walbro 255 question

[Vladimir]

Hello DSMers, im restoring my 91tsi and i got a question about walbro 255 fuel pump. It just came to me by mail and i ordered the whole kit. But whats concerning me is that there is nothing sealing the positive wire on the pump. Wouldent it ignite the fuel in my gas tank when i fill it up? Or is it supposed to be like that? Cause the instuction dosent say anything about sealing the wire, that bolts on the top of my fuel pump housing. Please help, thanks.

 

[WORPeclipse]

Unless you have a loose connection it wont spark. It takes a contact to spark. All the contact action happens inside the sealed part of the pump.

 

[Vladimir]

What about the fuel pump housing touching the bottom of the gas tank? Would that make a spark?

 

[WORPeclipse]

No the pump grounded.

 

[Vladimir]

oh ok thanks. Since i went with a walbro 255. Now im loking for a FPR what do you recomend? Thats cheap and does its work right?

 

[WORPeclipse]

Im not really sure im trying to figure that out at the moment myself. I have both the 190 and the 255. Im waiting to do the 255 til i get a FPR. I also have a rewire kit to install.

 

[ranman000]

And even if it did happen to spark you probably wouldnt have the air/fuel ration in the tank to actually get ignition. unless you were running on fumes but even then you wudnt have much fuel to burn.

 

[concept4g63]

Thats a pretty scary thing if something was to ignite. Make sure theresno loose connections

 

[Vladimir]

Yeah but I went with 255 to begin with, cause I got it for 80 bucks.. Now I deffinetly need a regulator if I want to start driving it. Maybe bushur racing or aeromotive I'm not sure wich one is better but both are expensive.

 

[red94gsx]

This is actually a possibility:

Most parents teach their kids to gas up the car before the fuel gauge drops below a ¼ tank. Why risk being stranded on the side of the road or possibly sucking up rust and other crud accumulated in the bottom of the fuel tank.

With newer cars there are even more reasons to follow that parental advice. Fuel injected cars usually have an electric fuel pump inside the gas tank. At first glance, that seems like a risky place to put a hot, little electrical motor. If the fuel pump sparks, won't the car blow up? No, gasoline needs air to burn. A fuel pump submerged in gasoline is, theoretically, no more likely to start a fire than a pump submerged in water. The theory must hold true because millions of cars have been driving around with electric fuel pumps since the 1980s!

However, run the fuel tank empty and there is a chance the fuel pump will briefly be running while not submerged in gasoline. An empty fuel tank is full of explosive gasoline vapor. There is no reason to tell Junior that the car will blow up the moment he runs it out of gas, but why not encourage him to understand how things work back there in the fuel tank?

Another reason to keep the fuel pump submerged in plenty of gasoline is to keep the hard working fuel pump cool. Too much heat will cause an electric fuel pump to fail prematurely.

A new ACDelco, Airtex, Bosch, or Carter mechanical fuel pump for my first car, a 1977 Dodge, only costs around $20 at RockAuto.com. Electric fuel pumps are often part of a complex (costly) assembly that might include the float for the fuel gauge, plumbing, and various sensors. A new electric fuel pump can be a significant expense, especially for a teenager. Sticking with Dodge for an example, a replacement fuel pump for a 1997 Dodge (Neon) starts at around $120. There is also the work of draining and removing the fuel tank.

So tell Junior to fill up the tank to avoid getting stranded, sucking up dirt, blowing up the car, and spending money too soon on a new fuel pump!


Source:
Tom Taylor,
RockAuto.com