Fuel Pump Fix

After 4 days trying to fix my ruining problems of no power, top speed of 10 kph OR 110 kph and no acceleration. I traced the fault to the fuel pump assembly. Sometimes it would work, other times it wouldn't. Pressure was either good or poor. It looked like a dodgy fuel pump which Suzuki want $700. If i had taken it to a dealer they would have replaced the assembly which would have fixed the problem but cost me $1000.

I'm unemployed at the moment so that was out of the question. I doubt VERY much I'm the only person to have this problem in the past
or future.

Photos and instructions following

Good work Gus, glad you got it sorted. What is this fuel pump thing of which you speak?  

I think I would use a pressure-pack carburettor spray, just don't let it back spray into your eyes, hurts like buggery, don't ask how I know.

thanks Gus its handy to know

Well done Gus. It sounds like there's an even chance that all Bandit pumps will sooner or later suffer from the mesh getting blocked, given the vulnerability of the design. The fact that you perservered and traced it down to that bit gives me confidence to do the same if mine mucks up - something I wouldn't have done without your post. Hope it now stays fixed. Keep up the good work.

cool Gus glad you where able to fix nice going hope all is well

well done Gus...may be handy to all in future.....................Grumpy

well done Gus, that's handy to know about

On ya Gus. I wish i had your patience when working on bike or car. From what i've been reading here you should be called the Guru..

Great result Gus - youre perseverence really paid off. I'm sure the dealer would have been glad to relieve you of $700.

good job gus, awsome you got it sorted.

Great work Gus

Perseverance is a virtue as they say and now it is Bandit owners 1 dodgy dealers 0

With all the hard work and effort you have gone to here, Suzuki will now be having to put the price of their fuel pumps up as they will not be selling as many HAHAHAHAHAHA.

Thanks guys, I better keep working. The actually small pump can easily be tested by putting it in a bucket of fuel. Extend the wires a couple of feet to a battery, blue wire positive black wire earth (its marked). It will "jump" a little when connected and then be smooth, flow should be strong.

Reassemble everything, put it back into the bucket and retest. With mine flow (assembled) was good sometimes and poor the next time making it look like a faulty pump. The pump on its own  ALWAYS had good flow. Ever thing in the assembly is basic, no springs, no ball bearings nothing there to confuse any one. The pressure reg. can be tested with a home compressor. Air should pass through it at 45 + psi (not less) use a pointy nozzle and watch com pressure gauge.

Looking at the hidden mesh screen(you can just see it from underneath) IT LOOKED LIKE NEW, SHINNY NO DIRT, BUT IT WAS LIKE IT HAD A
CLEAR VARNISH ON IT. ONLY NOTICEABLE WHEN YOU SCRATCHED IT WITH THE COPPER WIRE.

All the pump assembly parts below

Below. This part of the assembly where i am pointing is where the pump fits into.
Underneath that little hole is a mesh screen (believe me) insert a stripped end (copper) Of wire and use like a toothbrush. 
Insert wire from other side and repeat. You will feel the mesh screen


You will see gunk appearing. Wash out with boiling water. Repeat and repeat again.

Reassemble after cleaning and checking every thing else.
In the last 4 days i could only get 15 kms. Today i did 130 and it ran like a charm. Now i wonder how many good pumps have been chuck away worth $700. It might not work for you, but it has got to be worth a try before you give it to the dealer. They will say you need a new pump for sure.

Gus

Are you sure it wasn't a very fine mist of matt black paint ?

Gus U da man!

Given that you had bark in the tank is the crap that came out similar or is it the deposit sometimes found when crap fuel is used?
How often do you run a full tank of name branded fuel or fuel treatment?

You have more patience than me mate. Would I be correct in saying the primary filter is not fine enough?

I did speak to my mechanic mate down the road .He said he had a Guzzi in with the same kind of thing .Brass filter which looked good but had like
a varnish type covering .Whats this petrol treatment you talk about ?

gus wrote:I did speak to my mechanic mate down the road .He said he had a Guzzi in with the same kind of thing .Brass filter which looked good but had like
a varnish type covering .Whats this petrol treatment you talk about ?

Just the fuel system cleaner type stuff. A tank of genuine Shell 98 should do the same thing. Yes Shell!

Gus you are a much braver man than me (admittedly not that hard!) there is no way I would play around with a battery, wires and an open bucket of fuel

THats why i said make the wires LOOOOOOONNNNNNG. You could use something less flamable as long as you flush it .
As long as its not dry .

gus wrote:THats why i said make the wires LOOOOOOONNNNNNG. You could use something less flamable as long as you flush it .
As long as its not dry .

Yeah - one flash and you're ash as they say.

Bloody good work Gus, doing shit like this tends to stick and be able to share, till Alan Zimer comes along...Gr8 stuff!

Gus,

Great work, I owe you a few beers!

By your photos, you removed some nasty crap from that fuel pump housing! Do you figure that just a cleaner alone would get that out for you? It almost looks like some solids built up in there, much more than varnish.

I guess my question is- in your opinion if you are having this problem, would you just tear into it as you have done, or try a bottle of cleaner?

Cheers,
08K8

Gus, what brand fuel have you used in the past and have you run any kind of injector cleaner with it.
Shell super dupa fuel has been reputed to sometimes cause problems if injector cleaner is run at the same time.
Info I've seen/been told is that is may form a yellowish gum type stuff in fuel lines and filters which by the looks of it is what you may have found in the little filter behind then pump.

Not trying to start a shell-v-BP-v-caltex blah blah blah or 91-v-95-v-98 blah blah blah war but more interested for my own perverse pleasure.

Never used a injector cleaner ,should i , i have no brand loyalty .Shell or Caltex mostly though .I have done a lot of miles in obscure places with
very old pumps . I could do that strainer clean in 20 mins now its an easy job ,finding it took 4 days . I guess the best trick is to turn you tank
over ,remove pump assembly and shine a torch in there to see whats in there .I flushed the tank out and left it out side open to dry .Came back
30 mins later to find a fresh gum leaf longer than the opening in the tank . :afraid:
I might be the only one ever to have this problem (i doubt it ). Personally i wouldn't worry about a clean .If it does play up at least you know
where to look. Add 4 ins of copper stranded elect. wire (car tyre ) to the toolkit .You could fix it by the side of the road if you had to .
Going for a ride today ,scones ,it better keep working .

As luck would have it, I was replacing my air filter while my brother was looking at the pump assembly. The strainer looks like it'll be replaced as soon as I can get the part. Next time the pump is in pieces, I'll see if I can get down to the filter and give it a clean out like you did Gus.

Bike has run like a charm since using the "copper wire toothbrush ".