' one.

Re-assembly, as Haynes used to say, is the reverse process.

Reply to
Chris Morriss

Is this running a HIF or HS4 carb? Sounds to me as though the needle valve in the float is sticking open. just remove the fuel pipes and remove the top of the chamber. clean any dirt etc and refit and retry. it may be worth buying a new needle valve. DSN classics were the cheapest for me a month ago

RS

Reply to
RS

Hi Dick All the advice you have been sent, I totally agree with, one of the questions you asked was, you have been told that a faulty fuel pump can dump fuel in to the engine oil, this is quite right, the fuel pump consists of 2 chambers, the lower chamber vents to atmosphere and houses the bottom part of a diaphragm, the upper chamber deals with the fuel, if the diaphragm splits, then the fuel can leak through to the lower chamber, and out of the vent hole, and can also sneak past the actuator arm and in to the crank case and mix with the oil, HTH Fitzy

Reply to
Fitzy

Yes so you can sometimes tell if there's fuel in the oil by sniffing the dip-stick and from the consistency of the oil too I should imagine.

Definitely something to sort as it's not a good idea to have fuel in your engine.

Taffy

Reply to
Taffy

In fact as somebody else said on a Mini forum:-

If your dipstick smells of fuel and the oil is thin and gritty, DO NOT START THE CAR. A sump full of fuel/oil mix and vapour is a very effective bomb.

Taffy

Reply to
Taffy

Great response by all, Thank you.

One further question though....

If I have a faulty fuel pump, would it deliver fuel to the carb at all or can the result vary?

Cheers again.

Reply to
DJ

Bloody terrorist!

Reply to
Rob

A faulty fuel pump would still pump fuel to the carb, but may be leaking into the engine as well. The fuel pump has nothing to do with your over filling float chamber though,

cheers RS

Reply to
RS

I had the same two problems on my 1989 Mini 998. Faulty fuel pump didn't deliver any fuel to the carb so the engine just stalled. Cured this by fitting a new pump, fiddly but easy. Next, I had fuel pouring out of the overflow pipe and into the lower part of the engine bay and on to the tarmac. Cured this by replacing the needle valve and seat as decribed previously. Comes as a kit and is cheap and easy to fit.

However, I did find that the rubber tipped needle tended to stick after a couple of years resulting in fuel starvation or flooding. Fixed this by fitting a genuine SU needle and seat kit, again a cheap fix.

Good luck

Reply to
ln1gaw

Why didn't I say it as quick and easy as that,,,, nice one "ln1gaw" Fitzy

Reply to
Fitzy

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