Stock Fuel Pump failure with E85??
 

anyone had any problems running E85 with the stock fuel pump?? I had two stock fuel pumps fail on me ever since I ran E85.

first pump went out 6 months after switching to E85 (3 months of actual driving with about 3k miles) the other 3 months the car was parked.

The 2nd one which was brand new failed after 9 months (3 months of actual driving and about 3k miles too!!!!) the other 6 months the car was parked since I was building my engine, not sure if that caused the problem?? I ran the car for almost 2 months after the rebuilt and one month prior.

anyone else had the same problem??? is it just my luck? the dealership said the main cause was E85 and that nothing wrong with the pump they installed. They said something about E85 causing corrosion ...etc to the pump internals?

one thing that I want to mention is that few days before the incident I ran the car way below the E mark (to a point where the car almost died when I got to the gas station to get some fuel) but NEVER ran less the 1/4 of tank since I had that pump installed. actually it was mostly over 1/2 tank.

I just installed a new pump, and the car is stored right now (for exactly one month) with a little over 1/2 of fuel.

any idea on what causing those pumps to fail?? anyone had any similar problems with the stock Z06 fuel pumps? Carlos??

Thanks:cheers:

I haven't heard of this. This may be an isolated case amigo. My car sits for weeks/months and never suffered the same fate.:cheers:

Ask to see the pump and look for any sign of corrosion. BTW, I've seen new stock pump fail in a matter of days with pump gas....oh yeah:yesnod:

I wondering if your pump is reaching its limits with your current Hi-Po set up. My reached it's limits a while back and I needed to implement the use of a Boost-A-Pump.

Let us know

Thanks,
Carlos:thumbs:

I dont think I am reaching the limit. remember we are at 5500+ft I am only at ~510whp uncorrected. 615whp is my SAE corrected numbers. Also fuel pressure is great no drops. I did mention that there is no way E85 will cause corrosion in this short period (if it ever does) but then thought I will just keep my mouth shut since it was replaced under warranty LOL.

I guess its just my luck then. I will be installing boost-a-pump probably end of January before spraying or maybe get Nitrous outlet stand a lone. do you think I will be able to spray 200shot with bap?? I am shooting for 250-300 but I am pretty sure I wont be able to go over 150-200shot with boost-a-pump

Thanks Carlos:thumbs::cheers:

Not Z06 experience, but my '95 M3 suffered 3 fuel pump failures within a year of E10 added to eastern US fuel (car had 100K+ miles). The E10 ate part of the plastic that was factory attached to the fuel pump (in-tank). One of the failures was less than two weeks after the BMW pump install and there was clear indication of the plastic on the pump being attacked in that short period, with E10

No expert on Vette in tank fuel pump design, but do know alcohol tends to harden plastic and rubber parts, sometimes to the point things start breaking apart. If your pump contains seals not designed for this, could be the problem.

bump.... third pump. this one I just put in end of December. seems like the regulator went bad.... I am guessing E85 has something to do with it.

how many people are running E85 on the stock pump and how long? miles?

Doesn't E85 absorb a lot of water?

no issues here with e85

how long hove you been running E85 Ryne? or your customers if you know? it seems fine for few months on mine but then boom it fails. this time the pump itself is working (actually pushing more fuel than what I need, 70psi at idle) seems like the regulator itself is going bad but i thought I would still check.

I know Carlos@vette-air is running the stock pump for about 2 years now with no problems but I dont know why mine doesnt like it. this is the third pump btw!

yes it does. why is that important? or in other words, what will it affect?

I'm just relating it to my diesel truck in the sense that if I pick up diesel laden with water or let my truck sit for a long time then it absorbs water. Well the water does damage to the injectors and can damage the pump by basically rusting things out. Thats why diesel trucks have water separators that you need to regularly drain.

interesting... good info I guess. car only sat for ~3-4 weeks with 1/2 tank of e85. then was driven pretty much everyday until last week when the car started acting up and my fuel pressure is now at 70psi at idle. so the tune is all messed up since the car was tuned at 55-60psi :(

Lol sorry but I dunno if it relates or not. Just throwing ideas out there.

no this is actually good info. who knows maybe it does affect it. because I had the car park for few months before all three pump went bad.... maybe!

Not a stock GM pump but at the shop I work we tune a lot of Subaru's on E85, most just running a Walbro 255 which is close to a stock style pump. Never been an issue and there has been cars with lots of miles and years of running on E85 with no issues.

Water === Corrosion.
Ethanol attracts water.
Your Gas is 85% Ethanol.

This is a very interesting read about how to possibly counteract the effects. YMMV.
http://www.ls1.com/forums/f48/been-testing-91206/

Aeromotive makes a drop in pump for our cars. But it requires dropping both takes and running new fuel lines.. Car sat all winter and no pump failure this spring. Once we got to around 575rwhp the pump was almost maxed out. This is with 90lb injectors

how long have you been running E85? also what about the Walbro 400LPH? I am thinking about getting that one since its direct replacement for the factory pump from what I have been told. and I will do a return system too. I already have my regulator but I am just using it as a fuel pressure gauge lol

Thanks

Last september

I've run E85 for a couple years with no issues...