So there's a kid who I follow on Instagram that has a Corvair. He has supposedly gone through 3 mechanical pumps and 2 electric pumps in the matter of 2 or 3 years.
Now, if you've owned Corvairs, you would know that the mechanical pumps aren't the best. Aftermarket, even OEM replacement, are known to fail, it's a flaw in the design. Sometimes you can be lucky and have one that lasts 20 years. This is one of the reasons my dad went electric on all his Corvairs.
But now, the kid says he's killed two aftermarket electric pumps.
So I asked him if he had an original tank or a new one. He said it was original but the tank is clean. I'm assuming the tank may not be perfect and he doesn't have an inline fuel filter.
So I have him a couple things to look for, but without actually looking at the car, I have no actual idea. He says he runs 93 octane, which is what you want for a 110 hp engine.
Any ideas or thoughts as why he may killing fuel pumps?
Ah, that 93 octane is the culprit. 
Oh a fuel pump, I was thinking it could also be coolant or PS
If he's not running a filter, installing one would be a good place to start, especially with an old tank. If you don't run a fuel filter you don't get to complain about what happens to the rest of the fuel system.
Even if his tank is clean, the place where he gets his gas may not be. Especially higher octane gas which doesn't cycle through quite as much.
Also, old fuel lines don't necessarily mesh well with the newer blends of gas these days, so double check the rubber hoses are in good shape and aren't breaking down internally.
An inline filter with a removable element should be a requirement just for verification of dirt and debris in the tank/lines.
I would bet for the internal degradation of the old fuel lines. AC Delco makes a aftermarket replacement line that will not degrade with this new, crap gas.
My guess is running the pump dry often.
Cotton
UltraDork
2/9/15 11:13 a.m.
What kind of electric pumps? Some of the cheaper ones are garbage. I'll bet if he puts a quality electric pump on it he'll be fine.
Good point on the lines. You can be sure any original soft lines on that car won't stand up to ethanol, so if there are any on there that he's not sure are modern ethanol-compatible ones, he should change them.
electric pumps don't suck. they push. is he mounting the electric pumps as close as possible to the tank, and as low as possible (in a protected location, of course) on the chassis?
The carbed Rabbit Pickup I drove through High School would eat one of those parts store Facet low-pressure pumps every 8-12 months. I tried a lot of different things to fix that problem. Fresh fuel lines, boiled out the gas tank, different mounting scenarios, nothing helped.
The issue was the $18 plastic bodied fuel pumps I was throwing at it.
AngryCorvair wrote:
electric pumps don't suck. they push. is he mounting the electric pumps as close as possible to the tank, and as low as possible (in a protected location, of course) on the chassis?
This I can't answer. He's not giving me all the answers to the questions I ask him.
