There is gas in the tank and it runs out like an open faucet when the fuel line is disconnected from the pump, but there is gas getting to the carb. Setve, if you want, you can pull the line from the carb and crank; even so, trust me, there is no gas getting to the carb. You can tell by the way the throttle operates that the carb is bone dry. Also, the accelerator pump isn't shooting its streams.
(I'm a real stickler at never assuming. See what happens, Steve, when I assume? I should never had assumed that the pump was bad, and I would bet money that your old pump is good. Remember when we check the operation, and how I was hesitant, then said, "What the heck; let's throw a pump at it"?
What makes things fun is that it becomes a little more compliated, not easier: In addition to an eccentric issue, we have the chance of a bad (new) pump, and faulty installation to contend with. It's a heck of a lot eaiser to recheck my installation than to yank a timming cover.
The advantage of yanking the covere is that the chain is MAJOR sloppy and there is a ever so slight coolant leak at the timing cover/manifold fitting. Doing a chain sovles both of those issues, and would probally shed light on the eccentric issue.
(Steve, if you look at the PMI's picture, the round part at the top left is the inner peice. That square cut-out area is where the tab is that locks into the cam. The part to the right is the outar race, and it "floats" around the inner peice, helping to reduce friction and noise. The fuel pump arm rides against it.)
We discussed using the electric fuel pump. (It's a chassis ground.) Thanks PMI, I was wondering whether or not the pump could be ran through the mechanical pump. I thought so, but I get in trouble when I think.
The electirc pump can be installed without altering the car, other than drilling a mounting hole. You simply plumb it in between the sending unit and the start of the line. Electric pumps are designed to push, rather than pull, so that would be the best location.
We talked about the electic option. The downside is that it's a safe bet to assume that there is an issue with the eccentric. The thing is what is the issue? If the tab is broken, it may be okay, but if a rebuilder didn't use the correct spring washer, or it wasn't torqued tight enough, the eccentric could have fallen off. The bolt also anchors the cam gear to the cam. Can the gear walk off the cam if it isn't bolted? Also, there is a couple of hunks of loose metal flopping around somewhere inside.
The other downside of putting on the electic pump is the chain. The engine needs a chain, regardless to the fuel pump issue. This is what can happen if you the chain brakes, and don't ask me how I know:
The chain brakes and it smashes up agains the harmonic balancer, breaking off a cunk of metal. The chunk of metal rips the oil pan open. We're not at major disater--not yet! You pull the pan and install a salvage pan. Of course the gasket sticks to the block and the salvage pan has the gasket stuck to it, requiring double gasket clean up. After you pull the pan, you fish around in the bottom, and find the peices of the harmonic balancer. (You want to put all the peices together like a puzzle so that you can account for all loose metal in the pan.)
As you gather the chunks of metal up, you find other than chunks of harmonic balancer, and say wtf? Gee! This hunk looks just like a peice of pistion skirt. Guess what? It is! Sometime between breaking off the harmonic balancer and ripping open the pan, the chunk of metal took a side trip and nipped of a piston skirt. In other words, the engine became toast because the timing chain broke. So interface engines aren't the only ones that can suffer complete meltdown if the chain breaks.
I don't know, Steve, it's a tough call, and I can see both sides of the issue. Give it some thought. Before we get into anything deep, we can yank the pump one more time, and look inside to see if we can see any issues. That also allows the chance to verify the installation. And it's something that can be done in an evening after work.
