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So, it's been a long time since I've been able to work on my FD and of course there are new problems. Once again, the fuel pump operation was intermittent. Checking for power at the connector and there is power, but not at the pump itself.
Unplugging the harness on the tank side of the hanger revealed that the power side of the plug was melted slightly and the terminal was not tight. This was the same thing I had found a few years ago when I replaced the fuel pump and hanger.
SO, does anyone have a good suggestion for a bulkhead connector to bring power and ground to the pump?
For the blue fuel pump connector on the standard hanger which connects to the top cover from the pump, you can depin this and use these pins. They click into place just fine, so you can then use a thicker cable for instance if you have an 044 in tank. Make sure you use a fuel resistant cable.
I know it was taken from this site originally but it has the part numbers for the 96 plus ecu plugs which I can confirm are correct.
No reason why C Ludwig or Rywire can’t start offering the later looms now.😉
Just went thru the same thing installing my aeromotive pump. I used the $30 CFD-504 bulkhead pass thru fitting supplied by ATL fuel cells. Ran the wires straight thru the bulkhead. No connector to fail.
That's what I was thinking about, where'd you get fuel resistant wiring?
Thanks,
Vince
The wiring came with the fuel pump. I had to create a break and splice in order to pass thru and re-use the supplied connector. I put my heat shrink tubing and crimp connectors in gasoline for a week and there was no effect. Vinyls and polyolefins (splice insulation and heat shrink) have good gasoline resistance depending on the formulation.
You can actually get fuel/oil resistant stranded wire at Lowes/Home Depot. It's printed right on the insulation.
I got these bulkhead connectors from summit. I'm sure im just paranoid, I just didn't want a wire going straight through the top.
I looked at those too, but ultimately decided against them. While they may work and many have used them, I don't believe this is their intended application. They are more geared towards eliminating firewall grommets and don't provide a way to seal the body against the bulkhead unless you add your own o-ring (I don't trust sealants here). It also introduces 2 more connection points (4 if you count the crimps) that could flake out.
Not knocking it and that looks like a quality install, I just found the pass through to be the idiot proof solution in this situation.
You’re not worried about the gas wicking up the wires in the pass through bulkhead there?
I could see that happening on fine strand speaker wire, but the heavy strand wire that came with the aeromotive pump is sealed at the pump end and i sealed my crimp connections too.
That does raise the question of why i put the crimp in the tank instead of the other side... Looks like I could and should have cut closer to the connector so the only joint was outside. Oh well, the pump works great as is.
I wanted to update this thread because I did eventually run into fuel wicking issues.
I thought I had a bad hanger gasket due to light odor, so I pulled the cover off to replace it. Got in there and the top of the hanger and inside of the electrical connector have some 2-stroke oil on them. Minor amount of leakage, but still needs to be fixed.
Several options I can think of:
1. Aftermarket bulkhead receptacle at the tank (Mil spec, Racetronix, DIY with studs, new OEM hanger with re-pinned wires etc.)
2. Use solid (unstranded) wire thru the ATL bulkhead gland
3. Use anti-capillary stranded wire thru the bulkhead gland
Option 1 - Mil spec is bulky and requires engineering time to select proper parts, plus I already have a hole and gland I want to use.
Option 2 - I can't find solid wire with a fuel safe PTFE insulator below ~18 AWG. I need 14 AWG to match the pump wires.
Option 3 - I couldn't find anticapillary fuel wire for sale to consumers (they sell in bulk to OEMs for similar applications where fuel, water, or oil wicking occurs). I came across a benz forum thread where they have a wicking problem with a sensor that is exposed to oil fouling out the ECU. The fix was to use solder to create a barrier to wire strand wicking. DUH.
I plan to make the Aeromotive provided wire anticapillary by tinning the exposed ends up into the insulation before crimping. Then I will put fuel safe (Nylon - excellent gasoline resistance), self sealing, heat shink crimp connections in place of my PVC crimps and std heat shrink. https://www.mcmaster.com/7227K63
The wicking might not have happened if I put the crimp connection on the outside of the tank... assuming the pump end of the wires is tinned/sealed by Aeromotive. Or if I used it like they probably intended with a factory bulkhead receptacle.
One more note - many places say that PVC (what standard THHN OIL/GAS resistant wire is made of with a thin nylon coating) is OK for gasoline resistance. What they don't all say is that at temps above 100F this can change to not OK. I tested my PVC connectors in gas during winter, so take that with a grain of salt. I will see how they look/feel when I replace them.
The thread direction seems to have changed to a subject that I am currently dealing with, so I'd like to chime-in.
I am installing a new Built-2-Apex in-tank surge system with two Walboro 450L/hr pumps (lift pump and send pump came with the original used kit I bought off the forum - it's a long story, but I'm stuck with these pumps). I had wired the fuel pumps and connected them to the bulkhead / hat when I realized that I should have fuel-resistant shrink tube at those joints. This started the rabbit hole that the current thread subject sits. I found-out that fuel-resistant wiring is available, as is fuel-resistant shrink tube. Fuel-resistant wiring is expensive, and no one locally even had any that I could just get a short length from. So as I asked, the reason no one had any was because the consensus is that standard automotive wire insulation is sufficient for fuel. So, I ordered fuel-resistant shrink tube, and gave the connections another go. The B2A tank has the bulkhead connections, and I prefer that over passing wire through and having to figure-out how to seal that pass-through. FWIW, just spend the money on a quality bulkhead like B2A or the CJM or whoever. If you want to retain the OEM fuel hanger, I would advise the bulkhead no-pass-through option.
I think the thread is still on topic - talking about how best to get power through the bulkhead to the fuel pump. If I should have started a new thread, apologies.
I agree that a well designed bulkhead with higher amp bulkhead receptacles is the way to go. For my needs (single pump, less than 350 hp) it seems like overkill. The bulkhead pass thru almost worked, I just needed to take care of minor wicking.
This weekend I pulled the pump assembly. The standard polyolefin heat shrink was breaking down and could be torn off by hand. The standard PVC butt splices were in better shape, but the insulation still showed some minor effects and was little softer than a fresh splice.
I cleaned, fluxed, and tinned the fuel pump wires about 1/2" up into the insulation. Then I re-cimped with the Molex perma-seal nylon butt splices that came from mcmaster. Those things are amazing! Used a heat gun and ratcheting crimp tool. The sheath shrunk completely down onto the wires, crimp marks disappeared, and adhesive oozed out of the ends.
Ended up removing the foam pump cover and using nylon zip ties instead of the stainless cuz the foam was losing it's form from the gas or 2-stroke oil.
07-15-18, 01:19 PM
