Fuel pump noise

[Bill S.]

Out for a cruise with the Vettes yesterday and discovered a --- what we believed lifter clicking as the engine was under load (not consistant)
Wooden stick to the ear technique found out the noise to be coming from the fuel pump (when the engine was reved up to the point where the noise was audible the wooden stick confirmed it)

Question : Is this the fuel pump rod that is worn or the fuel pump (possible the spring on the arm is broken) Do I replace both --- compare a new rod with the old one?
The Vette is a 1966 350 H.P. small block.

Thanks
Bill

[Clem Z.]

Re: Fuel pump noise

to make sure that is the problem,remove the fuel pump bolts but leave the fuel lines attached. pull the pump out from the block and start the engine and it will run till the float carb bowl is empty and if the pump is the problem the noise should go away. i found a "knock" in 1970 450 HP 454 chevelle this way

[Rob A.]

Re: Fuel pump noise

Bill,

Hope you're right that it's a fuel pump problem, but my similar noise turned out to be a camshaft. I would uses Clem's suggestion first and hope it is the source of the noise. By the way, there's an unused bolt just around the front of the block, parallel to the fuel pump bolts. You can remove it (with a 9/16" socket) and replace it with a longer one to hold the pump push rod up while removing and replacing the pump, When you're done, put sealer on the original bolt and replace it. It works well...

[Bill S.]

Re: Fuel pump noise (update)

I installed the new fuel pump and discovered the spring was broken and therefor allowed the arm to "slap" the pump rod, causing the noise that sounded very much like a bad lifter. How about that for a run on sentence!!!

[Jean C.]

MS Word would admonish you for that! *NM*