mechanical fuel pump removal on 6.2L

[MDM1008]

I am new to CUCV's, please bear with me.
Just bought a M1008 from a guy who did a bunch of "work" on it. He installed an electric fuel pump and bypassed the mechanical pump. My questions are as follows:
-Should I remove the mechanical pump? Would I need a block off plate?
-Should I remove the pushrod? and use the old pump as a block off plate
-Do I need a pressure regulator or relief valve on the fuel line? ( no idea what psi the pump is putting out. how much pressure is too much? )
-I can find a block off plate locally for a small block chevy, but nothing else. will it fit?

Thanks for any and all help.

 

[GPrez]

Hey neighbor! I bypassed my mechanical a couple years ago for an electric and left the mechanical pump in place. I do intend to remove mine and install a blank off plate just have not gotten around to it yet. I don't think you need a pressure relief valve unless the electric pump is for something other than diesel fuel delivery. I'm going off of memory but I think the PSI is around 4 to 6 on the diesel fuel pump.

I believe the chevy blank off is the same for all the mechanical pumps. Good luck.

 

[K9Vic]

-Should I remove the mechanical pump? Would I need a block off plate?

Yes remove it, Chevy 350 V8 block off plate from any auto parts store. Unfortunately it is chrome.

-Should I remove the pushrod? and use the old pump as a block off plate

Yes, you have to remove it it you block it off

-Do I need a pressure regulator or relief valve on the fuel line? ( no idea what psi the pump is putting out. how much pressure is too much? )

No, as long as the fuel pump is not over I think 8-10 psi.

-I can find a block off plate locally for a small block chevy, but nothing else. will it fit?

See answer to question #1

 

[Skinny]

I would be questioning why it has an electric pump...my gut says it isn't for speedy fuel filter bleeding but rather to bandaid a possible fuel issue.

 

[MDM1008]

Gentelmen, Thanks very much for the help.
GPrez, I will see you around town. I will be the guy on the side of the road.

 

[MarcusOReallyus]

I would be questioning why it has an electric pump...my gut says it isn't for speedy fuel filter bleeding but rather to bandaid a possible fuel issue.

Why? What reason do you have for assuming that? The electric fuel pump is a good upgrade.

 

[Skinny]

It serves no extra function other than assisting while bleeding a new filter or freeing up the mount for an oil return fitting on a turbo upgrade. Other than that, how would an engine benefit from an electric pump. It serves the same purpose and it functions fine with the stock mechanical do how is it an upgrade?

 

[paladin1176]

It serves no extra function other than assisting while bleeding a new filter or freeing up the mount for an oil return fitting on a turbo upgrade. Other than that, how would an engine benefit from an electric pump. It serves the same purpose and it functions fine with the stock mechanical do how is it an upgrade?

It is an upgrade because it provides all of the basic functions as well as other functions that assist on the operation of the vehicle. Just like any other "upgrade" you put on you can do without it...but the question is do you want to.

 

[MarcusOReallyus]

Let's see, aside from the obvious advantages about bleeding....

Mechanical pump: It sucks fuel from the tank quite a ways, so there's lots of room to develop pinhole leaks between the pump and the tank, and because they are sucking air, you'll go crazy trying to find them.
Electric pump: Mounted close to the tank, so most of the fuel line is pressurized, pinhole leaks are easy to find. Just look for the drips.

Mechanical pump: Replacement is, well, just search the forum here for all the threads posted by people who are having a bad time getting the little push rod back in place.
Electric pump: Swap it in 5 minutes. Two clamps, one connector, and no hassles.


And the best part?

Mechanical pump: If it fails, it may leak diesel fuel into your crankcase, diluting your oil and trashing your engine. The good part about this is that it won't usually fail completely, so you'll have plenty of time to drive it around and thoroughly trash your engine. BONUS: while you running around town trashing your engine, you get to wonder why your truck is running like crap, and maybe spend a few hours trying to figure it out.
Electrical pump: If it fails, it can't trash your engine. You just stop. Very easy to diagnose, too.


Now, are there any advantages to a mechanical pump? None that I can think of.


Sounds like a no-brainer to me.

 

[Skinny]

I passed 47 Cuck Vees this morning all broken down because of flooded crankcases...<br><br>The mechanical lift pump works fine with good hoses and as long as it been replaced in the last 30 years. Do you know how many OTR, tractors, and vessels have mechanical pumps over electric? They work fine...stop being such a baby. Like everyone that has extended crank times and fixes it with an electric pump instead of solving the original problem of old hoses.<br><br>What next...all 6.5T owners convert back to NA because a turbo oil leak could swallow your crankcase oil? Get your tinfoil hats and run for the mountains...AHHHHHHH

 

[paladin1176]

I like my tinfoil hat. I also like the added convenience of not having to crank the snot out of my engine while running back and forth to the bleeder port. I'll stick with my electric pump upgrade when this pump dies.

 

[Skinny]

That is why I have a primer on my Stanadyne FM100 filter. Almost all Euro diesels have primers from the factory (older stuff). This eliminates having to kill your batts.

I never said you shouldn't switch but is an unnecessary upgrade and usually a band aid like my original statement. Not sure why everyone takes offense to that because they have an electric pump. The main point is that the system works just fine with a mechanical pump and does not need an electric pump unless you have other issues causing air infiltration. That is the exact reason I posted my statement. If you have an electric pump on a new to you truck, I certainly would ask why. Is the IP starting to fail and the electric pump masking tell tale symptoms? Are the lines bleeding down due to a leak? These are symptoms most owners try to fix with an electric pump but in reality are only prolonging the inevitable.

But it we can continue to stroke each other about my electric pump upgrade over yours and not inform the OP that his IP could possibly die without warning.

 

[paladin1176]

I fully agree that you fix the symptoms and not slap a band-aid on it. That just pushes the problem to a down the road (or stuck on the road) fix. But if given the choice of replacing my 30 year old mechanical and fighting that stupid rod and tight fitting fuel lines...or going with an inline electric pump, easy choice.

 

[donalloy1]

I passed 47 Cuck Vees this morning all broken down because of flooded crankcases...<br><br>The mechanical lift pump works fine with good hoses and as long as it been replaced in the last 30 years. Do you know how many OTR, tractors, and vessels have mechanical pumps over electric? They work fine...stop being such a baby. Like everyone that has extended crank times and fixes it with an electric pump instead of solving the original problem of old hoses.<br><br>What next...all 6.5T owners convert back to NA because a turbo oil leak could swallow your crankcase oil? Get your tinfoil hats and run for the mountains...AHHHHHHH

I like your style Skinny! Want to stay OEM here. All works as it should. Why change it. Have an extra OEM Pump should it fail. Been at it for a while now and OEM works like a champ. Thanks for support, DMLII sends respectfully

 

[MarcusOReallyus]

Why change it.

Because the electric is better. It's simple, really.

If you are a history buff, and want to keep the beast pure, then of course it makes sense to keep the mechanical pump. I certainly respect that position, though I don't share it.


Otherwise, no.


Other than the historical value, name me one advantage of the mechanical pump.

Just one.


Oh, and if you say, "Because it's original!", I'll just laugh at you.

 

[Skinny]

Because it works just fine

BTW, electric pumps that are frame rail mounted are not desirable because they run hot and tend too fail early in life. Pretty much every OEM design utilizes a tank mounted pump. The fuel keeps it cool. Does your electric pump have an inertia switch to shut it off in the event of a collision? All OEM electric pumps turn off when the engine stalls. Does your design?

So here is the #1 reason...the mechanical pump works as designed. If you can't bolt one up to the engine block, you need to outsource repairs. Yeah, it sucks but it's no more difficult than any other mechanical pump.

Back to the OP, unless your electric pump was solely installed to aid bleeding, you have something else going on in your fuel system.

 

[Iceman3005]

If electronic pumps and other car parts are so great, then why do we have so many recalls on nearly ever car manufacture, example Honda, Toyota, GM, Chevy, Chrysler, etc, etc! Most of these racalls are on electric items on the vehicle! How often did they have a recall on a mechanical parts on a car or truck back in the 80's, 70's, 60's, etc, etc, not very many!

I will stick with mechanical!

 

[Iceman3005]

As for your pump, why remove it? It is blocking of the hole just fine if it is not leaking oil out the gasket then just leave it, leaving the pump on won't hurt anything.

 

[73m819]

reread #1 post, sorry

 

[Hasdrubal]

I'm also for retaining the mechanical pump. I can see the convenience of installing an auxiliary electric in-line pump for bleeding purposes, but for main fuel delivery I prefer to keep the simple stock mechanical system. I've replaced mine more than a few times in the past 10 years. First time was simply a preventative measure while troubleshooting a loss of prime symptom. Another time, a cheap Carter brand pump failed after only 13 months. And after 5 years my first AC Delco pump started leaking. Do I consider 5 years a decent life span? No, but considering the decline in manufacturing quality these days and the factory outsourcing to third world countries I suppose we'll have to live with reduced time between failure rates. That being said I've heard from members who've switched to electric and had the pump fail within 6 months.