1961 VW Beetle - Electric Fuel Pump - Adding a Switch - 156

This is the 156th video on the 1961 VW Beetle with 65 pan. In this video I add a switch to the electric fuel pump circuit, because otherwise the fuel pump is “always on” whenever the key is in the ignition in the on position. I sometimes want to turn on the electricity without adding pressure to the carb bowl valve. This will allow me to turn on and off the fuel pump manually if I need to. Switch location below the dash by the left knee.
vw, volkswagen, beetle, bug, bus, transporter, type 1, type 2, split, splitty, engine, motor, 1961, 1965, 1968, 2332, standard, deluxe, paint, primer, wiring, harness

[@anibalbabilonia1867]

Great job! You’re beetle 🪲 looks awesome man!👌😎👍

[@LarsonSplitBus-]

It is working well - I have one issue with my left front brake cylinder - I need to replace it - so that will be my next video

[@carlosnox91]

Que hermoso e increíble auto saludos desde Veracruz mx

[@LarsonSplitBus-]

Gracias! Mucho trabajo y divertisimo a conducir! (Mi Español no bueno)

[@carlosnox91]

@@LarsonSplitBus-buen día continúa así , tu al igual que muchos ayudan a qué la comunidad amante de lo vw siga creciendo bendiciones para ti y tu familia

[@mike7197]

Nice upgrade. I want to add the same type of shut off switch for the electric pump on my 64 for the same reasons. Hard to trouble shoot electrical gremlins with the fuel pump running, Would it be necessary to run the switch through a relay? Thanks for any feedback.

[@LarsonSplitBus-]

I just had the electric fuel pump always on when ignition was on. I had a relay but got rid of it. There is a situation where if you crashed the car and the ignition was still on it could keep pumping gas - so the relay is for safety. I don’t have a relay on the bug - only a switch so I can turn on the ignition and not have the pump pressuring the blocked carbs when the car isn’t on…. So the switch was just a new feature in between the 12v and the fuel pump - and it allows me to just turn it off manually…

[@brianandrews7099]

I replaced the mechanical fuel pump with an Empi pump when I rebuilt the 1200 on my ‘64 Beetle a few years ago. From what I have been hearing about them, and based on my experiences with new mechanical pumps on my other old cars, I am not expecting it to live that long, especially with today’s gas. When it goes, I will replace it with an electric pump. I already have a hollowed out mechanical pump with the fuel line running straight through it to install as a “dummy pump” (just for looks). I always switch the electric fuel pumps, some people even install inertia switches, just in case the car get flipped in an accident and the driver is unable to flip the fuel shutoff switch. Not a bad idea, but I have not done that. If your electric fuel pump is forcing gas passed the needle and seat in the carburetor, you need to either install a fuel pressure regulator or switch to a lower volume fuel pump. Six to eight PSI is more than adequate to supply fuel to a lower performance V8 engine with a two or four barrel carburetor! I think you’d find 3-5 lbs of fuel pressure will be absolutely fine to supply fuel to a small, four cylinder engine. These small 12 volt pumps are very inexpensive and are often sold as a farm or lawn and garden equipment pump. They are cheap enough that I buy a few extra to carry in my cars, just in case of a failure on the road. It’s very difficult to find an auto shut off electric fuel pump (that shut itself off when it reaches a preset maximum fuel pressure, then comes back on when it drops below that pressure) for low pressure, carbureted engines. On modern fuel injected cars, that feature is generally controlled by the engine management computer and, of course, fuel injected systems have extremely high pressure pumps anyway. Please don’t continue to drive your nice old VW until you have the fuel pressure low enough that it isn’t forcing fuel past the needle and seat valve in the carburetor(s) and leaking. Air cooled VW engine fires are hard to detect and usually, by the time you do see it and come to a stop, the fire is already out of control and are notorious for burning out the car. Personally, I prefer a very low pressure pump over a regulator, for a cleaner system with fewer parts to fail. My second choice would be to install a “3 outlet fuel filter” on the fuel line before the line reaches the engine. One line from the tank, one line going to the carburetor, and one return line back to the top of the tank. This system allows for excess fuel pressure to be relieved and the extra gas sent back to the tank rather than building pressure against the carb needle and seat.

[@LarsonSplitBus-]

Well stated! So I have a regulator which is always at 3 pounds of fuel pressure. What I noticed is if I am working on the car in the driveway or garage and I turn on the ignition just to have electricity, and the fuel pump is on for 5-10 minutes without running the motor, eventually I can smell just a bit of fuel, even though it is only 3 pounds of pressure! So it is like sustained pressure with no outlets for 10 minutes and the carb is not sealing it out well enough. So I did the shutoff switch mainly for when I am working on the car and want electricity without the fuel pressure. I had a shutoff relay connected to the generator but I removed it because it wasn’t working quite right…