Resolved fuel pump rewire all the way to the pump

[idt512]

i just installed my walbro 190 last night and noticed that the wires that connect from the harness UNDER the cover plate to the actual pump is only 14-16ga, wouldnt it be necessary to rewire those wires as well? We go to increase the size all the way from the battery, why not finish it off ALL THE WAY to the actual pump instead of only to the harness plug? Makes me curious how much current is actually flowing so we can decide what gauge size is really necessary, VFAQ says to use 10ga which i think is WAAAY overkill, 14gauge is rated at 30amps max so i think 12ga should be pretty relaxed, and i really dont think its flowing 30amps anyway... anyone ever measure how much current its actually flowing?

 

[Bryan90TSiAWD]

cant hurt to go really big. when i bought my car it had 0 (yes 0) guage ran from the pump all the way to the battery and havent had any problems.

 

[idt512]

0 gauge?? oh im sure there arent any problems, but....

 

[r10performance]

You've got to remember one thing - length. You'll have more voltage drop the further the wire run is. 14ga. might support 30 amps, but over 20 feet? Not likely. Put a voltmeter on the stock pump wire at the trunk and see for yourself. Then run 10 ga. and measure it again. Make sure to re-ground the pump, as well.

As for where to hook up the 10ga., you want to get as close to the pump pick-up cover as possible, but it's not necessary to run all the way to the pump itself. Like I said above, it's all about length. That little bit of small gauge wire will work just fine. Think of a fuse. It's filament is tiny, but can support several amps - over the few millimeters of length it has to travel.

 

[1LE]

After having a wiring fire and seeing how undersized all the stock wiring is, upgrading a size or 2 everywhere would be a good idea....

For example, the typical current draw for the parking lights would require 18ga wiring if you follow normal wiring rules. For the additional distance in car, 16ga would be the typically recommended size. What did I find in my Eclipse while repairing the melted wiring? 20ga... Sigh.

 

[idt512]

Yeah i understand about the length, thats why i thought 12 gauge should be pretty relaxed, and the length i ran was only about 10' from battery to fuel pump. Also I looked at the install kit that came with the Walbro pump and its a 16ga and 8" long...

BTW, ive already rewired my pump with 10 ga over a year ago, the 16 ga wire that was supplied by Walbro is what made me curious about this whole thing

 

[gsx951]

anyone ever measure how much current its actually flowing?

http://www.roadraceengineering.com/fuelpumpflowrates.htm