C14SE Fuel pump whining

[dunova]

I've trawled through loads of old posts but can't find an answer to this....

The original pump on my sri was whining and the engine was struggling, so me being a tight ass bought a second hand pump from a 2.0 calibra (v.similar part number). Fitted that pump and it is also whining but the engine is running and driving perfectly.

Could it be that i've bought a duff pump? Or does the sri need a special type of mpi pump? I read somewhere about the mpi pumps being actuated by a signal from the crank sensor and if the pump is receiving a permanent signal then it will whine.

I've just bought a pump from a gsi but haven't fitted it yet. I'm hoping that it'll be fine but wanted to get some more info on it...

This is the external bosch mpi pump BTW. I tried removing the fuel damper as i thought maybe that's where the noise is coming from but it made no difference. If i put my hand on the pump i can feel it vibrating a lot so i'm wondering if it's permanently pumping when it shouldn't.

I don't get any noise from it when i turn the ignition on (shouldn't i hear it prime?)

Any info would be great :thumb:

[MattBrown]

The pump on my c20xe nova is on when the ignition is on, Its really quiet though.

Didn't the sri come with the in tank pump? Or is it the external one?

Also, not sure on the crank sensor, its just a 12v feed as I know:thumb:

[Will F]

The pump on my c20xe nova is on when the ignition is on, Its really quiet though.

Didn't the sri come with the in tank pump? Or is it the external one?

Also, not sure on the crank sensor, its just a 12v feed as I know:thumb:

It shouldnt be? The XE pump only primes when cranking - the nova mpi engines prime with ignition (start then stop)

They all make a bit of noise when the car is running - I wouldnt worry.

[dunova]

Cheers guys, my sri has an external pump the same as the gte/gsi.

I know you can hear even a good pump, but this one is very loud. It's more of a buzz/vibration than a whine.

How can you tell which spade connector is supposed to go where? I haven’t tried the gsi pump that I bought yet it may solve the problem. Should I be ok using any Vauxhall mpi pump? I thought I would be but maybe I was just unlucky with the calibra pump I bought...

[Adam]

Have you got plenty of petrol in? It will whine if you are v.low on fuel

[AlexW]

^What i was thinking adam.

Cally pump should be fine, Might be just by chance that it is duff though. MPI pump is a MPI pump tbh, just internal/external are the differences as far as i know.

[dunova]

There's half a tank of fuel in there, BUT most of it has been sat in there for the past 18 months. I put some v power in and a Wynns dry fuel treatment when I last moved the car to freshen it up a bit. Could the old fuel be upsetting the pump?? If it’s gone off?
It’s not currently in use and hasn’t been for a long time, but it’ll be at castle combe in April so it’ll have a good run then...

[mowgli]

have you changed the filter recently???

[dunova]

No i've never changed the filter but do have a new one to put on. That couldn't cause the pump to whine though could it??

I still haven't fitted the new pump, it's difficult to find the time at the moment...

[Jon_nova1]

is it quiet for a few seconds then gets noisy??

[AlexW]

No i've never changed the filter but do have a new one to put on. That couldn't cause the pump to whine though could it??

I still haven't fitted the new pump, it's difficult to find the time at the moment...

I presume the filter is after the pump, which makes sence lol So if the filter is a bit blocked with **** the pump is trying to force fuel through it so would make more work for it, thus make a whining noise.

[dunova]

is it quiet for a few seconds then gets noisy??

Yes mate definately, i forgot to mention that. So i guess that could make sense like AW06 said the pump might be fine, but if the filters full of junk as soon as its pumped for a few seconds and reached pressure it might be struggling to get through the filter. Sounds like a reasonable explanation!

It's my sisters wedding today so wont get anything done today :roll: lol but should get the filter changed tomorrow and will report back. Cheers for your help :thumb:

[Blackie_No1]

What about the fuel pressure regulator? If it ain't working right then the fuel pump could be either trying to pump too much fuel through or the other way round . . . .

[L33 LEG]

I had my pump fitted on the rear strut brace and it was VERY loud, couldnt even talk to people in the car Lol. However, i also have a fuel problem so can't really help with the problem.

I also changed pumps and although it is a bit quieter it still runs crap. After reading threads about similar problems it coould be a huge number of things :(

[dunova]

Ok well i had a play with it yesterday. I changed the fuel filter (double checked the flow direction), cranked the engine and expected it to take a few cranks to get fuel back through.....but nothing. I cranked it and cranked it and it just wasn't firing at all. So i changed back to the original filter (the new one was full of fuel) and had exactly the same problem. It just cranked and cranked and wouldn't fire, even with the throttle fully open.

So by this time I was thinking WTF is going on, pulled off the fuel feed hose to the filter and got a face full of petrol :mad:

By this point i had had enough. So i reconnected the original filter, thought i'd crank it one more time just to see if anything happened....and instantly it fired into life :confused:

I still really don't understand why it wouldn't run, even with the original filter back on?? Oddly enough, my fuel pump seems to have quietened down now!!! I still want to get the new filter on but don't want to risk it not running :mad:

[MattBrown]

Was the filter flow the wrong direction?

Also, is the pump earthed well, was it that you have knocked the wiring changing the filter, and this has re-earthed the pump, and started it working?

On the c16se, the pump comes on to "Prime" with the ignition, for around 3 seconds