View Full Version : 6.2 fuel pump/filter
I have a 6.2 suburban. I would like to remove the manual fuel pump and replace it with an electric. Has this been done is it worth while? I would also like to replace the fuel filter with a screw on. Is this worth the time and money? Any part numbers or help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
DmaxMaverick
04-12-2007, 20:57
The Stanadyne 80 model filter (what you have) is messy, but fine. Unless you are having problems, you won't gain any ground. Nothing wrong with additional filtration, though.
Electric vs. mechanical.......
IMO (experienced and informed as it is), the mechanical is supperior for most applications. If you switch to electric, you'll also have to incorporate a fail-safe into the system, so the pump can't run if the engine stops, like in a collision. The OPS (oil pressure switch) is a real graemlin on engines with them, and electronic versions are spendy but not as problematic. The mechanical pump will at least give you some warning before taking a permanent vacation.
I would keep the Model 80 filter and install additional filtration, like DMaxMaverick says. It makes a great primary filter, with something like a 2 micron Racor 45S or 60S as a secondary. Finding a place to put it can be interesting, I ended up moving my Model 80 to the radiator support, under the snorkel hose, and mounting the Racor where the Model 80 was. I figured that since it had a clear bowl I might as well put it where I could see it. The drawback to this is that unless you extend the harness you lose the WIF sensor.
As far as the electric pump, the only benefits I see are that it makes priming filters a lot easier, and if your lines get air in them when the truck sits overnight the electric pump can purge them while the glows heat up. As far as a failsafe, I guess it's the "wrong" way to do it but when I installed an electric pump I just ran it off an ignition hot source. I figured that it'd take at least a magnesium fire to ignite any spilled diesel. I think that if I was going to use a failsafe I'd go with an accelerometer like a lot of later cars use.
DmaxMaverick
04-13-2007, 09:10
The fail-safe suggestion I made was more than just a recommendation. All 50 states, and probably Canada, require them by law.
Diesel fuel doesn't burn easily, but once heated and ignited, it will burn. Not as bad as gas, but not far from it. If the fuel is pumped and sprayed, like you'd have with a ruptured fuel line, the spray will burn every bit as bad as gas. That same principal is what keeps airliners in the air, and our trucks motoring down the road.
I have a 6.2 suburban. I would like to remove the manual fuel pump and replace it with an electric. Has this been done is it worth while? I would also like to replace the fuel filter with a screw on. Is this worth the time and money? Any part numbers or help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
I left a part number, price and source, and a how to article by Dr Lee in the other thread you started on 4-11. But yes, if you intend to install an electric boost pump, it should be as near to the tank as possible. Then you have a proper push from the electric, as well as a mechanical lift. Dr Lee also installed his Racor fuel filter near the tank and after the electric boost pump. Since I have a 2 micron Racor near the IP, I'll only install an inline clear filter between the tank and the boost pump.
The burner that heats my house fires at 0.65 gph. The lift pump on my truck pumps 30 gph. Last time I was in a wreck I was unconscious, upside down in the vehicle for at least 20 minutes...
The burner that heats my house fires at 0.65 gph. The lift pump on my truck pumps 30 gph. Last time I was in a wreck I was unconscious, upside down in the vehicle for at least 20 minutes...
Well, that's something to think about. I like the extra pump I put on the MB. It bleeds the system in a blink, so I like using it when the engine is off. It also gives rapid starts. However, I'm going to try to figure a sure "NO fire" cutoff when the engine dies.... Which usually means I'll ask every smart diesel mechanic I know if they have a solution..:D In the meantime, it's Fri the 13th, I'm home for the day and glad I'm not upside down and unconscious in the MB with diesel pouring all over me.... :eek:
The burner that heats my house fires at 0.65 gph. The lift pump on my truck pumps 30 gph. Last time I was in a wreck I was unconscious, upside down in the vehicle for at least 20 minutes...
That had never occurred to me... So I put the question, "How does one rig a deadman switch to an electric fuel pump," to a bunch of other really smart guys on an MB forum... One guy kinda' laughed at me saying something like, "Hey, you have a single tank and only burn WVO. When you wake up the grease will help you slide out." :D Then added, "Seriously, Veg Oil is not that easy to ignite."
However, I had planned to use one of the trucks tank for dino and the other for WVO... But you've convinced me not to use diesel in either tank, except a relatively small % as a thinning agent during the winter.
a5150nut
04-15-2007, 10:02
Back when I was traveling cross country all the time, my boss sent me out in an old White Western Star semi. He gave me orders, " If she blows on the higway, set out a flare down hill from er and open the tank drain." I guese he wanted to use all that diesel one way or the other............
I worked a job in the Mojave Desert and at nite we would place smudge pots out next to all the non glow plug equipment (Yuclid) so they could get it started after freezing nites. It took either adding Gasoline or a tourch to get them pots to light. Deisel dosn't ignite as easy as gas, but it does burn a lot hotter. :eek:
ccatlett1984
04-15-2007, 20:37
Well, that's something to think about. I like the extra pump I put on the MB. It bleeds the system in a blink, so I like using it when the engine is off. It also gives rapid starts. However, I'm going to try to figure a sure "NO fire" cutoff when the engine dies.... Which usually means I'll ask every smart diesel mechanic I know if they have a solution..:D In the meantime, it's Fri the 13th, I'm home for the day and glad I'm not upside down and unconscious in the MB with diesel pouring all over me.... :eek:
have you thought of using a mercury switch to kill the power in the event of a off camber situation?
have you thought of using a mercury switch to kill the power in the event of a off camber situation?
Not only have I not thought of it....I don't even know how it works! :o
I'm kinda in awe of all of the very smart people here. I've never been much of a mechanic. You know, mostly following directions as opposed to the creative intuitive leaps made by those with true mechanical/engineering talent.
Oh, when I was poorer, I overhauled a few 4 banger gasser Volvos and with the help of Wife, installed and kept the simple diesel on our sailboat going..( During a 5 year cruise in the Gulf of Mexico. `Wife and I became a couple of true hippys. :D No more long hair, but still are greenie hippys at heart. ) and in the last year, with the help of many smart mechanics at schuman automotives, I started doing more of my own work on our old MB 300DT. But I had done WVO mods before finding the schuman forum. One 2 tank system on a 1990 VW NA ecodiesel as well as installing Kent Bergsma's very elegant modular system that was designed for the MB 123 chassis.
But mercury switches are way over my head! Still, you've planted the meme, and I know curiousity will force me to dig and learn a bit more... :) So I'll be gratefull for any more mecury switch info you might want to add.
ccatlett1984
04-16-2007, 11:50
a mercury switch is a very simple device. it has a chamber that contains liquid mercury that makes a connection between two leads, if the switch is tilted then the mercury moves and the connection is broken creating an open circuit. its what they use on the under-hood lights in most cars. they are very foolproof and if it does fail its very simple to bypass.
a mercury switch is a very simple device. it has a chamber that contains liquid mercury that makes a connection between two leads, if the switch is tilted then the mercury moves and the connection is broken creating an open circuit. its what they use on the under-hood lights in most cars. they are very foolproof and if it does fail its very simple to bypass.
Elegant! I'll "chew" on it for awhile. Thank you very much! :D :D
Mercury isn't very "green"....
It boggles my mind; what's wrong with an oil pressure switch?
They've tried all sorts of other ideas, alternator charging, crank sensor sensing, manifold vacuum on a gasser, etc. The oil pressure switch is stone simple. Use it to switch a relay for the fuel pump. Problem solved, permanently.
Mercury isn't very "green"....
lol, true.
It boggles my mind; what's wrong with an oil pressure switch?
They've tried all sorts of other ideas, alternator charging, crank sensor sensing, manifold vacuum on a gasser, etc. The oil pressure switch is stone simple. Use it to switch a relay for the fuel pump. Problem solved, permanently.
Another elegant solution! Thanks for taking the time with such a dummy..There's just so much I have to learn, it's almost overwheming, particulary about this truck, harmonic balancers, and other exotic devises.... :confused:
darkroad
04-16-2007, 20:09
I may be mistaken but wasn't there either a Ford car or Truck ( Maybe middle to late 80's ) that had an electric pump kill switch up around where the dash meets the trans hump on the passenger side. A lot of times a bump would cause it to trip and you would have to reset it. If any of you know about this it may work about the same way that an air bag sensor trips and sets off the air bag. You could use this so if you were in any kind of wreck it would kill the power to the pump.
Darkroad
DmaxMaverick
04-16-2007, 20:45
I'll echo what John said....What's wrong with an OPS???
Despite the issues reported, the OPS is the best option if properly installed. Second would be the electronic option, like what JK has/sells. Anything else would be a problem waiting to happen.
Murphy switches have been around for decades. The oil pressure switch is nothing more than that, and hasn't changed one bit in all this time. Just like in nature, if a feature stays around for a long time, it must have been worth keeping.
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