New Year's day I went on a fun run with PCA. We drove a few hours through the Santa Cruz hills in light rain with the temperature in the 50's. I have a 2.0 liter with webers and the CB rotary fuel pump wired into the stock relay board as per the classics thread. The cover on the relay board is pretty good, I don't think it got wet. Over the course of the fun run I started and stoped the car several times with no problems.

On the way home, driving at the speed limit on Hwy 280 I start to lose power, the engine sputters and then dies. I pull to the side of the road, key the ignition and I can hear no fuel pump. I call the tow truck, and an hour later we drop my car off at the mechanic. I try to start the car again, still no sound from the fuel pump. The mechanic shows up a few hours later and the car starts fine. Monday morning, he trys again, same thing.

Anyone have experience with CB rotary fuel pump failures? Seems to me they are pretty reliable from what I have read. Any suggestions as to what the problem might be?

relay plug clean? wire crimped tight on spade connector? dirty pump fuse ? fuse contacts on relay bd? allways check teh cheap easy stuff first

I've had other rotary pumps just stop. re-start the car after a few minutes and run for weeks without stopping again. My guess for mine is debris inside the pump getting wedged and locking the pump. My solution was to replace the pump.

Yes, I had a brand new one seize up in less than 200 miles. Replaced it with a Facet and have several thousand problem free miles.

I had a CB pump that out of the box would occasionally not run on start up and other times it would. When it did work it never faltered, but I was never confident that it wouldn't crap out on me while driving. I changed power sources, double grounded it, and even bench tested it about a dozen times. I learned to listen for it to run before I would engage the starter. After a summer of that aggravation I replaced it. No problems with the new one, yet. Someone posted in a related thread a few months back that based upon their experience they replaced their CB (Carter) pump as a preventative maintenance measure every two or three years.

Loosen the clamp... These are clamped around the body in most cases and they exert force on the body, reducing clearance and building heat that leads to the pump locking up..

When it cools down the pump works fine again, until the process starts again once the heat builds again..

Yeah...I'm on my second one. Now I worry.

I'll try facet next time.

Order a jumbo sized pack of ear plugs with it too ...

I had multiple Facet pump failures before switching to the CB (Carter). The CB pump has been in for close to 10,000 trouble free miles over the past couple of years.

I use both and have problems with the facet. The CB has given me no grif. When it does I'll put in a bigger Holly.

Facet pumps are horrible.. They create pulsations that the needles and seats hate.
I have had no issues with the Rotary pumps with clean fuel and proper installation, in my old Blue Bug I ran one for 10 years with no problems.

The biggest issue is the clamps being too tight...

..........I have had problems with all of the high dollar rotery fuel pumps over the years., this is not to say they are no good, as they did give good service with accurete fuel pressure....Seems that the rotery pumps have such close tolerances that with even minor debris, such as fuel oxidation particles, etc, the rotors eventually sieze up. I have even had brand new pumps sieze up in just a few hours of use...The facet pumps make a lot of noise, but you cannot hear it with the engine running...they too will eventually fail, by "swetting" fuel and a lowering of fuel pressure as they age. Overall I prefer the facit for street use. A fuel pressure regulator is manditory. The key element to any fuel pump is to SOFT mount it in the chassis. I always used a rotery pump which had a pressure adjustment in the body and a water seperator for racing...as with anything mechanical nothing is forever.

The key to long life with a rotary pump is a few ounces of Marvel Mystery Oil added to the fuel every couple of tanks full..

I have no issues with the Rotary pumps, but I believe in serious fuel filtration with 2-3 filters on every car I own. I also drive the cars all the time, so nothing has time to start giving issues.. Weekend cars breed issues, drive the bitch daily and it'll run much longer and much better!