Fuel pump problem

[nik_the_brief]

Bear with me, help...

Long story but went to the Bikesafe course yesterday and developed a fuel line leak en route which a policeman kindly fixed with his Leathermans to stop petrol p*ssing all over my exhaust manifold!! :eek:

I replaced both fuel from tank to inline filter and from inline filter to the small vacuum pump with new lines put it all back together and fired her up, no problems as she warmed up but then, when the fuel left in the carbs ran outs she stopped. At first I just thought it was air in the sytem and that the fuel would pump through but it didn't.

Swore ... kicked the bike a bit.. called the AA and a patrol duly turned up. He was very happy to help me start taking the whole lot apart again.

I know for sure that the fuel runs freely from the tank through the filter and into the small pump. There appears to be sufficient suction from the inlet manifold to operate that pump and it opens and closes when you suck and blow.

The outlet from that small pump runs down to the larger vacuum operated fuel pump attached to the frame on the right hand side. There's suction from the manifold to the unit. There are no apparent leaks in that pipe. My guess is that the pump is knackered. Any ideas of what else it might be?

AA man reckons this used to happen with older cars when more demand than
usual was placed upon a pump it would sometimes give up the ghost. I think that the fuel leak yesterday and the buggering aorund with the pipes today may have had the pump running dry for too long as air went through it instead of fuel and it just couldn't hack it. Does that sound logical?

Haynes book of Lies (TM Spacemonkey) dictates that this unit cannot be repaired and that there are no parts available for it. They say that it should be removed and taken to my nearest Ducati dealership and they can test it. It looks like it can be taken apart (I've not removed it yet). Has anyone tried to overhaul one of these things?

If not, is the general consensus that I just remove and replace the whole unit?

Going to phone Ducati Ashford now to find out the price and availability.

I'd appreciate any advice anyone has.

Nik :confused:

[A Yerbury]

happened to mine a copla times rolling onto forecourts, take the lid and filter off and blast wd or similar into the carbs whilts on the starter button this will ignite and should start the suction process again.

[madhatter]

...Long story... I'd appreciate any advice anyone has..

Can't offer any advice Nik, but I also suffered a previously not seen before problem on the way down. I found a clear streach at the last few junctions of the M1 where I kept it at around a ton for quite a few miles to catch up on time. Suddenly, it was like I'd run out of fuel, the engine just lost power and began to slow down to a stop. I put the choke on and it fired up again no problem so I took off again at around a ton. Four minutes later, the same thing. I'd just filled up with fuel some 15 miles before the problem, so it could be some **** in the fuel......or it could be the infamous carb icing. My 750 is the model with carbs, I've never had this before even when riding in December to February at -5 degrees, so could it just happen like that??

Don't mean to hijack your post, but both problems are fuel related.. :o

[NattyBoy]

Hi Nik

Not sure about the monnie, but I know fuel pump failure is quite common on 888's becuase the tosspot dealers dont replace the fuel filters as often as they should, causing overload and subsequent failure of the pump.

Bad news..there approaching £100 new...Good news, I have a new one in the NIT stock which I can do a very tasty deal on !! :lol: (box marked up 996/M900/SS so Im thinking its a generic part?).

Let me know if your interested mate

Nat

[DavidT]

Did you try starting with the filler cap open? The vacuum pump isn't that powerful and if you have a blocked filler vent it doesn't have the pith to draw fuel. Worth checking for your problem too Madhatter.

[nik_the_brief]

Cheers guys,

No it's not carb icing (mine suffers that badly in cold damp weather and I know the symptoms). Going to take the fuel pump off and see if it's not just blocked by a bit of ****e in there. Fingers crossed as it's £64 for a new 'un from Ducati Ashford. That's more skinned knuckles over the weekend then it looks a bit tight to get at.

I'll let you know but if anyone has any ideas in the meantime I'd be grateful. :lol:

[nik_the_brief]

Just re-reading, nice idea Yerbs used it a few times myself.

I usually use Easy Start (although I understand that there's a genuine Aussie product called "Start Ya Bastard" which I have to get just for the name). Smells great and usually sorts the matter out. It didn't work this time though :mad:

All connections seem fine, fuel in the tank (but only 5 litres so I'd say that'd rule out an airlock).

Can't think of anything else it could be...

[Pedro]

NTB

you may have to prime the system to get rid of a airlock. Now this is unpleasent - take the pipe off after the fuel pump and suck the fuel through (no smoking is probably best.....). While you have the pipe off, stick it in a clear container and crank the motor over to see if it pumps fuel. Worth trying before pulling the pump off the bike.

HTH
Ped

[nik_the_brief]

Cheers Pedro, that's exactly the kind of advice that may halp, I'll give it a go before I remove the bugger completely. :)

[Rufus-T-Firefly]

I had a similar problem, I had to by pass the vacum tap to get home. I subsequently replaced the vacum tap with a manual in line fuel tap and the problem has never reoccurred. Its simple and cheap to test for this.
1. Take about three quid to halfords and get some fuel pipe and a few clips.
2. By pass vacum tap (next bit after filter under tank on my 97 one).
3. Remove bike from garage/shed/kitchen.
4. Thrash nuts off bike for about ten minutes (upon reaching open roads of course) to see if problem is solved.
Maybe the root cause lies somewhere else (kinked pipe etc) but this worked for me, and if you're clever you can hide the manual tap for added security (I didn't).

[A Yerbury]

have you a photo perchance Rufus?
AY.

[nik_the_brief]

Pedro - you're a star!

I'm now belching petrol fumes with a huge smile on my face coz she's up and running again and it didn't cost me a penny as I had some hose knocking around the garage. T'was an airlock between the vacuum tap thingy and the fuel pump itself. Two minutes work and she was purring like she should.

Personally I think she was p*ssed off that I hadn't lavished as much time and attention upon her as she felt she deserved. :)