g'day lads, have just moved to OZ and have taken the mighty SE with me. Will be taking it over the pits to get it registered down under so will probably need some advice on numerous things shortly but 1st things 1st ....... need to get it started! I think the fuel pump is not working.
I've cranked it over and there is no fuel at the carbs so i went searching for the pump. there is an inline doovy under the fuel tank that makes a click like a solenoid but no wirrrrr like a fuel pump so i'm assuming it is either just a solenoid and the pump is elsewhere or it is the pump and its dicked.
The pump is next to the fuel tank, behind the battery. The fuel filter is below it.
Turn the ignition on and give the end of the fuel pump (wires end, not pipe end) a clout with the handle of a hammer or large screwdriver and you should hear a fast tick tick tick .. gradually slowing and stopping as the carbs fill ...
The points are notorious for sticking / bad contact. If it keeps playing up you may need to replace the points or convert to electronic hall effect points.
The inline "doovy" is the fuel cutoff switch, this was I think installed not as an anti theft device, but apparently, if you parked with a full tank, on a hill, nose down, in emptied the fuel tank through the card overflows!!!!!
I think the object Brewzer and Terry are describing is actually the fuel flowlock valve; it's a one-way valve that regulates the air pressure inside the fuel tank as the fuel flows out.
It's downstream of the fuel filter which is downstream of the fuel pump itself.
I guess you could refer to it as a cutoff switch. I've never heard it making a noise though.
There are plenty of components in the sequence to go wrong - but I bet it's the fuel pump... have a read of this thread for example.
-- hodders
1992 Lotus Excel Celebration, Calypso Red
2021 BMW i3s, Blue Ridge Mountain
2024 BMW i4 eDrive40, Sanremo Green
If the pump contact points have siezed (which is a VERY common problem) you can get an electronic conversion kit for the points from Burlen at http://www.sucarb.co.uk/ProductDetail.aspx?Id=33152
Some people have replaced the pump with another make, but then you might get problems with the correct flow and pressure, and the carbs are quite sensitive to this.
I wanted to keep my Excel as original as possible so I fitted the Burlen electronic conversion kit - even though it costs almost as much as a new pump!
nice. a slight tap and she was ticking away. I thought i had seen the last of SU pumps when i got rid of my MGB!!
Next question ....... is it in the realms of actual possiblility that i can get a lotus engine to stop leaking oil for the pits?? so funny how attitudes are different in the UK. I took my MK2 Escort over for an MOT in London and they seemed to think that an underbelly covered in oil was a great prevention for rust and let it go ........ i guess a fibreglass shell is not going to have the same upside!!
