FI Fuel pump cable lubrication

[Jerry G.]

I am doing a little reengineering on the FI cable drive to get a little straighter angle between the pump and the distributor. I have been using a cam assembly lube to lubricate the cable inside the housing. it's a creamy colored cam assembly lubricant which is Titanium Disulfide( I think). If cost were no object what is the best lubricant to put on the cable to withstand the severe duty of road racing. Jerry

[Robert S.]

Re: FI Fuel pump cable lubrication

Ford may still have tubes of speedo cable lube. I have used this in the past. It worked very well.

[Jerry G.]

Re: FI Fuel pump cable lubrication

This is very severe duty. Cables get twisted off regularly. John D tells me back in the day the factory road racers ran without a housing so the cable could be changed quickly out on the track. John sells a cable,which I use, that is much beefier and holds up reasonably well( one race weekend) but I'd like to be sure I'm taking advantage of modern lubrication options available.

[John D.]

Re: FI Fuel pump cable lubrication

Jerry, Typically I tell FI owners to use Any Brand of Disc brake wheel bearing grease. As much as possible.
My FI customers aren't turning over 7000 RPM with their FI units though. I realize there is better grease than the Disc brake wheel bearing grease but it's good enough for the average car owner.

White lith grease is a total waste for drive cables as too watery.
Actually I never thought my cable was "beefier". I thought it was on the whimpy side as it's very flexible.
The last repro GM sold over the counter was very rigid. Rigid cables seem to break the fastest but what do I know.

Kinked drive cable housings trash cables. Not enough proper grease breaks them.
I think you are on the right track to success. You are trying to reposition the fuel meter assembly so that the angle of the pump to distributor is less severe.

Using a 57 style housing with a long cable may help you. With your fuel meter repositioned the 57 housing might have enough length to reach the hipressure pump.

Try: Dow Corning #44 grease.

[Michael H.]

Re: FI Fuel pump cable lubrication

Jerry,

I didn't use the cable housing and I've put on a lot of race miles without failure at high RPM.

The problem isn't high RPM. It's the rapid change in RPM, usually during downshifts. If you blip the throttle when downshifting, (which most drivers do) it puts a lot of strain on the cable. That problem got even worse when road race cars started using small diameter light weight triple disc clutches with even less flywheel mass/weight. That allowed the engine RPM to quickly change and that that causes the cable to twist and fail.

[John D.]

Re: FI Fuel pump cable lubrication

Michael, I really like your reply. Is it OK for me to print it for circulation?
Now you you are here let me tell you something I was going to mention to Jerry but didn't as I was having a brain issue.
The early 63 wobble pump had a special length drive cable housing that I think measured inbetween the short 57 style housing and the later longer housing.
Did I explain the housing difference correctly?
Recap: There were three lengths of drive cable housings. A typical early style and typical later longer style. Then a third housing for the wobble pump that measured inbetween the other two housings. (Now Pontiac FI drive cable housings are shorter than all of the above.)
See your notes dated 4/9/10 from the other side. I get confused reading them as too old. JD

[Jerry G.]

Re: FI Fuel pump cable lubrication

While I don't disagree that rapid changes in RPM could create a problem, I don't believe the failure we are seeing is caused by rapid change. The failures seem time related. A cable will last about 5 race hours. They break in the same place every time. This appears to be a fatigue issue which is why I'm relocating the fuel meter to give a little straighter angle( less bending stress) and using the largest cable i know of( lowered the stress level on an S/N curve). If there are better cables out there please let me know. i'll try and report back. I'm also thinking of re pinning the distributor collar to allow an even smaller angle change between the fuel meter and distributor. Also, if there is a lubrication engineer out there who can recommend a better lubricant for the cable please let me know. Jerry

[Clem Z.]

Re: FI Fuel pump cable lubrication

While I don't disagree that rapid changes in RPM could create a problem, I don't believe the failure we are seeing is caused by rapid change. The failures seem time related. A cable will last about 5 race hours. They break in the same place every time. This appears to be a fatigue issue which is why I'm relocating the fuel meter to give a little straighter angle( less bending stress) and using the largest cable i know of( lowered the stress level on an S/N curve). If there are better cables out there please let me know. i'll try and report back. I'm also thinking of re pinning the distributor collar to allow an even smaller angle change between the fuel meter and distributor. Also, if there is a lubrication engineer out there who can recommend a better lubricant for the cable please let me know. Jerry

i don't know how well the cable housing is sealed but filling it with rear gear lube should work as it stands up to all that punishment in the gears.

[Jim L.]

Re: FI Fuel pump cable lubrication

i don't know how well the cable housing is sealed but filling it with rear gear lube should work as it stands up to all that punishment in the gears.

Not at all. It's just like a fat speedo cable casing. A liquid lubricant would run/seep out.

I always use/recommend wheel bearing grease and have never had a problem. Then again, I don't turn 7000 RPM and, of late, I just run a bare cable anyway.

Jim

[Clem Z.]

Re: FI Fuel pump cable lubrication

Not at all. It's just like a fat speedo cable casing. A liquid lubricant would run/seep out. I always use/recommend wheel bearing grease and have never had a problem. Then again, I don't turn 7000 RPM and, of late, I just run a bare cable anyway.Jim

the time i spent around the gulf oil corvettes they ran without a cover.

[Clem Z.]

Re: FI Fuel pump cable lubrication

maybe you could do like i did with motorcycle chain back in the day before "O" ring chain. put the cable in hot rear gear lube and let it soak into the cable. maybe this would get some lube in to the inners of the cable. BWTFDIK

[Paul Y.]

Re: FI Fuel pump cable lubrication

Not at all. It's just like a fat speedo cable casing. A liquid lubricant would run/seep out.

I always use/recommend wheel bearing grease and have never had a problem. Then again, I don't turn 7000 RPM and, of late, I just run a bare cable anyway.

Jim

Jim , when you run a bare cable do you have the cable housing ends screwed on to retain the cable?

[Jim L.]

Re: FI Fuel pump cable lubrication

Jim , when you run a bare cable do you have the cable housing ends screwed on to retain the cable?

No, just the cable and it never moves. I've driven thousands and thousands of miles this way with a variety of different FI units on my '60. It sure simplifies the process of R&R-ing an FI unit, which I do very often.

Jim

[Jerry G.]

Re: FI Fuel pump cable lubrication

Too bad there are not cables available that are wound from steel. The bronze ones that are available may not have the strength of the OEM.

[Clem Z.]

Re: FI Fuel pump cable lubrication

Too bad there are not cables available that are wound from steel. The bronze ones that are available may not have the strength of the OEM.

why can't you buy steel ones and just install the correct ends on it ??