Anyone ever replace the port side cool fuel pump assembly on MPI engines?

rondds said:
Did a whole write up on this, different boat though. Might help...

http://clubsearay.com/showthread.php/66600-Replacing-Cool-Fuel-III?highlight=
Click to expand...


Thanks. I have replaced the starboard side cool fuel assembly two years ago. What I'm worried about is being able to remove the port side assembly from underneath the engine. Clearance may be an issue. On the starboard side, the assembly was near the keel where I had the most clearance. On the port engine, it's nearer the outside of the boat where there's not nearly as much room underneath... may start tackling it this week after work...

Tom
 
Can anyone confirm if their fuel shut off valves (mounted near the tank or on it) are turned completely in or out? I cannot find anything on the valve online so I'm not sure, without pulling the fuel hose, if they are in the manually open position. I cannot read the writing on the two sides of the turn screw either. Thanks
 
Starting at POST#44 there's an exploded parts diagram and I posted a bunch of pix of the guts of the thing. Might give you an idea how it works. But basically, fuel enters at #31 from the tank, it gets filtered in the round chamber of the housing, then goes to the pump side via a passageway at the bottom of the housing. One of the pumps sucks fuel in, the other sends fuel out thru #9 to the rail. #5 is some sort of check valve. I don't know what it does but if you go to post #67 you'll see that it is necessary for the CF unit to function properly.

Give that entire thread a careful read. I will often post about things I didn't understand so that others might get a better understanding. Helps make sense of things.

44814.png
 
Talked with Merc tech line this AM, he's telling me the module should be full, so maybe there's something wrong with mine not yours.
 
Mine was never full when I pulled out the filter. That's how I "fog" the engines for winter storage. I KNOW it's a short cut but there was enough room in there for me to pour in a few ounces of outboard motor oil.

Disclaimer: this is NOT how Merc recommends you fog a fuel injected engine. They suggest a remote tank filled with a mixture of gasoline and 2 cycle oil. No debating in this thread! I admit that my way is not the recommended way and therefore I don't suggest anyone do it this way.
 
Ok, so if it does enter via #34 to the filter chamber, and there appears to be NO check valve, just a hose connecting into the chamber, it should be full of fuel. Now that said, if you cycle the engine for five seconds to relieve the pressure AND the fuel shut off valves were off, it would make sense that a maybe some fuel is removed from the chamber. The check valve could come into play to prevent fuel from coming back into the filter reservoir area. I'm working off of two possibilities still - 1. My electric fuel shut off valves are in fact open manually, but I can't confirm unless I pull a fuel hose or someone tells me their settings on the dial knob. 2. (1.) in combination of a possible bad check valve, is keeping the filter area full of fuel.
 
When you put the ignition switch to the first position (and don't start the engine), the pump activates and fuel is sucked into the filter chamber (from the tank) and I suppose into the pump chamber as well. When I installed the new CF unit I did so dry (ie: I didn't pour fuel into the filter chamber prior to trying to start the engine). I cycled the pump a few times to get fuel into it before I tried to start the engine.

You can hear a click and you can hear the pump run for a few seconds (hi pitched sounding little motor). Same as in your car. I'm not sure how back-flow from the pump chamber to the filter chamber is controlled, but gas will not flow back that direction (or it is not supposed to). When I sent my old CF to Dale MasterFab, I emptied the filter chamber and thought the entire pump was empty. Turns out it wasn't b/c fuel remained in the pump chamber even after I turned the thing upside down in an attempt to empty it. Dale yelled at me for that ;-)
 
Ok, it was a simple fix - find or take photos of the electric valves to determine what is really "norm" "bypass" and "off" and/or any variation of those settings for the parker valves. It just so hard to read the engraving on the valves without some good light and glasses. Mine were ALL open, set to bypass the electric shut off feature. Don't know why as they are all functioning properly. Removed a fuel line to confirm how to set the valves to manually off, which is exactly what you want, and then I tested the key on to see the valve switch to open. All good. Just an FYI that manually off is turned clockwise one turn as comes to complete stop, just like you would turn off a water hose.

Replaced both filters, super easy. I also replaced both lower water hoses on each engine that were rubbing against the sea pump belt pulley. A zip tie on each to hold them from being hit in the future, just like from the factory.

Tomorrow is final connections on VHF to e7D and e7D to VesselView 7...I feel like today was productive and tomorrow should be a few simple things and some real relax time :)
 
Last edited:
Gunn said:
I replaced the fuel pump on the starboard engine two years ago, no problem (that one just outright died, no fuses blown). But I'm worried about getting this one out from under the port side engine. This high pressure electric fuel pump is part of the Mercruiser cool fuel assembly box, consisting of a fuel cooler, fuel regulator and containing box. I'm worried that I won't have enough room to drop it all down and slide it out from under the engine. I had enough clearance on the starboard side as the fuel pump was nearest the keel of the boat. But now on the other engine, it's nearer the outboard side where there is less floor space.

So....has anyone ever done this, DIY or otherwise? Has the engine needed to be raised or removed (please don't tell me that!).

Thanks,
Click to expand...

Just an update seeing as I hate finding posts that never are properly resolved. :smt001

I was able to replace the port side fuel pump successfully. As I feared, I was unable to get it to drop down and come out from the bottom of the engine, no matter how I tried. However, I was able to unbolt the assembly and slide it forward, out from the front of the engine. I had to remove the power steering reservoir hoses and the single-point drain main hub/manifold assembly, and then I could slide it forward and out. Not fun! But doable.

And that did fix my problem, the fuel pump was bad. Unlike the last one, this one would make noise when powered up, but had some high resistance in it which would eventually blow the 20amp fuse.

Tom
 
Looking to replace my cool fuel pump 2 assembly on 2003 380 DA... Any one have any tips, tricks or service directions. Can i just pull the pump assembly out or take the box boy and r&R it on a bench
 
Comes out as a unit. 2 nuts hold the mounting bracket. Disconnect the 2 fuel lines at the filter and the 1 that goes to the fuel rail. Vacuum line and power plug and it drops down and slides out.
 
I performed this maintenance yesterday...all day yesterday...and it was not what I would call fun.

I made the mistake of separating the fuel pump from the water pump instead of removing as a unit by removing the two mounting bolts. This made the job much more time consuming than if I had followed Scoflaw's suggestion above. I laid across the top of the engines for the most part. Was also able to contort my body into random painful positions to gain leverage etc.

Here's the thing...My fuel pump failed due to lack of lubrication. Has anyone that does not own a Mercruiser ever said that? Maybe it is common and I just don't know, but it seems like a horrible design to me. Even the local mechanics here on Lake Travis in Austin, TX were unaware of the "see owners manual" grease port. When I finally was able to remove the assembly, this is what I saw. Dry as a bone, of course.

A3MjdmgFTw2OIBBut4mLVA.jpg

After seeing the damage to this pushrod I knew I needed to remove the water pump to clean out metal shavings and decided to replace the impeller at the same time.

Here is what I used:

Med flat head screwdriver
1/2" socket with extension
11/16 wrench
9/16 wrench
light of some kind
a lot of patience
container to catch gas spillage
Prybar for belt


I am sure there will be a few comments about what I might or might not have done wrong, but at the end of the day, it worked just fine.

Following seas,

Rosson
 
That's a mechanical fuel pump. Cool Fuel II is electric. You guys are talking about 2 completely different systems.
 
My 2002 340DA with 6.2s V-Drives has had a fuel issue for months. I am convinced it needs a new CoolFuel pump and I have a spare on the bench. Not looking forward to this....
 
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