Aftermarket Fuel Pump

[DRxBMW]

generic fuel pump and damper R&R:

FWIW, the Mustang pump works well,read save your hard earned money for another bricK.

The PDF attachments have pictures, fuel pump notes are from Damun Gracein.

A long time ago I read the IBMWR tech page on replacing the now $370 BMW fuel pump with an Escort/Taurus/Mustang submersible fuel pump.

With a little research I determined that the Purolator Facet FEP 2042 is an equivalent. Just to have a spare around, I bought one on eBay for $30 a couple of years ago.

Yesterday I got back to working on my K75 project bike. I'd left the fuel pump out for quite a while and it was frozen - FARK!!!

Now I'd have a chance to see if the $30 solution would work. Sure enough, it did.

It only took a few minutes and was very easy to do:

1) Remove the old fuel pump. a) Undo the hose clamp and take the fuel hose off. b) Undo the electrical connections(7mm and 8mm) c) Pop the plastic clips at the front and rear of the mounting ring. (You don't need to undo the 8 nuts on the plastic mounting ring.)

2) Once out of the tank, slide the old fuel pump body out of the incredibly expensive rubber vibration mounting ring.

3) The diameter of the FEP2042 is much less than that of the BMW fuel pump. There's a section of submersible fuel hose that comes with the fuel pump. How convenient. I cut it's length to slightly less than the diameter of the new fuel pump, ran a nylon zip-tie through it and wrapped it around the new fuel pump and secured it with the zip-tie. With a few minutes of careful cramming I was able to get it nicely lodged in the vibration mounting ring.

4) Attach the pre-filter that comes with it to the bottom of the new pump. If you fold it up a bit it will fit nicely in the fuel pump "pocket" of the gas tank. Insert your new fuel pump assembly into the fuel pump hole in the tank and make sure the clips pop into place.

5) The nozzle on the top of the fuel pump has a slightly larger diameter than the BMW one but the hose will fit over it. The IBMWR instructions say that the BMW hose clamp is too small to work. Not true. If you drop the hose clamp on first and then slide the fuel hose on you can use the old hose clamp.

6) Wire it up. Cut the ring terminals off of the black and yellow fuel pump wires from the tank. Put female blade connectors on each wire and crimp carefully. I used bare metal ones - who knows if the plastic on covered ones would dissolve in gas. Attach the black wire (ground) to the narrower blade terminal on the fuel pump. Attach the yellow wire to the wider blade terminal.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fuel pump notes:

Synopsis of episodes 1 - 6:: Lots of us are having troubles with 1985
K100's. They quit intermittently, often while hot. We've found the anti-thft
alarm, various HES maladies, , FI relay, dirty kill switch, clogged fuel
filters, bad grounds at frame, battery, starter.

It was the fuel pump. This time.

The intake screen had torn, admitting particles into the pump. Sometimes
the pump worked. Sometimes it didn't. Especially when slowing after a
high-rev run

One day, it just quit..

When I took the old pump apart to use the can for the smaller aftermarket
pump, I found the innards to be quite nasty and corroded. Amazing that it
ran at all.

The seminal event was phase separation of water globules, MTBE, and
methanol. This makes slime that suspend any hard particles that enter the
tank with it. Many folks with long-idle machinery such as generators and
lawnmowers are finding the slime, since they started adding corn liquor to
gasoline. I'm guessing infrequent riders are finding short-life fuel
filters.

Two years ago I cleaned The Blob out the tank. Quite likely when
reassembling, I stretched the fuel strainer enough to start what became a
rip.

BMW does not offer strainers for the OEM 51mm pump to fit the 1985 K100 tank
hole. One could take a Dremel tool to the later model strainer, and use the
slot from the busted plastic matrix clip as a pass-through for the vent
pipe, and with luck make it fit. I did that, but it was too late to save the
pump.

The new pump has a sock, which is a bi of a task to maneuver, but I feel it
will work better than the small strainer basket. I had to drill through the
pump matrix, into the tank shelf, and use a sheet metal screw as by now both
plastic tabs had busted off. Seems to work well.

Pump specs: Facet-Purolator FEP2042 In-Tank Fuel Pump, 1991-1993 Ford
Escort, 1986-1995 Ford Taurus, 1988-1994 Lincoln Continental, 1986-1995
Mercury Sable, 1991-1993 Mercury Tracer. About $40. Positive (violet) to big
tab, neg (gray) to small tab.

First guy who did it and wrote about it:

http://www.ibmwr.org/ktech/fuel-pump-install.shtml

A few good articles by guys on this list should be in the archives under
/files.

If you remove the tank for cleaning, remember to hook up the fuel lines
before you start the bike. I will smell like gasoline until the apples
blossom.

Damun Gracenin
1985 K100 RS

[frankenduck]

I did the Taurus fuel pump on one of my K bikes. What I found is that you want to mount it as low as possible.  If you don't, when the fuel gets low and you make a right hand turn the fuel pump gets starved and the bike quits.  Then, for some reason, you have to wait about five minutes until it will work again.  Don't know why. Just my experience.

[frankenduck]

Euro Moto Eletrics sells a complete fuel pump replacement kit for $135: Click here

To replace the older 52mm fuel pump you can buy a Purolator/Facet FEP2042 37mm fuel pump for about $50 and then buy the foam adaptor from EME for $14: Click here

For the newer, smaller 43mm fuel pump the foam for fitting the aftermarket pump is $9: Click here

[DRxBMW]

Euro Moto Eletrics sells a complete fuel pump replacement kit for $135: Click here

To replace the older 52mm fuel pump you can buy a Purolator/Facet FEP2042 37mm fuel pump for about $50 and then buy the foam adaptor from EME for $14: Click here

For the newer, smaller 43mm fuel pump the foam for fitting the aftermarket pump is $9: Click here

Excellent deal if your in search mode for a plug and play FP.

[frankenduck]

Really all you need is the pump, the foam and two female blade terminals.

By the way, if your vibration dampener and/or nylon mounting are shot then EME has those too for slightly less than what they'd cost at a dealer.

[frankenduck]

Check this out - $18 shipped on Fleabay and it even includes the filter sock: http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-HERKO-FUEL-PUMP-MODULE-REPAIR-KIT-M-2042-FORD-LINCOLN-MECURY-SAAB-86-95-/160692567397?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&vxp=mtr&hash=item256a05fd65#vi-ilComp

[enb54]

Hi all...
Just signed up and ordered this $18 kit off of ebay for my 1991 K75RT (e/w ABS)... Thanks for the info...

[rbm]

On warmer days or after a long ride, the pump on my 88 K100RT will start to make a loud buzzing not unlike the sound bees make. The sound is louder with 1/2 tank or less.  Is this a symptom of impending pump failure?  If so, I'm probably best advised to get one of these kits quickly.

[frankenduck]

On warmer days or after a long ride, the pump on my 88 K100RT will start to make a loud buzzing not unlike the sound bees make. The sound is louder with 1/2 tank or less.  Is this a symptom of impending pump failure?  If so, I'm probably best advised to get one of these kits quickly.

No, my K75RT used to do that and it never had a FP failure.  (Used to drive me NUTS as a relatively new K owner until I figured out what it was.)

[DRxBMW]

On warmer days or after a long ride, the pump on my 88 K100RT will start to make a loud buzzing not unlike the sound bees make. The sound is louder with 1/2 tank or less.  Is this a symptom of impending pump failure?  If so, I'm probably best advised to get one of these kits quickly.

No, my K75RT used to do that and it never had a FP failure.  (Used to drive me NUTS as a relatively new K owner until I figured out what it was.)

double check the high vent hose,strange noises emit if it's pinched,  DAMHIFK

FP in my whip is OEM, almost 200,000 of miles & smiles so far. 

[Scott_]

On warmer days or after a long ride, the pump on my 88 K100RT will start to make a loud buzzing not unlike the sound bees make. The sound is louder with 1/2 tank or less.  Is this a symptom of impending pump failure?  If so, I'm probably best advised to get one of these kits quickly.

No, my K75RT used to do that and it never had a FP failure.  (Used to drive me NUTS as a relatively new K owner until I figured out what it was.)

That's how the bricks got the nick name of "K-whiners"

[enb54]

Just measured the diameter of the $18 fuel pump, and it is about 51.5mm, so looks like it's going to be my spare!

P.S.... It is a "HERKO" M-2042

[mjydrafter]

About a month or so ago, my fuel pump shot craps.  When I removed it, the filter basket thingy was fubar'd and the surround had been reduced to a gooey muck tar like substance that I'm sure some of you are familiar with.  The plastic ring that the surround bolts to was ok, minus one of the lock tabs, it still locked, but the one tab's release was broken.

Anyway, I did some poking around and found the $18 Herko/ebay fuel pump (thanks Motobrickers :yes), but it is quite a bit smaller than the original (original is 52mm and the ebay/herko is 37mm).  So this is what I came up with to replace the $100 assembly of the surround and the sleeve that you need to adapt the smaller/less expensive pump to the surround.

First, you will need the right size of foam backer rod.  This foam is made for construction, as a spacer in concrete for expansion, it looks like this:

You basically stuff it in a crack and then caulk over it.  It's a cheap spacer, so you aren't filling the crack with the more expensive caulking product.  It is a closed cell polyethylene foam, that comes in sizes ranging from 1/4" to 6" diameter.  If you look up polyethylene you will find it is pretty impervious to chemical attack.  There isn't any way to "glue" it because of this property.  So it should be suitable for work in a fuel tank.  Should even be ethanol proof.

I had a leftover piece of 2.75" leftover from another project.  That size is a bit larger than the "hole" the pump assembly sits in.  I used a 3.5" length.

You will need a way to "core" out the piece lengthwise, I used a piece of scrap bicycle frame tubing.  That I sharpened so it would cut easily and straight through the rod.  (When I was first working on it, I used an un-sharpened piece of tubing to make the core, but it cut a "cone" out instead of a nice hole.) I used the sharpened tube kind of like a drill (by hand) and went half way through from one end and then went in the other half from the other end to make sure the hole wasn't cone shaped.  It was ~1" diameter, so the pump fits in pretty snugly.  Like this:


What I didn't get a picture of was the zip ties I used to hold the prefilter on with.  These just go through the center of the backer rod and hold the screen in place while you stuff it into the hole.  Once you get it in the hole ad the lock ring, and hook everything back up.

Here is the what it looks like:



So far it has been working fine.  About the only thing I've noticed is the backer rod kind of turns clear in the tank once in fuel, but it's still there and not dissolving or anything.  I needed to replace the in tank fuel line as well, this silly piece of hose is ~$30 from Napa (or anywhere else I looked, and only available in 1' lengths :yow)

Part of the reason I used the larger piece of backer rod, was that this thing will want to float on top of the fuel, so it needs to be held in pretty well, so I wanted the wedging action in the tank and the lock ring to really hold everything down.

I will update this post if anything changes. 

Fuel pump - $18 shipped from ebay.
6' piece of backer rod - ~$12 full retail (you could make ~20 of these though. :laugh)
1' piece of in tank fuel line - ~$28



 

[leecow]

Clever and congratulations on the good work! Probably captured in another thread but I'll ask anyway ... what's the pressure / flow differences are between the OEM pump and the Herko?

[mjydrafter]

From what I gathered, they are pretty similar. 12v, 30-35 gph, 43 psi.

Pretty standard for "most" electric fuel pumps.

Another thing I remembered was, you must cut 2 small notches in the top area for the lock ring tabs to go into.  Make them a bit larger than the tabs, so that the tabs can flex into them when you snap it in.  And so that they can go in if you need to remove the assembly.

I'm not sure if I can get a decent picture of it in the tank but I will try.

[plateau]

greetings.

regarding the installation of the aftermarket pump- is it necessary to retain the original strainer basket or use the one that comes with the pump. Which leads to my 2nd question. Is it necessary to keep the vent hose that goes from the basket to the gas cap area? I have read elsewhere, that this tube should be removed.

thanks

[mjydrafter]

greetings.

regarding the installation of the aftermarket pump- is it necessary to retain the original strainer basket or use the one that comes with the pump. Which leads to my 2nd question. Is it necessary to keep the vent hose that goes from the basket to the gas cap area? I have read elsewhere, that this tube should be removed.

thanks

On the one I posted above did not reuse the old strainer.  It won't work, and mine was completely fubar'd.  I also did not have that vent line originally, so I still don't.  Everything works just fine.

My stuff from above seems to be holding up just fine.  Even took it for a ride last Saturday. :yes

[frankenduck]

Rumor has it that that line from the strainer basket had something to do with keeping fuel from cavitating under the fuel pump.  Don't know if that's true though.

[mjydrafter]

I tried to get a decent pic of my fuel pump, it's a difficult subject though.  This is about the best I can do:


Still working.

[Michael in AZ]

The issue I'm having is that the pump vibrates down through the foam and ends up resting on the bottom of the tank. They are then vibrating to death! Have tried zip ties, but they don't hold well enough. Since the 2042 pump is smooth (whereas our OEM has ridges on the canister) there is nothing to keep it from sliding down through whatever sleeve (Euromoto Electric Coozie, fuel line, or polyurethane foam doesn't seem to matter). Thoughts? Suggestions.  :dunno2:

[update] I see now what my problem was. I kept trying to use my OEM pre-filter basket on it's normal place outside the OEM vibe dampener (using Euromoto Electric Coozie -- sounds like a band from the 90's, doesn't it). Well now that I ordered an Airtrex 2042 pump, it comes with it's own pre-filter sock. That pre-filter has it's own vibration dampening solution, a plastic ring that extends past the pump and into the sock. So I guess anyone with a pre-filer sock is not running into the problem that I have had. I could delete, but it seems like someone else might try to use the OEM pre-filter like I did and run into the same problem. Will remove post if requested.

[WayneDW]

There is a new alternative fuel pump seller on ebay now:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Intank-EFI-Fuel-Pump-BMW-K75-K100-K750-1000-1100-K1-1200-1983-1999-/161090826668?pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&fits=Make%3ABMW%7CModel%3AK75&hash=item2581c2f1ac&vxp=mtr

$70, free shipping seems nice!


also here on their web site:
http://www.highflowfuel.com/c-335661-fuel-delivery-motorcycle-scooter-fuel-pumps-bmw.html

[KJeff]

The mounting picture in the link doesn't make sense to me. It looks like it's attached to the fuel gauge sender somehow and the text mentions having to buy the fuel gauge sender when replacing from the dealer.

[Lawrence]

The photo in the ad looks to be a pix of the set up in an Oilhead, not a K-bike.

[argilla11]

Just in case anyone needs to know, I used a 1992 ford escort fuel pump from napa and some folded fuel lines to make it fit in the rubber holder. I also rewired everything from the sender up to the pump because the insulation was gone. Now it works perfectly and I recommend it to anyone who needs to replace.

[kris]

Hi guys,
The fellow at NAPA told me the Escort pump runs at 80-90 psi....gallons per hour 30-35. I saw on one of the messages that the psi range is around 43. Does the higher rating, if accurate, matter?

Thanks!