Automotive fuel pump

gompka · 11-19-2004, 02:04 PM

Anyone ever use an automotive intank fuel pump as a pump for their water cooling system? I had a spare general motors fuel pump laying around. The pump is really small and its kinda loud at 12volts but I am running it at 7.2 volts. Draws about 2.5 amps of current but it can achieve 50 psi. So far its been working great. I am in the process of testing my setup that I just designed and built.

greenman100 · 11-19-2004, 08:35 PM

low GPM
low life
high noise
good luck

killernoodle · 11-19-2004, 11:10 PM

Actually, they will last forever, but I dont think they are very quiet. Low flow as well.

HammerSandwich · 11-20-2004, 01:05 AM

Are you running it inline or submerged?

gompka · 11-20-2004, 02:40 AM

I am running the pump submerged.... I have it mounted so its suspended in the water its not touching anything. I am actually running it 12volts now and in my case my power supply fan is louder than the pump. So no its not as noisy as you guys say it should be. This is a general motors pump from ur local autoparts store. I am testing it right now... so far so good running and no leaks I'll take pics for you guys as soon as i get a chance.

Compared with my ac pump i was running, which was 96 gph with a 12" head, this pump flows i'm guessing almost twice that. And from what I am seeing it is not putting much heat into my resovair water.

MaxxxRacer · 11-20-2004, 03:47 AM

sounds interesting..

what kind of fittings does it have?

Are you seeing any increase or decrease over your previous pump?

And what was your previous pump?

lolito_fr · 11-20-2004, 05:15 AM

If you take it apart (hint) I wanna see pics of the inside.
Q to anyone that has taken one apart, how does it pump at 50psi? Is it a positive displacement vane pump?

BTW, "last forever" for a car is not the same as last forever at 24/7 type usage...
100 000 miles @ 30mph is only 4-5 months running continuously

deathBOB · 11-20-2004, 10:08 AM

What about one of the pumps used for direct injection? Thier supposed to have crazy pressures... i believe the common rail diesel operates at like 1000 PSI... :shrug:

Incoherent · 11-20-2004, 10:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deathBOB

What about one of the pumps used for direct injection? Thier supposed to have crazy pressures... i believe the common rail diesel operates at like 1000 PSI... :shrug:

Your flow rate would be next to zero at the pressures a diesel injector pump runs at.

It would be interesting , but for a totally different type of water block, atomised water droplets impacting a baseplate...

It's been considered before.

lolito_fr · 11-20-2004, 10:50 AM

common rail diesel = 800-2000 BAR

(11000 - 30000 PSI!!!)

MaxxxRacer · 11-20-2004, 08:45 PM

the block would explode... and those are for injector nozzles.. suffice to say the flow is less than ideal with those...

but hey, if anyone is dumb enought to try it, more powerto them..

ToasterIQ2000 · 11-20-2004, 08:54 PM

I've run a couple of automotive pumps.
The first was from a fuel injected Audi. It was an inline, as apposed to submerged, pump -- maybe that old Audi had another pump in the tank. Didn't occour to me that it depended on the gasoline for lubrication of its' bearings and brushes. This was several years ago. As best I remember it ran near 2 months, intermitant, not always on computing. The brush-commutator junction corroded horribly & it got noisy before it siezed. I cut it open and can't remember if I took pictures then, or where they'd be now... I thought then that any pump that ran its' flow across the brushes would be unfit for water: current through water splits water into h2 + 02; sparks ignite; iterate... Big hindsight Duh there.
I ran a rig on a smaller unknown make / model pump from C&H surplus that my bro said looked exactly like the pump out of his wife's ~1990 Dodge Caravan. In tank submerged, for fuel injection. It was a multi-stage gear pump. I used sythetic gear oil in that loop and wow that combo was quiet! One day I accidentally pinched a hose while it was running and dang things get messy fast at 80-140 psi. Imploded the Nalgene water bottle resevior / pump housing on the suction side.
Whle I'm tallying my grand achievments here ... I know its' off topic ... but if any of you ever clean the old gear oil residue out of a oil -> copper -> water power supply housing with white gas while changing a fuse ... wait a very long time or refill it with oil before powering it up.

killernoodle · 11-20-2004, 09:43 PM

The fuel pump in my '90 benz is going on 200k miles... and the average speed for most cars is is far below 30, unless you drive it only on the highway.

Razor6 · 11-20-2004, 10:38 PM

Here's a graph that includes two Walbro pumps. At 12V the 190ltr/hr pump would pull around 2.7A and the 255ltr/hr pump around 4.8A. They probably dissipate too much heat into the water to be concidered a good choice.

Data from here.

gompka · 11-21-2004, 01:19 AM

Toaster yes the pump does reply on the gasoline for lubrication but I am running 15% coolant in my system which will suffice for lubrication. In my pump the actual motor turning the gear box is sealed off in a water proof section of the pump body so it is not exposed to the water. It used a water pass through for cooling. I have this pump running for 48 hrs in the system now and temperatures are a few degrees lower than with my previous a/c pump so its not really adding too much heat to the water. We will see how long it lasts but it should last quite a while.

bigben2k · 11-21-2004, 12:04 PM

For What It's Worth...

Some additives include mineral oil...

11-19-2004, 02:04 PM	#1
gompka Cooling Neophyte Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: chicago Posts: 11	Automotive fuel pump Anyone ever use an automotive intank fuel pump as a pump for their water cooling system? I had a spare general motors fuel pump laying around. The pump is really small and its kinda loud at 12volts but I am running it at 7.2 volts. Draws about 2.5 amps of current but it can achieve 50 psi. So far its been working great. I am in the process of testing my setup that I just designed and built.

11-19-2004, 08:35 PM	#2
greenman100 Cooling Savant Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Florida Posts: 414	low GPM low life high noise good luck __________________ "Employ your time in improving yourself by other men's writings, so that you shall gain easily what others have labored hard for." --Socrates "greenman100 = obnoxious ass hole"-gazorp

11-19-2004, 11:10 PM	#3
killernoodle Thermophile Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Charlotte, NC Posts: 1,014	Actually, they will last forever, but I dont think they are very quiet. Low flow as well. __________________ I have a nice computer.

11-20-2004, 01:05 AM	#4
HammerSandwich Cooling Savant Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: 15143 Posts: 358	Are you running it inline or submerged? __________________ www.procooling.com: It's true we are often a bunch of assholes

11-20-2004, 02:40 AM	#5
gompka Cooling Neophyte Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: chicago Posts: 11	I am running the pump submerged.... I have it mounted so its suspended in the water its not touching anything. I am actually running it 12volts now and in my case my power supply fan is louder than the pump. So no its not as noisy as you guys say it should be. This is a general motors pump from ur local autoparts store. I am testing it right now... so far so good running and no leaks I'll take pics for you guys as soon as i get a chance. Compared with my ac pump i was running, which was 96 gph with a 12" head, this pump flows i'm guessing almost twice that. And from what I am seeing it is not putting much heat into my resovair water. Last edited by gompka; 11-20-2004 at 02:46 AM.

11-20-2004, 03:47 AM	#6
MaxxxRacer Cooling Savant Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Los Angeles, Ca Posts: 310	sounds interesting.. what kind of fittings does it have? Are you seeing any increase or decrease over your previous pump? And what was your previous pump? __________________ Excuse me, I believe you have my stapler.

11-20-2004, 05:15 AM	#7
lolito_fr Cooling Savant Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: France Posts: 291	If you take it apart (hint) I wanna see pics of the inside. Q to anyone that has taken one apart, how does it pump at 50psi? Is it a positive displacement vane pump? BTW, "last forever" for a car is not the same as last forever at 24/7 type usage... 100 000 miles @ 30mph is only 4-5 months running continuously

11-20-2004, 10:08 AM	#8
deathBOB Cooling Neophyte Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Atlanta, GA Posts: 60	What about one of the pumps used for direct injection? Thier supposed to have crazy pressures... i believe the common rail diesel operates at like 1000 PSI... :shrug:

11-20-2004, 10:50 AM	#10
lolito_fr Cooling Savant Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: France Posts: 291	common rail diesel = 800-2000 BAR (11000 - 30000 PSI!!!)

11-20-2004, 08:45 PM	#11
MaxxxRacer Cooling Savant Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Los Angeles, Ca Posts: 310	the block would explode... and those are for injector nozzles.. suffice to say the flow is less than ideal with those... but hey, if anyone is dumb enought to try it, more powerto them.. __________________ Excuse me, I believe you have my stapler.

11-20-2004, 08:54 PM	#12
ToasterIQ2000 Cooling Neophyte Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Gorky Island, WA USA Posts: 22	I've run a couple of automotive pumps. The first was from a fuel injected Audi. It was an inline, as apposed to submerged, pump -- maybe that old Audi had another pump in the tank. Didn't occour to me that it depended on the gasoline for lubrication of its' bearings and brushes. This was several years ago. As best I remember it ran near 2 months, intermitant, not always on computing. The brush-commutator junction corroded horribly & it got noisy before it siezed. I cut it open and can't remember if I took pictures then, or where they'd be now... I thought then that any pump that ran its' flow across the brushes would be unfit for water: current through water splits water into h2 + 02; sparks ignite; iterate... Big hindsight Duh there. I ran a rig on a smaller unknown make / model pump from C&H surplus that my bro said looked exactly like the pump out of his wife's ~1990 Dodge Caravan. In tank submerged, for fuel injection. It was a multi-stage gear pump. I used sythetic gear oil in that loop and wow that combo was quiet! One day I accidentally pinched a hose while it was running and dang things get messy fast at 80-140 psi. Imploded the Nalgene water bottle resevior / pump housing on the suction side. Whle I'm tallying my grand achievments here ... I know its' off topic ... but if any of you ever clean the old gear oil residue out of a oil -> copper -> water power supply housing with white gas while changing a fuse ... wait a very long time or refill it with oil before powering it up.

11-20-2004, 09:43 PM	#13
killernoodle Thermophile Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Charlotte, NC Posts: 1,014	The fuel pump in my '90 benz is going on 200k miles... and the average speed for most cars is is far below 30, unless you drive it only on the highway. __________________ I have a nice computer.

11-21-2004, 01:19 AM	#15
gompka Cooling Neophyte Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: chicago Posts: 11	Toaster yes the pump does reply on the gasoline for lubrication but I am running 15% coolant in my system which will suffice for lubrication. In my pump the actual motor turning the gear box is sealed off in a water proof section of the pump body so it is not exposed to the water. It used a water pass through for cooling. I have this pump running for 48 hrs in the system now and temperatures are a few degrees lower than with my previous a/c pump so its not really adding too much heat to the water. We will see how long it lasts but it should last quite a while.

11-21-2004, 12:04 PM	#16
bigben2k Responsible for 2% of all the posts here. Join Date: May 2002 Location: Texas, U.S.A. Posts: 8,302	For What It's Worth... Some additives include mineral oil... __________________ WBTA (Water Block Testing Alliance) Nordic Hardware WC 101

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