| Author | Message | ||
     Hughlysses |
My Uly is approaching 60,000 miles on the original fuel pump (knock on wood). I've seen reports of problems at much lower mileages but some bikes seem to go forever without issues. I noticed a guy on Facebook recently selling fuel pumps, filters, pressure regulators, hoses and O-rings to fit XB's. I'm just wondering if it's smart to do a pre-emptive replacement of everything, or just replace the hoses, filter, regulator, and O-rings. Thoughts? | ||
| Tootal |
I was thinking the same thing. Mine gets a bit noisy when I'm low on gas. Awaiting an answer on this one. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Good question Hugh. I had mine apart, three times on two bikes (long story). Unfortunately I didn't see the speculation about clogging fuel filters until after that, or I probably would have replaced the filters while I was in there. Not a big deal to get it out though. But at the end of the day, this is an automotive grade pump with an automotive grade filter, and on a Mustang GT that filter goes for, what, 100k miles? And that is with probably 2x to 4x as much gas through it in that 100k miles? And with a much nastier steel tank and fuel system (compared to our nice clean aluminum short line setup)? And that fuel pump applications in the cars fail pretty rarely anyway? If so, it seems like a sub 100k mile rebuild of the pump and filter is crazy on an XB, unless you know you have done something awful to it. (And I know some had a wire chafing problem that needed to be addressed, but that wasn't a pump issue, it was a wiring issue). Or maybe the fact that bikes sit more, and the new alcohol filled fuels and the associated green jello they make, means that bikes should be getting new filters every couple of seasons. I know my dirt bikes and string trimmers suffer BADLY from modern gas. So, you have me wondering also. Easy rebuild, and parts aren't likely expensive, but it would be a hassle to source them. And doing the rebuild carries some risk you could create new unexpected problems (new chafe point, wrong kind of crimp/cable tie, who knows). How do you even chose clamps and cable ties (that won't dissolve)? | ||
| Froggy |
I agree with the points Reepi makes. I can't see the need to do it as PM, but if you had to take the pump out for some other reason then why not change the bits. Given the level of difficulty with getting the pump out in the first place I'd be inclined to not fix what isn't broken. | ||
| Teeps |
This place sells all the bits too. http://apeusa.com/html/kits.html | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
Put it this way: If you rebuild it now before it breaks, we won't know how long it was going to last. It's not being lazy, it's a scientific thing! | ||
| Road_kill |
Last June I took a 6ooo mile road trip on my '08 Uly (57k miles on odo). Fuel pump went south with 300 miles to go. Thanks to the posts on this site and a little experience with engines, I was able to nurse the bike home. I installed a brand new replacement fuel pump. Problem fixed. The new pump also cured another problem I had with mid-range surge. I have an EBR "race" ECM, Drummer SS muffler, and K&N air filter. I am now convinced my fuel pump regulator may have been off a bit. In any event, I plan to rebuild the old fuel pump and replace at 30k-40k intervals. Yes, I plan to keep this bike for a while. It's just too much fun. I simply do not care if I miss out on a few thousand miles of "extra use" on the fuel pump. Yes, they should last forever in this application. But sitting on the side of a freeway in Birmingham, Alabama stressed out after an otherwise wonderful trip CAN be avoided with PM. Thanks to others who follow another path. I too am interested in the field data based on actual failures. For mine, put 57k miles in the database. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Thats the kind of data that is really useful Road Kill. It would be good to know the failure mode. Was it the filter, the pump, or a chafed wire? I'll share my data point. I know the one time my Uly left it's previous owner stranded was a dead fuel pump. But it wasn't the fuel pump, the fuel pump fuse got an invisible crack in it. No joke, he kept it and showed it to me. A nice little hairline crack right up the middle, invisible to a casual inspection, but plain as day when held up to the light. Don't leave home without spare fuses, and when baking on the side of the interstate, don't be shy about replacing fuses that look fine if the problem is acting like its a bad fuse... | ||
| Steveford |
99,000 miles as of yesterday with no issues. | ||
| Etennuly |
My Uly is at 63,000+ on the original pump. I had to pull it to fix the chaffed wires at around 30,000. Phillips Electronics makes the original type wire ends so I cut the ends off and did each wire with heat shrink. No problems since. I did change the pick up filter which was black with real fine particles. My original problem was the low fuel light was on randomly. Got real annoying when it came on with a full tank! | ||
| Reepicheep |
How did you pick a heat shrink material to submerge in modern gas? | ||
| Hughlysses |
BTW- here's the link to the pump parts vendor I mentioned in the first post: http://motoenthusiasts.bigcartel.com/product/fuel- pump-kits | ||
| Reepicheep |
Thanks! Copied over and posted in the knowledge vault. I forgot to give you attribution Hugh, but that serves you right for not putting it over there yourself.  | ||
| Etennuly |
How did you pick a heat shrink material to submerge in modern gas? Well I walked over to my cabinet of supplies pulled out enough to do four lengths of the wires, slid it over them and heated them to shrinkage. It is a heat shrink that we use on truck wiring. I think Grote makes or at least sells it. Probably has a fuel standard test somewhere along the line. Had used it on electric fuel pumps before with no issues. | ||
| Simond |
My pump stopped with less than a couple of thousand miles on it. It was the fuse. I was worried that the fuse was a symptom rather than the cause but I've done 15k or so since I replaced the fuse with no problem. | ||
| Teeps |
Reepicheep Posted on Wednesday, February 15, 2017 - <snip> the one time my Uly left it's previous owner stranded was a dead fuel pump. But it wasn't the fuel pump, the fuel pump fuse got an invisible crack in it. I've seen that type of failure, usually it's "low quality" fuses, coupled with vibration. To the untrained eye. They appear good... And, as was said before, it's always good to switch fuses around, if possible, to aid with diagnosis. At Honda we used the term "known good part", if a part swap was needed to further diagnosis. | ||
| Etennuly |
I have seen several fuse failures of this type. Better than the other way they can fail. I had one of those low grade fuses go the other way recently. Instead of blowing out with an over load it arced and melted twisting together and actually pulling both posts together to weld them and damn near burn down my motorhome. We vote for having this cheap crap every time we choose to pay a few cents less for anything we buy. | ||
| Teeps |
A while back there were chinese fuses (in a boxed set) on the market. That, regardless of how they were marked, took over 30 amps before they would fail! | ||
| Arry |
Those fuses should hold up well. | ||
| Ramman4x4 |
I'll share my data point. I know the one time my Uly left it's previous owner stranded was a dead fuel pump. But it wasn't the fuel pump, the fuel pump fuse got an invisible crack in it. No joke, he kept it and showed it to me. A nice little hairline crack right up the middle, invisible to a casual inspection, but plain as day when held up to the light. Don't leave home without spare fuses, and when baking on the side of the interstate, don't be shy about replacing fuses that look fine if the problem is acting like its a bad fuse... I had the same thing happen to a brake light fuse in my Dodge Ram. Not burnt out, just a hairline crack on one side. Only reason I noticed it was because I happened to look down and see a small arc of light while someone else was holding the brake light. | ||
| Save_ferris |
"We vote for having this cheap crap every time we choose to pay a few cents less for anything we buy." Well said Etennuly! I've been preaching this since the '90s. The strongest vote we cast is with our dollars. It's easy to think we're saving ourselves money on a dollar cheaper dog toy, but look where 40 years of this has gotten our economy. | ||
| Smorris |
i was not sure of which heat shrink tubing to use. instead used stihl chainsaw fuel line and simply worked it over terminal onto wire to protect. same with the hoses used want to be sure in tank submersible line is used, not fuel line that is normally purchased for external fuel lines. |
