Re: 1952 - 250 fuel pump question

Posted by Owen_Dyneto On 2018/6/18 10:36:48

Taking a long time to start cold could be many things (non-functioning or improperly set automatic choke comes immediately to mind) but certainly a leaking fuel pump doesn't help any and may be the sole cause (assuming it's leaking gasoline and not oil) if the car has been inactive for a week or so. So replace the mechanical pump, give your automatic choke a check for function and adjustment if necessary and see if things have improved. Starting should be very fast - just a few revolutions of the motor at most.

Some folks, especially those who live a high altitude or in very high temperature parts of the country like the extra security an electric pump in tandem with the mechanical pump can bring, for instance for vapor lock, and also to aid staring after prolonged layups. Certainly in their day these cars started quite quickly with the mechanical pump.


And....with a fuel pump leaking gasoline, I wouldn't be driving or even running the car until I fixed it.