Volvo 4.3 fuel pump woes
 

I have a 1996 Glastron with a Volvo 4.3GS SX engine and I finally got
it out of storage this year and tried to get it to start. Every year
it seems to be a bear to get this thing cranked after it has been
winterized.

I read some other posts that indicate that the electric fuel pump on
these engines is a design flaw and that the pump won't start pumping
until the engine is running and of course the engine won't run without
gas. Do others agree that there is a basic design flaw here?

This year I'm pretty sure that the pump has gone out again. The first
time was in 2000 and now it looks like it's the culprit again. I have
resorted to putting a little gas down in the carb and then trying to
get the thing to start which has worked fairly well in the past. After
doing this yesterday, I removed the fuel line going to the carb and
tried starting again and I am not seeing any fuel flow at all.

Should these things be failing every four years?

Is there a good place online to obtain this fuel pump?

Volvo 4.3 fuel pump woes
 

"White Furby" wrote in message
om...
I have a 1996 Glastron with a Volvo 4.3GS SX engine and I finally got
it out of storage this year and tried to get it to start. Every year
it seems to be a bear to get this thing cranked after it has been
winterized.

I read some other posts that indicate that the electric fuel pump on
these engines is a design flaw and that the pump won't start pumping
until the engine is running and of course the engine won't run without
gas. Do others agree that there is a basic design flaw here?

This year I'm pretty sure that the pump has gone out again. The first
time was in 2000 and now it looks like it's the culprit again. I have
resorted to putting a little gas down in the carb and then trying to
get the thing to start which has worked fairly well in the past. After
doing this yesterday, I removed the fuel line going to the carb and
tried starting again and I am not seeing any fuel flow at all.

Should these things be failing every four years?

Is there a good place online to obtain this fuel pump?

There are relays on cars, and I would assume on boats, that allow the pump
to only run when the motor is running or when the starter switch is engaged.
Check with a voltmeter if you have power to the pump when starting. May be
a bad relay.
Bill

Volvo 4.3 fuel pump woes
 

"White Furby" wrote in message
om...
I have a 1996 Glastron with a Volvo 4.3GS SX engine and I finally got
it out of storage this year and tried to get it to start. Every year
it seems to be a bear to get this thing cranked after it has been
winterized.

I read some other posts that indicate that the electric fuel pump on
these engines is a design flaw and that the pump won't start pumping
until the engine is running and of course the engine won't run without
gas. Do others agree that there is a basic design flaw here?

This year I'm pretty sure that the pump has gone out again. The first
time was in 2000 and now it looks like it's the culprit again. I have
resorted to putting a little gas down in the carb and then trying to
get the thing to start which has worked fairly well in the past. After
doing this yesterday, I removed the fuel line going to the carb and
tried starting again and I am not seeing any fuel flow at all.

Should these things be failing every four years?

Is there a good place online to obtain this fuel pump?

There is a bulletin about changing the circuit breaker size on the electric
pumps for a certain serial number range. The electric pump starts up when
you crank over the motor, thru the "I" terminal of the starter relay and a
diode that activates the pump relay. The alternator powers the relay after
the engine starts.

Most of the time a pump "failure" is due to it being bound up from stale
fuel deposits, water corrosion, or siezed from using too much fuel additive.
Sometimes, if tapping does not free them up, the reversing polarity for a
moment will sometimes bring it back to life. This is also a common problem
in the EFI Yamaha outboards that use electric pumps.

Bill Grannis
service manager

Volvo 4.3 fuel pump woes
 

If its similar to my Mercruiser, the pump is failing. I believe the
diaphram component gets deformed or wears out before the electric motor. In
my case, I ran out of gas, and that finally killed it. In previous years, I
had changed the fuel filters without filling them with gas. That started
the spiral. Not hard to replace.

"White Furby" wrote in message
om...
I have a 1996 Glastron with a Volvo 4.3GS SX engine and I finally got
it out of storage this year and tried to get it to start. Every year
it seems to be a bear to get this thing cranked after it has been
winterized.

I read some other posts that indicate that the electric fuel pump on
these engines is a design flaw and that the pump won't start pumping
until the engine is running and of course the engine won't run without
gas. Do others agree that there is a basic design flaw here?

This year I'm pretty sure that the pump has gone out again. The first
time was in 2000 and now it looks like it's the culprit again. I have
resorted to putting a little gas down in the carb and then trying to
get the thing to start which has worked fairly well in the past. After
doing this yesterday, I removed the fuel line going to the carb and
tried starting again and I am not seeing any fuel flow at all.

Should these things be failing every four years?

Is there a good place online to obtain this fuel pump?

Volvo 4.3 fuel pump woes
 

Same engine, same pump here. I had the same problems. I installed a
"primer" switch at the helm. Basically, I justed applied 12 volts to the
relay through a switch. I used a momentary switch so I can't leave it on by
accident. When starting the boat after its been layed up a while, I press
the switch for a few seconds. You can hear the fuel pump whirl. The float
bowl fills up. Pump the throttle a few times and starts right up. Before
I installed the switch, I burned out a starter trying to get it going one
day.

You can also test the fuel pump this way. If you apply 12 volts to the
relay and the pump doesn't start, something is wrong with the pump, wiring
or relay. If it starts, but no fuel in the carb, probably bad pump.

One more thing, the other day, even the "primer" method failed. After
checking several other things, I noticed that the wires on the top of the
pump had pulled loose. There is some sort of plug and socket assembly on
the top of the pump that had pulled appart. I'm not taling about the
obvious plug on the bracket that you can see and is secured with a wire
clip. This plug isn't so obvious and I don't think its made to come apart
normally. Its also not obvious when its loose. Anyway, I pushed it in real
tight and everything was alright and remains so. Check that connnection
before you go replacing the pump.



(White Furby) wrote in
om:

I have a 1996 Glastron with a Volvo 4.3GS SX engine and I finally got
it out of storage this year and tried to get it to start. Every year
it seems to be a bear to get this thing cranked after it has been
winterized.

I read some other posts that indicate that the electric fuel pump on
these engines is a design flaw and that the pump won't start pumping
until the engine is running and of course the engine won't run without
gas. Do others agree that there is a basic design flaw here?

This year I'm pretty sure that the pump has gone out again. The first
time was in 2000 and now it looks like it's the culprit again. I have
resorted to putting a little gas down in the carb and then trying to
get the thing to start which has worked fairly well in the past. After
doing this yesterday, I removed the fuel line going to the carb and
tried starting again and I am not seeing any fuel flow at all.

Should these things be failing every four years?

Is there a good place online to obtain this fuel pump?

Volvo 4.3 fuel pump woes
 

ditto what akheel says.
On my 4.3L mercruiser the electric fuel pump has no relay, but is in series
with an oil pressure switch, which prevents the pump from running if the
engine shuts down, and also prevents it from running during initial
cranking. I hooked a 'primer' wire up to an unused wiper switch on my
dash.

Volvo 4.3 fuel pump woes
 

"Floyd I Johnson" wrote in
om:

ditto what akheel says.
On my 4.3L mercruiser the electric fuel pump has no relay, but is in
series with an oil pressure switch, which prevents the pump from
running if the engine shuts down, and also prevents it from running
during initial cranking. I hooked a 'primer' wire up to an unused
wiper switch on my dash.



Ditto, ditto,
But one more thing-make sure you use a momentary switch. If you don't you
could forget and leave it on, or bump it on by accident. Then the pump
will run continuously when the engine is off. At best you'll run your
battery down. At worst, fuel will flood where its not supposed to and
kaboom!.

Volvo 4.3 fuel pump woes
 

"akheel" wrote in message
...
"Floyd I Johnson" wrote in
om:

ditto what akheel says.
On my 4.3L mercruiser the electric fuel pump has no relay, but is in
series with an oil pressure switch, which prevents the pump from
running if the engine shuts down, and also prevents it from running
during initial cranking. I hooked a 'primer' wire up to an unused
wiper switch on my dash.



Ditto, ditto,
But one more thing-make sure you use a momentary switch. If you don't you
could forget and leave it on, or bump it on by accident. Then the pump
will run continuously when the engine is off. At best you'll run your
battery down. At worst, fuel will flood where its not supposed to and
kaboom!.
I didn't use a momentary switch, but if you leave it turned on you can't
turn off the engine, which reminds you to turn it off. The fuel pump
normally gets its power from the hot side of the coil on my mercruiser.