electric vs mechanical fuel pump

oldmachdriver · #1 (**permalink**) 05-29-2005, 06:38 PM

after cruising around in my contemp cobra last night i had the misfortune of breaking down on river street in downtown savannah ga. My electronic fuel pump died, after a AAA call and a 5 hour wait, flat bed showed up. The driver, extremely helpful and went out of his way to help me determine in fact it was the fuel pump. My question is what is the general thought between the 2...obviously mechanical is more reliable. I guess what im looking for is the pros and cons. thought about going back to a mechanical. before it died car was running very rich and the pump was pulsing, noise pitch going up and down...

this my 1st car that has a electric pump so i was un aware of how its supposed to behave.

thanks

scott

Dennis Kelley · #2 (**permalink**) 05-29-2005, 06:57 PM

I run the Mechanical Carter street strip and would not run anything else ever. I am not a fan of electric pumps. Some people love electic pumps but everyone I have had ran hot, noisy or quit in the middle of nowhere. A quality mech pump can support 450hp without a problems. I've never had a mech pump that I couldn'tl imp home and most of them had over 50,000 thousand mile on them before they quit. I run a small block. some guys may need these elec pumps but I don't know why unless they can't clear the frome rail with a mech pump.

Did I tell you I hate electric pumps. Just my opinion.

later Dennis

DAVID GAGNARD · #3 (**permalink**) 05-29-2005, 07:58 PM

I'm with Dennis on this one,in my street Mustang with a 351-W,I run a mechanical Carter street pump,been on the car about 8 years now and about 25,000 miles,NO problems what-so-ever............For my race car I have a mechanical Carter race pump..........love them mechaical pumps............as Dennis said,even if the diaphram goes bad or something else happens,you usually can make it home or to a shop,when an electrical pump dies,it's dead and you are dead in the water also..................

David

TedMiller · #4 (**permalink**) 05-29-2005, 08:05 PM

Run both. With the eletric Carter vane type, fuel can pass through it when the pump is not operating. Beakdown insurance ya know.
Ted.

ffindling · #5 (**permalink**) 05-29-2005, 08:20 PM

Mechanical pumps are fine for those running carbs, but EFI systems pretty much dictate the use of electric pumps.
Years ago, the electric pumps were pretty
lousy, been around the block with SU and
AC/Delco electric pumps. In-tank electric
pumps have been pretty much the standard in the auto industry for the past
20 years and seem fairly reliable. I've never had an in-tank pump fail outright on
me. One started making funny noises, but
I changed it right away before it had a chance to fail.

....Fred

oldmachdriver · #6 (**permalink**) 05-29-2005, 09:04 PM

i am only running a boss 351 in my car, i think i am going to put a mech in mine after hearing all this i think its best...and yes it did run hot....that pump felt like it was on fire.......its eaither that or ill have to think about carring a spare......lol...volt reg, solinoid, now a elec fuel pump.....gonna need a matching cobra trailer just to haul all the spare parts...

DonC · #7 (**permalink**) 05-30-2005, 09:11 AM

Scott:
Any piece of equipment can fail. Even the most expensive and best built pump of either type can fail. A fact of life.
There are those that swear by mechanical and those that swear by electrics it's a matter of choice.
The key is to get the best quality pump of whichever type you can find and go with it. Check it periodically and perform any recommended maintenance on it and you have as good a chance as anyone of a long and happy relationship.
DonC