Author Topic: Rebuilding fuel pump.....well, sorta  (Read 4434 times)

Offline GT350Mike

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Rebuilding fuel pump.....well, sorta
« on: September 26, 2016, 11:33:13 PM »
My K100RS had not been out on the street for at least 12 months and thought all I had to do was replace the battery but my assumption was wrong.  After trouble shooting the no-start problem, I finally figured out my fuel pump wasn't working.  I looked at several different alternatives (new $$$ Bosch pump, 52mm aftermarket pump, or a 43/37mm pump). When I ran across a site (sorry, don't have it at the moment) showing how to rebuild the pump, I decided I had nothing to lose so here's my $.02 worth.

First, I wasn't prepared for the pile of black crap the vibration damper had turned into from all of the years of being submerged in ethanol.  That is some nasty stuff!  To take the pump apart, you'll need to un-crimp the top with pliers or a screwdriver, then turn the pump upsidedown and tap the bottom with a wooden handle of a small hammer.  Once it starts moving, turn it righ tside then strike the bottom of the pump on a wooden handle to push the pump out of the aluminum housing.  Take your time or you'll end up with parts of the pump all over your garage floor (ask me how I know).

Once the pump is removed from the aluminum housing, separate the top part from the armature shaft then you'll see a c-clip and a washer on the shaft.  Carefully remove both then you'll be able to slide the armature shaft off, then you'll see another c-clip and washer.  Remove both then you'll be able to slide the plastic thingamagig (driver?) off the shaft. 

BEFORE YOU REMOVE THE SCREWS, MARK THE TOP & BOTTOM HOUSING!!!  After you've marked the housing, unscrew the four screws and separate the housings and you should find 5 rollers. The pics I've seen of other fuel pumps and these rollers were pretty bad....most of them were rusted almost to a point were they probably needs to toss the pump. My rollers had a lot of varnish built up so I used fine grit sandpaper to clean them up as well as the housings.  Once cleaned, I sprayed WD-40 onto everything then started the re-assembly process.  When trying to mate the top half of the pump with the bushings onto the armature, I inserted the handle of a screwdriver (about 3/4" diameter) to push the bushings back, then used dental floss to hold the bushings in place.  It took a few tries but I finally got everthing back together.  Before you slide the pump back into the aluminum housing, make sure the housing is free of any corrosion and/or varnish buildup.  Also make sure the rubber o-rings are on or you'll pump won't be able to generate any pressure. 

After I got everything back together, I tested the pump.....the good news is that it worked but the bad news is it seems the polarity is backwards.  When I put the positive wire from the battery to positive side of the pump (and hooked up the negative wire), the pump didn't do anything except make bubbles.  But when I reversed the positive and negative, the pump generated pressure.  Since my pressure gauge crapped out on me, I don't know how much pressure but will follow-up on that later.

I hate to stop here but I've had enough fun for one day.  Hopefully tomorrow I'll figure out what I did wrong or better yet, I hope someone on this board can tell me what I did to goof-up the pump.

Note:  I haven't figured out how to post the pics between paragraphs so all of the pics are shown after the write-up.....I'll work on making it easier to follow.   
  • Huntsville, AL
  • 1992 K100RS

Offline kennybobby

  • ^ Proficient Motobricker
  • Posts: 244
  • Last of the True Southern Sweet Mullets and Squids
Re: Rebuilding fuel pump.....well, sorta
« Reply #1 on: September 27, 2016, 08:56:27 AM »
Howdy Mike,

Welcome to the forum.  Looks like we are in the same riding hood--i'm just outside of town off of winchester.

Good job jumping in there and showing them rollers who's boss. 

Did you happen to notice how many magnet pole pieces were attached inside the motor housing ?  Don't know if that could be polarity sensitive on reassembly.

The smaller terminal lug is the positive (+) lead for the pump motor right?

get er done we'll go ridin', kenny
Ridin' 87 K75S vin 1334,
Renchin' 86 75S vin 0061

Offline jaxon

  • ^ Proficient Motobricker
  • Posts: 158
Re: Rebuilding fuel pump.....well, sorta
« Reply #2 on: September 27, 2016, 10:54:58 AM »
Interested in your discovery. Fuel pumps in general can be pricey unless you use an aftermarket one. I'd suspect the number one cause of failures are being clogged by a dissolved retaining assembly. If it is structurally sound why couldn't it be rebuilt?

Ethanol isn't your friend unless you're getting a subsidy for corn.
  • Indiana
  • '92 K75S, '17 R1200GS LC
--
This space for rent

Offline GT350Mike

  • Curious
  • Posts: 6
Re: Rebuilding fuel pump.....well, sorta
« Reply #3 on: October 04, 2016, 12:10:07 AM »
Howdy Mike,

Welcome to the forum.  Looks like we are in the same riding hood--i'm just outside of town off of winchester.

Good job jumping in there and showing them rollers who's boss. 

Did you happen to notice how many magnet pole pieces were attached inside the motor housing ?  Don't know if that could be polarity sensitive on reassembly.

The smaller terminal lug is the positive (+) lead for the pump motor right?

get er done we'll go ridin', kenny

Hey Kenny, I'm over in Owens X Rds so yep, we're practically neighbors.  Regarding the magnet pole pieces, I don't recall the number so I'm not sure if I reversed something during re-assembly.  I'm also not sure if it's possible to reverse the polarity during re-assembly but I'm hoping someone else can chime in on that.  On a positive note, I decided to pulled the fuel injectors to clean and to replace the o-rings to insure I didn't have any problems similar to the pump.

Yes, the smaller lug is marked positive.

Interested in your discovery. Fuel pumps in general can be pricey unless you use an aftermarket one. I'd suspect the number one cause of failures are being clogged by a dissolved retaining assembly. If it is structurally sound why couldn't it be rebuilt?

Ethanol isn't your friend unless you're getting a subsidy for corn.

This is my first crack at rebuilding a submersible pump but I saw similar varnish buildup on an external Holley fuel pump that I disassembled, cleaned with carb cleaner and fine grit sandpaper.....seems I have a trend here.  Lesson learned is keep fresh fuel in the tank or use something like Sta-Bil to keep the varnish from building up inside the fuel system.  My bike is relatively low miles (23k), averaging less than 1,000 miles a year so I need to step up to the plate and ride it more.

Now time for confession.......I bought an aftermarket replacement pump (52mm) for $60.  I still don't understand how/why the direction of the fuel reversed when the wiring was correct so my confidence level in my rebuild was pretty slim.  If I was stranded and needed to McGyver it, then the simple solution would have been to reverse the positive and negative wires.  Speaking of avoiding being stranded, my wife spends a lot of time riding with me and I thought would be the very wise investment to do the maintenance the right way verses taking a chance and end up with her being really PO'd.  For the record, I'm not a spring chicken anymore so I'll send the money to avoid long walks in the Alabama heat!
  • Huntsville, AL
  • 1992 K100RS

Offline kennybobby

  • ^ Proficient Motobricker
  • Posts: 244
  • Last of the True Southern Sweet Mullets and Squids
Re: Rebuilding fuel pump.....well, sorta
« Reply #4 on: October 04, 2016, 08:40:59 AM »
Howdy Mike,

i suspect that there are only two magnet pieces inside the gold-colored housing and they will have opposite magnetic polarity.  So the orientation of the brush block polarity with respect to the magnets determines the direction of rotation, and your housing is likely 180 degrees off.  But now we know how to do this and the need to mark the gold piece alignment.  Thanks, kenny 
Ridin' 87 K75S vin 1334,
Renchin' 86 75S vin 0061

Offline GT350Mike

  • Curious
  • Posts: 6
Re: Rebuilding fuel pump.....well, sorta
« Reply #5 on: October 04, 2016, 09:40:15 AM »
I think the housing top is indexed and would only allow me to set it on one way. Now with that being said, I'm sure I figured out a way to goof it up because it's running backwards!

Anyway, it's the first time I've done any serious work on the bike and was glad to hear the motor crank.....great sense of accomplishment. The only issue that popped up afterwards was the fuel gauge so I've got to do some research to get it back online.

Thank y'all for the comments and words of encouragement.
  • Huntsville, AL
  • 1992 K100RS

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