hello all,

Started my 83 Carb 305 trans am today and it was leaking fuel from the area below. As you can see at idle its "spurting" out quite a bit of fuel. Can someone help me to identify this and what it would take to fix this? I have included 2 videos so yall can see how much is getting pushed out,

Thank you.

 

It's called a mechanical fuel pump. You need a new one.

 

when the new fuel pump is installed,the rod that drives it will need held up to install the pump and you may need to rotate engine by hand to get camshaft eccentric to minimum position so you are not working against spring pressure of fuel pump arm. Also the flare fitting hard line that screws into the fuel pump will often leak if it is not tightened down exactly straight (same thing at carb end of that hard line)-so look over for leaks afterward.

 

thanks everyone! is there a factory upgrade? Might just get something better if I have to buy it. any websites recommended to purchase?

 

O'reilly, Autozone, NAPA, Advanced Auto, Checker,....who ever's got the cheapest cheapy...that's what I'd buy.

May want to check your oil level, too. It's possible for the pump, when it goes bad as it has in your case, to leak gasoline into the crank case/oil. If your oil level has risen, it's probably diluted with gasoline. If so, you should change it.

 

Rock Auto.... And it's just a mechanical fuel pump... No need to go crazy, any decent pump will provide more than enough floor

Do not provide more pressure .. that will cause the float to come off the seat in a carb.

A decent AC delco pump at Rock Auto is my go to ...

 

I don't recommend a cheap replacement. I have been through 2 on my Camaro over the last 40kish miles. First one lasted years but eventually began leaking around housing like yours. Second one lasted less than 2k miles and failed suddenly while cruising down the interstate. Lifetime warranty means nothing if the cab ride home costs more than a quality replacement.

The last crap one was made in China. I feared the worst when I saw that on the box, but stupid me went ahead and installed it anyway hoping the lifetime warranty would mean something. I replaced it with a Carter (made in Mexico) off Ebay. I would prefer one made in Taiwan but nobody wants to post the origins on their websites.

I created a bad review with pictures of the crap one on OReillys website. Doesn't look like they ever posted my review on the website, so I guess they are protecting their crap investment.

Here are pictures of the failed Chinese one. Top of shaft going into fuel pump lever broke off. Pure garbage metal from China.

Did I mention it was made in China?

 

dang! sorry to hear that, ill try the carter one or something better.
Me and a buddy will attempt it this Saturday what tools do I need? looks like sockets + line wrench and pliers and read some tips (grease/hacksaw blade) on that cam rod to hold it up. Do I need to remove anything in the way to make it easier? Assume I'd have to jack the passenger side up and work from top and bottom.

Thanks everyone

 

DON'T overthink this. Just get a stock replacement one.

I recall some years ago (had to be at least 25, maybe closer to 30, buttt the lesson remains the same) the FP on a car we had failed. Just about like that. My wife volunteered to go down to AZ down the street. Hint: AZ store #1, it was maybe 6 blocks away. While she was gone, after she left, I discovered I had one in stock. Some generic replacement kinda thing. By the time she could drive 6 blocks, buy the part, and come back, I had already found the one, pushed the car (78 Elky if memory serves) into the garage, jacked it up, swapped it up, and backed it back outta the garage. Musta taken me all of 7 minutes unless I lost track of how many cold adult beverages I had in the meantime. She was PISSED; cost her like $14 or some such; (would be more now, not gonna lie about that) butt the car was reapired, backed back outta the garage, running happily. So we put the one she bought back into "stock" knowing that we'd need it sooner than later. Pretty sure in the intervening years we've used it.

$14 then is probably $25 or so now. Yeah it sux, ANY kinda money is unfortunate, butt NO it's not gonna break you. Just do it. Then about 7 minutes later your car will be JUST FINE. If you're slow like me, that is; butt you're prolly faster, since everybody is. I'm betting you can do it in 5 or less. [forgedinfire] Your time starts ... NOW. [/forgedinfire]

 

hah sounds like it was an easy job for ya! Just got my replacement fuel pump, I am assuming its really hard/impossible to push that pump lever by hand? Wanted to make sure it wasn't stuck/broken.

 

Not really; just, it makes it hard to line up the pump and get the bolts started.

Have your assistant bump the motor over in small increments while you hold the rod up against the cam eccentric; when it goes all the way up, put a longer bolt in this hole, FINGER TIGHT ONLY, to hold it up there, and put the original bolt back in after you're done, with a drop of sealer on the threads. It will leak oil if you don't use sealer on it.



The other sometimes not too fun thing will be, getting the line that goes up to the carb, to come loose. Use a flare nut wrench (5/8") to prevent rounding it off and making life even more difficult.

 

Issue: Fuel pump was leaking out of weep holes aka busted diaphragm.

So got it replaced with a buddy and everything went smooth right up until the hardline to the carb didn't align with the pump outlet threaded connection! Not sure why the old pump and the new pump had different angles for the line connection, but after a lot of swearing and hitting and bending slightly AND disconnecting the Carb end so we get more freedom of movement on the line, we got it to align and now she starts up with no leaks (so far, fingers crossed). Luckily I had purchased 2 pumps, one from Rock Auto and one from O' Reilly's and both had the same issue. Maybe whoever installed the old pump changed the line angle? Anyone had this issue before?

Special Tools needed: Flare nut wrench, 1" open wrench.

Thanks

 

It's not uncommon to have that issue, simply b/c look at what you're working with: Cheapy-azzed, stamped tin parts. It's not like the steel fuel line, the pump body, etc are "precision" pieces. Plus, you got slop in the pump bolt holes so it's not only possible, but it's likely, that the pump didn't "land" when you tightened the bolts, at exactly the same angle/elevation etc. as the pump that you removed.

Anyway, I'm not surprised. Sounds normal. It helps, as you discovered, to keep one end loose, until you have the other end properly started...and it's normal to have to "tweak" the steel line as well.

 

You need to check if your oil smells like fuel.

 

From post #5....