Fuel Pump Check Valve Alternatives

[mjr45]

Cap'n I appreciate the offer on the O rings, I ordered the new ones about an hour before you posted the offer, my impatience sometimes gets the best of me. I just might take you up on cutting the check valve down, since I had planned on doing it with a Dremel, which would work, just not as smooth and probably not anywhere near as straight on top of which my Z will be down for at least another couple of weeks, to damn cold and snowy still up here in the thin air.:tapemouth Send me your address by PM, thanks.

Mike

[rossiz]

the threads are not a match to the pump housing - too big.

car in the air, fuel pump out, scrambling for the right part... :disappoin

[Captain Obvious]

Oh crap... Rhat's not right! Don't know what happened, but I'll dig into it right away and let you know.

Can I send you my check valve? It's already cut down, and my car isn't going anywhere for a little while yet. Put your old one back in for a few days?

Edited April 6, 2014 by Captain Obvious

[rossiz]

well i was completely SOL with the volvo check valve, and the worst part was i had a day blocked out to get the job done (a free day can be harder to come by than an NLA part for me). so i figured i'd take a look at exactly just what was "toast" about my OEM check valve. it's such a simple part - just a spring, a retainer and a stopper - that maybe it could be re-built?

the answer is yes - and it's not a hard job at all.

the biggest challenge is getting the thing apart, as it's all held together by the crimped lip at the output end of the valve (the barb that the hose goes on). i used a file to carefully remove the crimped material until i could see the perimeter of the retainer. then i gently pried it out with a small screwdriver and removed the spring and rubber stopper. i expected the retainer to fly out as soon as i got it loose, but it didn't because the spring wasn't applying enough pressure on it. turns out this is why the valve wasn't working.

i inspected the stopper - it was fine. still soft/supple and no tears or wear. the inside of the casing was dirty and looked a little corroded, so i used fine steel wool to clean out the seat. to do this, i put the threaded end of the check valve into a drill and twisted the steel wool into a long thin finger to get it into the valve seat, then spun the valve and the steel wool polished out the inside of the valve nicely.

the spring is tapered - the small end grabs/holds the back of the rubber stopper and the wide end sits against the retainer. the spring is very light, so it doesn't take much to stretch it out so it will apply sealing pressure. you have to be careful to stretch it evenly, not just one coil. i stretched it till it was about 1/8" longer than the valve housing (at the start it was just resting against the back of the retainer).

i snapped the retainer back in and here's where i got really lucky - a 10mm craftsman socket has a beveled interior that's just the right size to peen over the tip of the valve body and hold in the retainer. i set the valve, threaded side down on the vice anvil and put the socket over it, then gave it a few taps with a hammer and the metal peened nicely around the retainer. i then put the valve back into my drill and spun it against some 320 grit paper to de-burr the tip.

i tested the valve with compressed air and it now functions perfectly in both directions.

just for kicks i checked the little filter screen at the pump inlet (the long, narrow cone) and it tore apart as i was removing it. no worries, because i have an inline filter now between the tank and the pump. the bottom of the cone was packed full with crud, so i'm guessing that probably wasn't helping things either.

put everything back together, primed the fuel pump (need to fill the tank all the way up for that) and she fired right up. my fuel pressure is now up to a solid 36psi - before it was at 30 or 32 at best. i'm guessing that the combination of the bad valve and restricted filter screen were the issues. best part is, the system is holding pressure perfectly.

we'll see if this helps the hot start issue...

[Captain Obvious]

Awesome. Glad you were able to get some more life out of your original valve. That wasn't an option for me as my old check valve was empty. Completely empty. I don't know where the guts went, but they were nowhere to be found. No spring... No seal... No nothing.

I dug into the numbers a little and only answer I can really come up with is that I was juggling so many different check valve part numbers that I simply screwed up and listed one that didn't belong.

I've verified that the Bosch part number 1 587 010 539 works for the Audi hose. That's the one I'm running on my car now. The -004 is the one that fits into the fuel filter I mentioned earlier as an attempt to move the check valve to the engine compartment.

So sorry for the screw up and I'll send a note to the moderators to see if I can have them delete the -004 part number from the list so no one else falls into the same hole.

[rossiz]

no worries cap'n - i'm actually really excited that i was able to fix the original part, and i wouldn't have been motivated to do so if i had the replacement part :}

one thing i have to mention: i just got back from taking the car out for a test drive and WOW!! it's running so incredibly well now! it seems odd that having low pressure would have such a dramatic effect, but it idles smooth as silk now (was always rough before, no matter what i twiddled with) and i swear it's picked up a load of power. i was having so much fun lighting up the tires that i was literally drifting around corners with excitement! it's like a new car - really!

this is my first z car, so i had no idea what to expect, how it should actually run. it's been a fun adventure because i've been fixing problem after problem and every time i pick up performance that i never knew was even there :}

gonna go back out to play in the car (why sure, honey - i'd be HAPPY to pick up some vegetables for dinner!!)

[Captain Obvious]

Thanks for easing the pain. I just feel bad for providing bum info. Worst that you made a break in the schedule to do the work and then got stuck. If you decide to try again, here's some links for good prices on the 539:

Amazon has some for $17.15 plus shipping:

Amazon.com: 1 587 010 539

Ebay has some for $24.24 shipped:

New Bosch Fuel Pump Check Valve 1587010539 Volvo OE 1326899 | eBay

And Rock auto says they have them for $12.60 plus shipping "Stocked in outlying warehouse--shipping delayed up to 1 business day". Just search by part number 1587010539.

[rossiz]

no worries - the job got done so the day was not wasted :classic:

i'm wondering about how your check valve was empty - does it look like it was tampered with? i don't know how the parts could have blown out, and if so i would think that the retainer ring would be stuck in your fuel lines somewhere...

[mjr45]

rossiz, nice work, I'm going to try your treatment with mine later today. I've also ordered the 539 valve just in case.

[Captain Obvious]

One last sorry to have provided bum info and I'll move forward. Just remember that all I wanted to do was help!

I don't know how my stock check valve got empty, or where the bits went. I've had the fuel pump apart and there wasn't any damage to the internal parts, so I doubt the guts went through the pump. I can tell by the date codes on the fuel lines that my PO had been messing around back there, but I can't come up with any reason that he would have gutted the valve. I'm thinking aliens.

Here's my original valve. Clean as a whistle:

I can hear Adam Savage... "Well THERE'S your problem!"

[rossiz]

it sure looks like the PO ripped out the retainer - i can see the two bits at 180 degrees from each other. the retainer is a round disc with two areas stamped out, leaving a band across the center - it's pretty delicate. looks like someone grabbed it w/a pair of needle nose pliers and ripped it out. if you file off the crimped lip the remains of the retainer will come out. i can't imagine why they would do that, maybe there was some crap lodged in there and they were trying to remove a "restrictive component" of the fuel system?

or maybe aliens...

[TomoHawk]

Hiya Cap'n...

I'm replacing my fuel pump for safety's sake, and I believe the new one has a check valve, but I'm going to go through this thread later when I have an hour to kill.

Rossiz-

I get the same looks and attitude when I go to the dealer for something. If you don't know EXACTLY the part number, and it's not something they usually stock, then you can see they instantly try to brush you off, unless the person knows you. Especially if it's not the same make (Audi parts for your DATSUN!????)