Fuel Pump Saga Continues - I Am At a Loss!

[1969VAGTX]

I have been working on figuring out this fuel leak issue that I had a while back. Got some advice, replaced all the lines and reinstalled the fuel pump on the car. Should have paid closer attention because I don't think I dealt with the push rod correctly. I pushed it up in there, but I had a suspicion that I let it slip back down when installing the fuel pump. When trying to start the car, I noted that the pump did not appear to be pump any fuel through so I assumed I had screwed up with the push rod. When I originally took the fuel pump off and removed the cap, the push rod slid right out. However, today when I removed the fuel pump, the push rod stayed just like you see in these pictures. It free spins, but I will not slide up or down. Side note: when I originally removed the pump and push rod, we measured the push rod with a caliper and it as within spec (in fact it looks almost new). Even when I tried cranking the car it did not move up or down (possibly because it has slid too far down to make contact with the cam). The bigger issue is why this push rod may be hung up and won't slide out. I would appreciate any thoughts, recommendations or advice people may have.

As an aside, I want to thank FBBO member @Dragon Slayer who has been especially helpful throughout this process.

 

[pnora]

If you push it up and hold it up with a screwdriver, then crank the motor it should go up and down. Oil might be holding it. A small magnet through the plug hole should pull it down.

 

[dadsbee]

pair of hemostats.. long needle nose...

 

[POMONAMISSEL]

i've had the cam lube go flat and mess up the rod , my cam grinder guy says it's todays oils . and it's just like a solid lifter .

 

[beanhead]

If it "sticks" in the hole I wouldn't worry about it unless there's a "scraping" or "grinding" feel/noise to it....
If the cam lobe is good and the rod isn't badly worn and the pump arm is good, the rod has no choice but to actuate the pump....the rotation of the engine will see to that!
It only takes a little oil or grime to get the rod to hang up in there when things are apart. That's not going to stop it from being forced on the pump arm by the camshaft unless one of the things I mentioned are in play.

 

[1 Wild R/T]

i've had the cam lube go flat and mess up the rod , my cam grinder guy says it's todays oils . and it's just like a solid lifter .

Pretty sure lobe = lobe... And yeah, the cam eccentric could be flat... That would be a shitty deal... Electric pump starts looking mighty tempting...

 

[eldubb440]

do the rods ever mushroom where it contacts the cam?

 

[1 Wild R/T]

do the rods ever mushroom where it contacts the cam?

Yes, and unfortunately it kinda sounds like that's what might have happened here...

 

[1969VAGTX]

The odd thing is I just had the push rod out a week ago. It looked fine. Below is a picture of the rod after I took it out. I would not have expected it to mushroom so quickly. And I would expect a cam lobe to hold up better than that. That being said, if it was to be the cam lobe, I assume that means an engine tear down to fix this problem? This thing worked until it suddenly didn't. The only reason I took it apart was to try to resolve a fuel leak. All of these other bad things shouldn't have happened since I reassembled it I wouldn't think.

 

[1 Wild R/T]

It's possible the pushrod got bent... But honestly it would take a lot of force, I would expect the fuel pump lever to twist like a pretzel before effecting the pushrod....

with the fuel pump pulled the pushrod should slide out till it touches the threaded plug.... If it doesn't, why doesn't it.... And the pushrod should move in & out... I would pull the threaded plug so you can push directly on the pushrod.. While pushing with a screwdriver or some sort of rod, have an assistant start the engine... You should absolutely feel the pushrod moving in & out..... Idle is probably 750+ RPM that would be 375 strokes of the pump per minute... That would be over 6 strokes per second.... And it should travel about 3/8"... Test it....

 

[DanielSlocum]

Hi volume fuel pumps often have a much stiffer return spring which can and will wear the stock pump pushrod out very quickly and/or the lobe on the cam.

 

[icetech]

My money is on the lobe being bad and mushroomed/mangled the top of the rod, the lobe being bad would explain your pump issues also

 

[sabre67]

 

[dvw]

If the pushrod isn't worn it seems unlikely that the fuel pump cam lobe is wiped out. why not pull the distributor and look at the fuel pump lobe itself? Pretty sure you can see it through the distributor hole.
Doug

 

[steve340]

The pushrod should be able to move in and out freely.

 

[Bee1971]

If the pushrod isn't worn it seems unlikely that the fuel pump cam lobe is wiped out. why not pull the distributor and look at the fuel pump lobe itself? Pretty sure you can see it through the distributor hole.
Doug

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