As there seems to be a lot of interest in X/C, landouts and retrieves,
possibly from remote areas, let me bring up a problem area - crappy electric
fuel pumps.
Most vehicles these days are fuel injected with an electric fuel pump in the
tank. These electric pumps, according to an informal survey of friends and
acquaintances, fail with alarming frequency - usually within ~50K miles and
each 50K thereafter. Failure will always occur without warning and in the
worst possible place and at the worst possible time.

According to my last tow truck driver, these crappy pumps provide him with a
nice business - he estimates 50% of his tows are failed pumps. The more
expensive the car, the more likely he is to tow it. The tow truck won't
tow your glider - just the car. This probably means leaving the trailer on
the roadside until you can come back for it. Not good.

A pump failure will cause instant engine stoppage and loss of power brakes
and steering. This means wrestling the car and glider trailer to the
roadside. Once you are on the roadside, you will find that no matter how
good you may be at fixing cars, there is nothing you can do but call a tow
truck since pump replacement requires a high bay hoist where the gas tank
can be removed. It just isn't a DIY job.

One popular solution among off-roaders is to replace the in-tank pump with
an external, in-line pump that CAN be replaced on the roadside. In fact,
I'm considering two pumps in parallel with check valves and an A/B switch in
the cab. I could then just flip the switch and be on my way. I'd replace
the failed pump at my convenience.

The downside of in-line pumps is they are noisy - at least they can be heard
operating in an otherwise quiet vehicle. Some soundproofing around the pump
can take care of this.



Bill Daniels