[C38] Facet Fuel Pump pressure

tdtron at earthlink.net tdtron at earthlink.net
Wed Apr 11 07:58:01 EDT 2012


Hello Max,

I don't know what the recommended supply pressure is for the Universals but these engine as you know you have two pumps, the electric lift pump and the mechanical injector pump.

The electric pump is the "lift" pump and it's only duty is to supply fuel to the injector pump and the actual pressure should not be important.

I was on a sail around the Florida Keys once in a Contessa 26 with a British Petter engine and the engine driven mechanical pump failed causing the engine to die coming into Ft. Lauderdale.  We diagnosed the problem that the diaphragm in the cam driven automotive type mechanical pump had ruptured causing loss of pressure to the injector pump.

We sailed without power back to a slip near the 17th Street causeway sailing by million dollar yachts hoping we could maintain control in a narrow channel.  That was a really nervous adventure.  It was on a Sunday morning and we couldn't find anyone open who could sell us a replacement pump to fit the Petter engine.

As a "Rube Goldberg" remedy, we raised the fuel tank that was mounted in the port sail locker high enough to gravity feed the engine.

By raising the fuel tank we were able to crank up and head out of the harbor and down the Keys with no further problems.  Several years later my friend who owned the boat sold it but he never replaced the mechanical lift pump.  He removed the mechanical lift pump and covered the hole in the engine block with a gasket cover plate and to this day that boat is still running with no lift pump.  The head pressure of the fuel tank was only about 12" above engine's injector pump but we found that we could still motor sail heeling enough that the fuel tank was actually below the injector pump but since the fuel line had no leaks, the vacuum held from the injector pump and the engine ran without problems.

With a properly primed fuel line, from that experience I discovered that the lift pump is really not needed.  However, if there is any leakage at all in the fuel line the vacuum is lost and you will lose engine power so I am not advocating getting rid of the lift pump but from my experience I don't think the actually lift pump pressure is very important.

After my own experience I ran into another sailor who had a lift pump failure and he made a temporary fuel line from an outboard fuel line and used the primer bulb to prime his fuel injector pump.  The last time I ran into this salty sailor his outboard fuel line with a primer bulb was still his only lift pump and he never gave it another thought.  He was actually running a negative pressure since his fuel tank was below his engine injector pump.

Tom Troncalli


----- Original Message ----- 
From: Max Soto 
To: Catalina 38 Listserve
Sent: 4/10/2012 4:48:07 PM 
Subject: [C38] Facet Fuel Pump pressure


Hi there,
Do anyone knows what's the electric fuel pump pressure that is used on the Universal 5424 / M30 engines??
The original screw up my Eastern week trip when she died on me at the middle of a channel, then, I  hit it with a wrench and started working.
With some gentile persuation every now and then with the wrench, she took me back home......
I found several Facet pumps on ebay, same looks, but different pressure....
I'm planning to get something like this locally and save my next weekend trip!


Regards,
-- 
Max Soto
C38 #198 ESTANCIA
Puntarenas, Costa Rica
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