Re: Scout II newbie needs help (longish)

[jlandry@domain.elided (John A. Landry)]

When he stopped taking his medication, strange voices in "Mack Norris"
<mnorris@domain.elided>'s head said:

>Now before I venture into replacing the fuel pump again, which is
>mechanical by the way, is there anything else I should look for? What is the
>cause of all of this? I was told by the shade tree mechanics that the fuel
>had some debri in it. The tank is original...so should I replace it? How do
>you take off the mechanical fuel pump? I tried for hours underneath the car
>to unbolt it with my 9/16ths wrench (and still no luck). Do you have to take
>off the whole front end to get to it? I am desperate, and I really would
>like to do this job without having to take it somewhere to get it fixed.

Mack,

Are you saying you disconnected the fuel line *after* the fuel filter (side
closest to the carburetor)?  If fuel is just trickling *out of the filter*,
then the obvious place to start is just replacing the fuel filter.

If the fuel filter is not clogged and fuel is not coming out of the fuel
line *before* the filter, then either the fuel pump is bad *or* you have a
clogged pickup screen in the fuel tank (major bummer).  Just because the
fuel pump was replaced, it's possible that the one you purchased is bad
(rare, but it's happened to me on a Toyota I once owned).

Inside the fuel tank over the end of the fuel pickup tube is mesh screen.
It's possible that if the inside of the fuel tank has rusted, or
contaminants were allowed to get into the tank, the screen could become
partially or fully blocked.  The screen is quite large with lots of surface
area, so it takes quite a bit of junk to completely plug it up.  If this is
the problem, then you have to drop the fuel tank, remove the combination
fuel level sending unit and pickup tube and clean the screen.

The fuel pump is very easy to remove and I'm not sure what the problem is.
Usually all it takes is a socket wrench with maybe a 2" extension.  I can't
remember what size the bolt head is, but are you sure it's not 1/2"?  You
do not need to remove anything to reach it except maybe the alternator
belts and the fuel lines (of course).

Hang in there until the shop manual arrives... it'll reveal so many
mysteries to you.  Don't despair!

Happy New Year,

John L.
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