Hi friends. The previous owner of my 1949 Olds 88 with 6v electrical system installed an electric fuel pump inline with the mechanical pump. It works great. It's wired to the + side of the coil, that way its switched on with ignition. Does that sound like the right way to do it? I see the point of the pump to prime the carb and help with vapor lock starting a hot engine, but it seems a bit excessive to me that the pump runs ALL the time that the ingnition is on. I feel like I'll wear the pump out since I plan to drive this Olds for days and days at a time.
If you've got one of these electric fuel pumps, how do you wire yours? Would it make more sense to put it on a toggle switch and use it as necessary?
Thanks
Nathan

 

The electric pump is the only one I have on my 54. I have a toggle switch I use to prime it after it has set for a couple days or more. I also have a pressure switch that is activated by the oil pressure so that if I lose oil pressure the pump will cutoff. This is important for two reasons; (1.) to be sure your engine shuts off if you should lose oil pressure and (2.) to shut the fuel pump off if your engine dies so you don't run the risk of an engine fire. At a minimum you should at least have a toggle switch so you can turn the pump off. You should keep it wired to the ignition switch and just add the toggle inline to the pump. If you have a good mechanical fuel pump you can then turn the electric pump off when the car has started. A lot of people just use the electric pump to prime the carb so they don't have to crank so long with the mechanical pump.

 

So the car runs fine on the mechanical pump but does have issues with vapor lock. I'm not a big fan of electric add on pumps and the idea it will run all the time would bother me(they don't last very long anyway). First have you tried a insulated carburetor base gasket, that helps a lot on some engines .If you can stand the ugly of a insulated carb to fuel pump cover that also helps especially if used with the thick base gasket. Other wise I would go with the toggle switch and use it only when there is a problem on on hot days during startup.
There has always been a problem with vapor lock with these cars but it sure has been aggravated since the advent of alcohol enhanced fuels. The base gasket has helped my car about 70% but I also have problems on extremely hot days 100+ degrees after a shut off and restart. It's not enough of a problem that I have gone to the insulated ugly carb coating but I show my car a lot and I'm to vane to do that as yet..... Tedd

 

Thanks! That confirms my suspicion. I'll add a toggle.

 

FWIW, be sure the electric fuel pump is mounted low on the frame in front of the fuel tank. Electric fuel pumps are designed to push fuel. If it's mounted up front near the mechanical fuel pump it will have to pull the fuel from the tank and it will wear faster.

 

Thanks for that. This pump is inches in front of the mechanical pump. Not good!

 

In that case, the engine will start shutting off, as soon as the carburetor's float bowl has emptied. By the time that happens, a connecting rod will already have attempted space travel.
It would be more effective to shut down the ignition using a holding relay, once oil pressure has dropped