Fuel system issue EJ Brumby.

lovey80 · Post by **lovey80** » Fri Jan 25, 2013 1:29 pm

Hi all,

I am still having some problems with my fuel system on my Brumby. First it was an injector rail which was sorted.

Second, I had a high pitched whine coming from my EFI VL fuel pump and even though a surge tank is fitted between the low and high pressure pumps correctly when taking a left hand corner it would starve of fuel. I have gone through two high pressure pumps now (one new one second hand) the first one went but had no pressure and the second hand one died after two weeks of the noise.

The third one is on the way and I intend to replace the fuel filter from the tank to the low pressure pump with a screw on type filter as I suspect crap is getting to the high pressure pump causing problems.

Also I suspect part or all of the problem is being caused by the low pressure pump not keeping enough fuel in the surge tank and over time starving the EFI pump.

I am also experiencing a fairly high pressurisation of the fuel tank, so much so that after a 30km drive opening the fuel cap releases not only air but fuel also..

Some of your thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

lovey80 · Post by **lovey80** » Sat Jan 26, 2013 1:33 pm

I thought i may replace the low pressure pump yesterday so off I went to Autobarn to get a new one. I got some good advice from one of the guys there as he explained that if I am getting a lot of pressure in the fuel tank, then it's likely that I will have similar sorts of pressures in the surge tank. Because the low pressure pump only pumps at around 6psi, as soon as pressures get close to that the low pressure pump will not be enough to push any fuel into the surge tank and air out the top of the surge tank back into the fuel tank.

As this happens the EFI pump will start to starve of fuel (making the whining noise) and eventually kill it.

Essentially he talked me out of buying a low pressure pump until I have installed the new high pressure pump and fixed the fuel tank pressurization problem (done as a quick fix by drilling hole in fuel cap).

Would still like to hear from others that have maybe experienced this or anyone with ideas.

lovey80 · Post by **lovey80** » Sat Feb 02, 2013 1:19 pm

Ok so after replacing the EFI pump and filters I primed both the low pressure and EFI pumps several times and the car fired first kick.

However, after driving about 8-9km the EFI pump begins to starve of fuel and starts to whine. Stoping the car and priming the pumps by flicking the ignition switch several times fixes the problem. So I am now certain that the low pressure pump is not keeping the surge tank full enough for the EFI pump to suck from. However, even when primed up and the EFI pump working properly a hardish left hand corner causes fuel starvation and the car begins to stall(as if I didn't have a surge tank fitted).

Can anyone advise a solution?

Brad_Stacey · Post by **Brad_Stacey** » Sat Feb 02, 2013 3:19 pm

I'm not quite sure what your setup is. But I had a similar issue (without the tank pressurization though) which turned out to be dirty fuel filter in the engine bay. Even tipping out the fuel backwards helped for a while until I got the to shops.

lovey80 wrote:Ok so after replacing the EFI pump and filters I primed both the low pressure and EFI pumps several times and the car fired first kick.

However, after driving about 8-9km the EFI pump begins to starve of fuel and starts to whine. Stoping the car and priming the pumps by flicking the ignition switch several times fixes the problem. So I am now certain that the low pressure pump is not keeping the surge tank full enough for the EFI pump to suck from. However, even when primed up and the EFI pump working properly a hardish left hand corner causes fuel starvation and the car begins to stall(as if I didn't have a surge tank fitted).

Can anyone advise a solution?

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Sat Feb 02, 2013 3:55 pm

baffles inside may assist in reducing the wave effect sloshing inside causing the apparent problem

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Sat Feb 02, 2013 5:34 pm

I hope you have the fuel engine return plumbed into the surge tank like this:

If not, I'd be changing that pretty quick!

And how big is your surge tank, tall and skinny is much better against surge than fat and short for the EFI pump

Cheers

Bennie

lovey80 · Post by **lovey80** » Tue Feb 05, 2013 5:50 pm

I think I have found the culprit. The low pressure fuel pump turns on when I turn the ignition key to on but when the car is running the low pressure pump is not running. So the low pressure pump primes the surge tank but stops working when the car is running causing the EFI pump to suck the surge tank dry after a while. Tracked the low pressure pump wiring back to this mitsu part deep up under the dash..

Anyone know what the part is called? And does anyone is SEQ have a spare one they want to sell?

lovey80 · Post by **lovey80** » Tue Feb 05, 2013 5:55 pm

Elfreddo, it is a small stubby tank that is plumbed up as above. Only there is a low pressure filter between the fuel tank and the low pressure pump and a inline EFI one between the EFI pump and the engine, just changed both of them just in case.

If I can't get hold of one of the thingamajigs above I'll hot wire the low pressure pump via a relay to the high pressure pump so that the low pressure pump is always running when the high pressure one is.

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Tue Feb 05, 2013 8:12 pm

lovey80 wrote:Anyone know what the part is called? And does anyone is SEQ have a spare one they want to sell?

I can tell you now that it's not that this little box is stuffed. It's looking for an ignition or rpm signal to continue running after initial start.

This box is designed to run for ~5 seconds then stop. The engine starts, little box gets some sort of signal to say the engine is running and it then continues the fuel pump running as well. It's a safety device in the event of an accident - fuel can't be pumped all over the place...

Find the signal wire, work out how to wire it into the EJ system (tacho maybe?) and problem sorted.

Or run the relay referenced from the EJ's fuel pump wiring as you've already said.

I'm glad the surge tank is all plumbed in properly!

Cheers

Bennie

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Tue Feb 05, 2013 8:26 pm

good find - the L Series had one of these very similar up under the dash RHS, but not likely to be interchangeable I bet. A chance for an anti theft device here me thinks.

You do not wanna price one of those babies from Subaru - in the three hundreds.

I wonder how others got around this unit interfering ?

lovey80 · Post by **lovey80** » Wed Feb 06, 2013 10:38 am

Thanks Freddo, a long conversation with Rick (RTCB) had me to that conclusion. I figure it is easiest to simply wire in a relay to the EFI pump power lead then hard wire it to the battery.

lovey80 · Post by **lovey80** » Wed Feb 06, 2013 8:41 pm

Ok, so after using a relay to open a direct power source to the low pressure pump all the problems with the fuel line have been solved. No more EFI pump squeeling after a period, and I can hook it round a left hand corner on full gas without any starving of fuel. Thanks for the reply's!

After starting her up today after the rewire I have a loud /lifter tick that doesn't go away. Arrrgggg, is this thing ever going to be sorted. Time to use the search function again.

SUBIIE · Post by **SUBIIE** » Wed Mar 06, 2013 8:59 pm

Well lovy dovy!

I feel your pain, i have an EJ20T in my Brumby and am running through the standard carby pump to a 0.8l surge tank to the standard VL efi pump, with an inline generic filter at every potential spot. I hooked up the pumps off the same old wiring that went to the carby pump, so both pumps run at the same time.

My issue was heat, if on a hot day, say 30 degrees plus, the efi pump creates a almost closed loop. anthe fuel becomes so hot the efi pump cavitates.

Good luck mate