Re: [Cal_Boats] (electric fuel pumps)Fun with troubleshooting

My feeling is that, if the manufacturer recommends one and you do not install one, then have trouble, your warranty will be void. There are a couple other reasons for having one. If your filter is getting loaded up, your engine driven fuel pump won't be able to handle the extra load (especially if it is undersized) and your engine will die due to lack of fuel pressure, but if you have an auxiliary fuel pump, you flip the switch and viola, more fuel pressure, and on you go. Then there is the argument of redundancy, should your factory pump give out all together, again a flip of a switch and you are back in business. I think if you take the proper steps while installing the fuel pump (proper connections) then a automotive pump would be fine. In my mind, just because there is a "Marine" stamp on an item does not make it any more reliable. I take a can of WD-40 with me every now and then into the engine compartment and spray down just about everything that is likely to rust or corrode. Actually I use that little trick all over the boat, including electrical connections at the mast, and etc.. So my advice, is to find the air leak, but keep or replace the auxiliary fuel pump. Daniel Casey "Air Time" Cal 9.2R #75 Santa Barbara, Ca.

On my boat the electric pump is wired to be on anytime the key is on. This makes sense to me if the mechanical pump is not rated for the installation, then you need the auxilliary pump on always. I have been reading though that newer diesels that have electric pumps standard instead of mechanical are wired to shutoff if the engine stops, I guess if the reason the engine stops is a blown fuel line, you stop pumping fuel all over the place. I could come close to that by wiring my fuel pump to the oil pressure switch. I would be depending on the mechanical pump on start up, but if it takes some time to crank the oil pressure alarm goes off during cranking anyway, so the pump would come on during cranking. As far as whether to have a pump at all, I don't want to have to worry about the engine starving for fuel, but the idea of simplicity and less stuff to troubleshoot appealed to me. John Courter Strider Cal 40 From: "ai… [at] aol.com" <ai… [at] aol.com> To: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com Sent: Saturday, October 14, 2006 8:14:38 AM Subject: Re: [Cal_Boats] (electric fuel pumps)Fun with troubleshooting My feeling is that, if the manufacturer recommends one and you do not install one, then have trouble, your warranty will be void. There are a couple other reasons for having one. If your filter is getting loaded up, your engine driven fuel pump won't be able to handle the extra load (especially if it is undersized) and your engine will die due to lack of fuel pressure, but if you have an auxiliary fuel pump, you flip the switch and viola, more fuel pressure, and on you go. Then there is the argument of redundancy, should your factory pump give out all together, again a flip of a switch and you are back in business. I think if you take the proper steps while installing the fuel pump (proper connections) then a automotive pump would be fine. In my mind, just because there is a "Marine" stamp on an item does not make it any more reliable. I take a can of WD-40 with me every now and then into the engine compartment and spray down just about everything that is likely to rust or corrode. Actually I use that little trick all over the boat, including electrical connections at the mast, and etc.. So my advice, is to find the air leak, but keep or replace the auxiliary fuel pump. Daniel Casey "Air Time" Cal 9.2R #75 Santa Barbara, Ca.