1955 Fuel pump Chinese or OEM

[PvS]

In 2006 I bought a new fuel pump at TBHQ for my Thunderbird. It still works good, only a little bit of sweating. Can anybody tell me if I have an original fuel pump or one from China? What I understood is that the pumps from China are not working very long.
Is the sweating normal? Do I have to fix it?

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[doug7740]

Fuel pumps made in the USA use hex head or slotted head screws.





Fuel pumps made in China use Phillips head screws and the bottom sediment bowl has a red washer and a Phillips head screw.





I'm not sure what you mean by sweating, but none of my fuel pumps have any moisture on them. When oil or fuel is leaking from the breather holes, it is time to have the fuel pump rebuilt.



Here is where you can have your fuel pump repaired.

AG Rebuilders |

agrebuilders.com

doug7740
1955 Thunderbird Blue

 

[Frankie the Fink]

I will tell you from my classic Chevy experience that good replacement pumps are hard to find and even rebuild kits are becoming scarce (good ones like Walker or Echlin) so if yours is working I'd leave well enough alone.
Something I have done many times is walk around the periphery of the bowl cover and tighten the screws a bit...
A little sweating wouldn't keep me up nights.

 

[doug7740]

I purchase my fuel pump rebuilding kits from Hills Automotive.

https://www.parts123.com/parts123/yb.dll?parta~dyndetail~Z5Z5Z50001033a~Z5Z5Z5AAOWG~P99.00~~~~S6OR162G3C74812011551c~Z5Z5Z5~Z5Z5Z50001033a

I agree that you should start by tightening the screws to see if that corrects the fuel pump sweating concern, however if that doesn't correct the sweating, rebuild the pump or have Arthur Gould rebuild it for you. Fuel pumps should not be sweating anything, if it's sweating fuel that would keep me up at night.

doug7740
1955 Thunderbird Blue

 

[Ed R]

Thanks I learned 2 things 1, hex heads and slotted are ok 2, I need to get one soon…..

Hills will rebuild ONLY fuel pumps with slotted screws and require a core that is the same, that should say something.........

 

[My56]

I too am suffering with fuel pump issues. Have replaced original AC unit (still have and will send in) with a new Airtex 1406 that quit on me as well after hours only, no real miles at all. Put a little inline electric fuel pump in (from Casco) and still cant get anything through that Airtex pump. Talked about often as a replacement, I'm wondering if the diaphragm in a pump is leaking, damaged - is there a potential for fuel to enter into the crankcase through the pump arm if I keep pumping away with electric? How often is the eccentric on the cam a problem? Maybe both pumps are good?

 

[Frankie the Fink]

I put an inline electric pump that worked through my Airtek on a 63 Corvette and it worked fine... Can't say on your car but I can tell you that you can bolt up a mechanical fuel pump on a Chevy and completely miss the push rod (ask me how I know) and the pump will appear to be installed but not work...

If you have a blown diaphragm or oil seal failure in your mechanical pump you can have gas in the crankcase, which will wash down your cylinder walls and cause engine damage in sufficient quantities. An electric pump can push the gas through the defective parts.

I would get the problem resolved before driving much more and do an oil change. An electric pump as a "backup" may be fine, but be advised, if there is a crash and the engine shuts down that electric pump will still run pumping gas into a dead engine unless you have an oil pressure switch to cut it off in such an event.

As to "sweating" it is just a stain from some very small leeching through the metal housing of the component and occurs quite often on vintage carb around throttle shafts as well.... Its no big deal...no matter what you may hear elsewhere.

 

[My56]

Thanks for the reply Frankie. Yes, not able to start anyway right now, so no damage until I do.🙂

 

[Ed R]

Thanks I learned 2 things 1, hex heads and slotted are ok 2, I need to get one soon…..

Hi all Checked with Hills, no fuel pumps in stock so I am on a waiting list. I am going to need one to install it then if necessary, return the core after. My mechanic can’t tie up his shop waiting for the part, so I need to provide it. Mine is an original with the slotted screws. So I am looking for a USA made rebuilt. Any suggestions

 

[doug7740]

If you can't rebuild the fuel pump yourself, send it to Arthur Gould and have them rebuild it for you.

AG Rebuilders |

agrebuilders.com

doug7740
1955 Thunderbird Blue

 

[Jeannie]

If you can't rebuild the fuel pump yourself, send it to Arthur Gould and have them rebuild it for you.

AG Rebuilders |

agrebuilders.com

doug7740
1955 Thunderbird Blue

Is there any reason why this original part will not fit my 1955 T-bird 292 v8 2-door convert. The mechanic I use says this doesn't have the vacuum pump incorporated in the fuel pump like it has on it. He says the faulty one that's on there is not the original. Will try to send pics he sent me of the one on there now. He says get the one from Carter ( the M73066) which 2 websites say it does not fit. Any comments would be helpful, thanks. I am a dunce when it comes to this so needless to say I'm confused. Trying to keep my late husbands car in ship shape and having some difficulties.


Also my mechanic says the fuel pump needs to have a vacuum pump built into it, and that is what is on there now. The one with the red in the picture. Is that correct?

 

[Tom Alpers]

It is possible to use a pump which does not have the top vacuum part but of course then you don't have the vacuum booster pump and that vacuum line would just be connected straight thru. If you rarely, if ever, need wipers, it's not really an issue and certainly in an emergency a working pump without the vacuum top section is better than no pump at all. The AC part without the vacuum section is AC 4212.

 

[Jeannie]

Thanks I will suggest that too

 

[Ward 57]

It is possible to use a pump which does not have the top vacuum part but of course then you don't have the vacuum booster pump and that vacuum line would just be connected straight thru. If you rarely, if ever, need wipers, it's not really an issue and certainly in an emergency a working pump without the vacuum top section is better than no pump at all. The AC part without the vacuum section is AC 4212.

What application was that single action pump? If It is still available some people may go that way especially if it is an AC pump, If they don't care about the wipers or a complicated conversion and No Power brakes.

 

[Tom Alpers]

What application was that single action pump? If It is still available some people may go that way especially if it is an AC pump, If they don't care about the wipers or a complicated conversion and No Power brakes.

I believe it was for the FE engines.

 

[Jeannie]

In 2006 I bought a new fuel pump at TBHQ for my Thunderbird. It still works good, only a little bit of sweating. Can anybody tell me if I have an original fuel pump or one from China? What I understood is that the pumps from China are not working very long.
Is the sweating normal? Do I have to fix it?

I am returning to this post for more advice on my 1955 Tbird V8 292. I just installed a rebuilt fuel pump, not Chinese, a new gas tank and sending unit. Still get stalling out at higher speeds. The fuel pressure is good at the lower speeds, but starts to sputter out at about 50mph. Do I need to check the hoses or something else with the fuel pump?

 

[Tom Alpers]

I am returning to this post for more advice on my 1955 Tbird V8 292. I just installed a rebuilt fuel pump, not Chinese, a new gas tank and sending unit. Still get stalling out at higher speeds. The fuel pressure is good at the lower speeds, but starts to sputter out at about 50mph. Do I need to check the hoses or something else with the fuel pump?

In addition to the pressure spec on the fuel pump there is a volume (gallons per minute) spec. I don't recall what it is offhand. Start the egine and run it just long enough to barely warm it up, just a minute or two. Then disconnect the fuel line and run it into a coffee can to catch the gas. Start the engine and let it run on the fuel left in the carb for 15 to 30 seconds and see how much fuel is getting pumped. Make sure the fuel isn't going to go anywhere but in the can when you do this. Some people have put new flex lines on at the pump and discovered the openings in the fittings were so small that not enough gas could be pumped thru them.

 

[doug7740]

According to the service manual, the fuel pump pressure specification is 4.0 to 5.0 psi at 900 rpm and the volume specification is 1 pint in less than 45 seconds at 900 rpm.

doug7740
1955 Thunderbird Blue

 

[Jeannie]

Yes thanks for all that info. That was going to be the next step to check hoses/lines. Will hopefully know more after the lines are checked.

 

[ronlgrove]

Yes thanks for all that info. That was going to be the next step to check hoses/lines. Will hopefully know more after the lines are checked.

Hi, This is my 2 cents on Carter brand Chinese built pumps.
Carter Fuel Pump M3150​

Made in China Used on Ford Y block and FE engines. Single diaphragm.

The design looks good and no obvious quality problems.

Tested fine, 4.5 lbs. pressure and 9 “ of suction. Installed on a 1956 Thunderbird with 312 engine, converted to electric wipers.

Seemed to work fine after I installed it, except several times I noticed engine oil on the lower section. Wiped it off, and it didn’t come back right away. Bolts were tight, thought perhaps bad gasket.

After 4 months, less than 400 miles, with no warning, cruising at about 50MPH, it just shut down. Zero pressure from the pump.

Bypassed it with an inline electric pump emergency kit I put together after reading all the fuel pump failure stories. Even back in the 50s and 60s, fuel pumps were a common failure item, but usually they were older and started leaking.

When I removed the pump I noticed the arm moved easily, only the resistance of the little follower spring. When I removed that spring the arm flopped up and down with no resistance, indicating the arm was no longer connected to the diaphragm and pressure spring. I opened it up and found the ‘hook’ on the end of the arm had pulled up through the ‘loop’ (rectangular hole) on the diaphragm rod. Never saw that before, but not being a professional mechanic, I haven’t autopsied many dead fuel pumps. I wish more people would report how their ‘Chinese’ pump failed, but I understand the desire to return them under warranty.

As I only paid $33 from RockAuto, I won’t bother to return it. Carter states a 1 year warranty, and if I put it back together, they probably wouldn’t question it.

In the past, pre-pandemic, I have used 3 of these ‘ US brand Chinese made’ fuel pumps on my old cars with no failures. One has more than 10k miles, the others much less. I am thinking that the supply and manufacturing problems resulting from Covid-19 has left us with a lot of ‘crap’ out there! I agree probably the best bet is a rebuild from a reputable source. The machined area of the rod end that failed looked kind of rough. Good luck, Ron