Suggestions on Lucas PI culled from the pages on a 1990s magazine article.

THE LUCAS PETROL INJECTION SYSTEM - MARK II

We are very fortunate to be able to publish these notes on the development of the
Lucas PI system. These notes by M. H. Evans were sent to Dr. Michael Bingley. M. H.
Evans who is chairman of Rolls Royce has kindly given his permission for the notes to be
published. They are sure to be of interest to all PI owners.

1. INTRODUCTION

Origin

The Lucas fuel injection system was originally designed for Rolls Royce. Around the end
of the war Lucas designed a fuel injection system for the Merlin aero engine (Probably
its tank version, the Meteor and later tanks e.g. the Centurion, had Lucas fuel injection
instead of a large Zenith carburettor.) It was not a direct fuel injection such as was
fitted to German Daimler Benz aero engines of World War 2 as this would have had
lost the effect of charge cooling. Lucas continued to design and build fuel systems for
Rolls Royce gas turbo aero engines and they still do.

The Lucas petrol injection system however was designed for a particular application of
one of the "B" range military and commercial petrol engines produced by Crewe.

These engines, of 4, 6 and 8 cylinders were designed in the late 1930s for motor cars
which might have replaced the Phantom Ill, Wraith and Bentley Mk V if war had not
intervened. The post-war cars were powered by versions of the B60 and B80, but a
major application of these engines was, and is, powering military combat vehicles.

One particular application of a B range engine was a post-war German light tank. A tight
spec. was put on this engine. This led to developing a special cylinder head with
individual instead of twinned exhaust ports, and also to Lucas developing the fuel
injection system in place of the normal carburettors. In finality the tank was not
proceeded with, but the fuel system was employed in racing and found its way into
certain production Triumph models.

The System

This system, which is fitted to the Triumph 2.5 PI Mks 1 & 2 and Triumph TR5 & 6, is
described in the relevant workshop manuals.

The manuals give adequate information for stripping and rebuilding the system, trouble
shooting and setting up both throttle butterflies and the pressure relief valve. They do
not, however, give sufficient quantitative information on the "correct" settings for the
metering unit camtrack and setting rings.
A great deal of useful quantitative information is, however, given in the Lucas Service
Training Centre manual entitled "Petrol Injection Mk ll." But even this does not give a
lot of background information that would be useful in keeping the system operative in
future years when factory replacement became short.

Further information has thus been sought from key personnel within the Lucas
organization. The system was designed by Harry Bottoms, who normally designs aero
engine fuel systems. It was developed by Jim Littlehales of the Engine Fuelling and
Controls Systems Development, commonly referred to in the past as the Injection Lab.
Both have contributed information, but the vast majority has come from Jim
Littlehales, whose patience with enthusiasts for the system is saintly' it would have
been impossible for him to have helped more.

2. THE INLET MANIFOLDS

Original Design

When I first spoke to Harry Bottoms in 1973 he was horrified to hear that 6 separate
inlet pipes and butterflies had been fitted. His original design called for only one or at
most two. Fitting six brings obvious synchronization problems.

Early Pattern

Inlets fitted to the Mk 1, and possibly early Mk 2's had individual tickover stop
adjusters. Throttles were operated by separate rods which operated the crank of each
inlet pair. These rods were actuated by a master shaft below the inlets. These rods
were adjustable for length with the result that tickover and pickup were both easy to
set up.

Later Pattern

Later systems, for some reason, work on the basis of the first inlet pair butterfly
spindle picking up the second, and the second picking up the third through crank levers
similar to the systems with multiple SUs. Tickover stops are not fitted and it is much
more difficult to achieve a smooth pickup from tickover than with the earlier system.
This is because the first pair open before the second and the second before the third
once there is any wear on the spindles. For reasons I have been unable to find, this
later system, is fitted with a double interlinking balance pipe between the three pairs
of inlet castings. Earlier systems only had one balance pipe and seemed to work
perfectly well.

3. INJECTORS

These are simple in design compared with diesel injectors. They do not have to contend
with the pressures and temperatures of the combustion chamber as they are mounted
in the inlet manifold.
First Type

The earliest pattern of at least three designs fitted was designed by Jim Littlehales.
It is illustrated in the injection manual. This pattern has a nylon collar which is screw
threaded onto the injector barrel. The inner bore is tapered and honed. Thus, when the
injector itself is fitted, its "O" ring seal is progressively compressed to form a seal. As
far as Jim can remember, no spring circlip was fitted on the nose to retain the injector
insert. It was unnecessary as the "O" ring effectively held the insert in place. CAV
made these early injectors.

This pattern was dropped once the value engineers got their hands on the system
because the screw thread taper bores were costly to make.

Second Type

A further pattern was introduced of which Jim has little clear memory. In this, the
injector insert appears to have been inserted from the front end of the injection
barrel, the barrel then being swaged over to retain it. They appear to have had no "O"
ring seal and to have relied on metal to metal contact of ground faces for sealing. The
actual injector was identical to that in the earlier unit except that there was no pip on
the valve. The pip was the original grinding centre.

Last and Most Common Type

The third kind, and by far the most common, looks on first sight to be identical to the
second, except in that the valve has the pip once more, like the original. These are
built, like the original, with a "C" ring seal, but in place of the taper bore there is a
stepped bore of two parallel diameters. When replacing the internal "O" ring seal
therefore it is necessary to use a thick oil to prevent damage to the "O" ring when it
meets the sharp edge at the change in internal diameter. The injector insert is
retained in this design by a circular spring ring on the nose of the insert. As with the
second pattern, the nylon block is a press fit on the injector barrel.

Dribbling

Whilst Jim Littlehales never experienced leakage problems with the inner 'C' ring
seals, this has not been the experience of others who have run cars with this system
for many miles. The injector inserts tend to shuffle a little in the injector barrels.
Carbon gets between the barrel and the 'C' ring and wears the ring until it is a 'D'
section instead of an 'O'. It then starts dribbling, but can be cured with a new 'O' ring
once the bore has been carefully cleaned.

Some of the third pattern were manufactured with too short a thread engagement in
the inner nylon adjuster nut. They unthreaded themselves and the injector valve then
damaged below the valve seat. The nylon adjuster is an interference fit on the thread
and is adjusted with concentric Allen Keys on all three types.
Injector Performance

Injectors should blow at between 47.5 and 50 psi. They are all right at anything above
45 up to 55. They should give an even cone spray. There should be no leakage at all at a
pressure of 5 psi below their blow off setting. This is what Jim said when I last saw
him but I believe there was a production standard of several drops per minute
allowable leakage.

Rough running can be experienced if injectors dribble although this has little effect on
fuel consumption, if any.

4. INJECTOR LEAD NON-RETURN VALVES

These are located at the junction of each pipe with the metering unit. The valve looks
to be of neoprene although Jim describes it as hard rubber. They are designed with
plenty of clearance between the valve and the bore in which they are located. In theory
this allows the valve to process around on its seating. In practice, however, they tend
to stay on the same spot and continuous operation tends to produce a circular groove on
the valve face. They then leak, allowing the residual pressure caused by the elasticity
of the fuel line to leak back into the metering unit. The next injection stroke of the
metering unit therefore spends much of its energy re-expanding the pipe instead of
forcing the correct quantity of fuel out of the injector. Also, after running, heat from
the engine can vaporize the fuel in the pipe and it then takes a long time to reprime.
That cylinder runs "dead" until the line refills. The neoprene valve face needs carefully
rubbing flat again if leakage occurs.

5. METERING UNITS

Return Pipe

Early metering units had a "push on" rubber connector to the fuel return pipe. Later
ones had a screw on connection. If the return pipe gets blocked, and this is not an
uncommon fault, pressure rises in the unit and forces the diaphragm between the
metering barrel and cambox towards the latter. This tends to prevent the roller
climbing to the maximum depression the fuel is in weak condition up the camtrack. In
consequence fuel consumption is increased. The pipe can usually be unblocked either by
using a foot pump or airline on the return pipe, or by carefully pushing soft iron wire
down it.

Golden Units

One cause of blockage can be copper particles in the return pipe. This happens if the
lead rich copper end thrust washer on the metering barrel wears, as the swarf returns
by the pipe to the fuel tank. Bill Phelps came across this problem, which in its extreme
reduces the alignment of the barrel ports with the injector lines. This reduces fuel
delivery to the injectors. When I reported this to Jim Littlehales he said that this
problem did occur and that units so affected were referred to as "golden units". Petrol
has a low lubricity and, he said, if the end washer did not sit exactly at right angles to
the bore (i.e. parallel to the face on which it sits) the petrol escapes unevenly and wear
sets in on the "high spot". Once this happens, the process of wear is very rapid. It also
has the effect of increasing the clearance between the rollers, camtrack and piston
stop, thus making the unit go "fuel rich". A few thou can absolutely ruin fuel
consumption. Clearance between the metering barrel and its sleeve incidentally is a
fraction of a thou, although subject to variation in manufacturing tolerance. Tolerances
are unusually fine for car components.

Lubrication

The shaft on which the rollers run should be lubricated with a little moly green or moly
additive. The piston stop should not need lubricating. Jim Littlehales says they should
run in an oilite bush. However, I have seen signs of "pick up" on the piston stop. Jim
says that if lubricated at all, it should be with thin oil like 3 in 1.

Springs

The springs in the diaphragm capsule are critical and must not be changed unless the
capsule nuts and camtrack are recalibrated.

A critical fault occurred in some units. The high rate "second" springs were feather
ended. In other words the end coil, ground flat and therefore thin to give the spring a
flat end, did not touch the first full section coil. As a result the high rate spring did
not have sufficient rate until the feather end had deflected enough to touch the next
coil. The first part of the spring's compression happened too easily. This has the result
of putting a fuel rich kink in the depression/fuel delivery working line right where you
don't want it - in the very middle of the normal driving range. A possible cure would be
a blob of Araldite to support the feather end on the next coil. This fault is always
worth looking for. Feather ends were sporadic throughout production - not just an
occasional batch problem.

Wear and Roller Pin & Cam Setting

Frettage corrosion can occur on the pin if run dry. When this happens it increases the
clearance between the rollers and the piston stop. The cure is to readjust the
camtrack to .002" and .058" clearance at either end of its working range, using feeler
gauges. This is easily done with the capsule springs removed using the mouth to suck on
a pipe to raise the rollers to their to position. Measurements should be made with the
unit in its normal operating attitude and the feeler gauges should be stroked
downwards, not upwards, to retain the correct positions given by gravity when there is
any "play" either in the nylon ball-joint or roller pin.
Camplates

These are hardened steel and do not wear. However, the constant hammering of the
metering shuttle can move the camplate away from the rollers by rotating it about its
fulcrum. This sends the system fuel rich. Two setscrews hold the camplate in position
on the fulcrum arm. In some cases these are cross slotted screws. Others are Phillips
or Posidrive. The former can be adequately tightened whereas the latter have proved
unsatisfactory in my experience. The centre tends to trepan out before the screw is
tight enough. When tightening these screws I apply Loctite then leave the unit for 24
hours before using it again. On my Mk1 PI my fuel consumption was around 19.7 on
overall running - much of which was my 17 mile drives to and from work - until I reset
the camtrack. After resetting this went up to 27.4.

Faults of the System

The final demise of the system was the difficulty of meeting the emission control
regulations especially at the very low fuel delivery quantities at tickover and low
throttle openings. The system had by then already got itself a bad reputation. In part
this was because garages did not understand the system and could not set it up
correctly. It was also partly due to manufacturing problems with the system. As
developed the system was excellent but the value engineers cheapened important bits
of it. Furthermore, when manufacture transferred from Lucas Aerospace to Lucas
Automotive, the criticality of manufacture was lost. It has been said that the people
building the all important fuel pump motors "thought they were building windscreen
wiper motors". Oil got under the commutator segments during motor manufacture, with
the result that the segments lifted and then the motors failed. Pump shaft seals wore
and allowed fuel to leak into the motor. All these problems were overcome in due
course, but rather late in the day.

Emission Control

There is obviously a small (but variable in manufacturing terms) clearance between the
metering barrel and its sleeve. As a result "inter port" leakage takes place, thus
increasing fuel consumption, the greater the clearance, the greater the leakage. It can
be as much as 20% more than the quantity metered at small shuttle movements. In
1973 Lucas therefore introduced three production standards - A, B and C. These are
marked on the metering unit if built after about July of that year. The unit was run at
2.50 rpm rotor speed and a 0.010 shuttle stroke. Using petrol, average measured
quantities per 1000 injections (1000 revolutions) had to be as follows:
A - 8.4 cc to 8.9 cc

B - 7.8 cc to 8.3 cc

C - 7.2 cc to 7.8 cc

All plus or minus 10% with petrol.

Green Top Units

At the end of the production period a three spring capsule was introduced to attempt
to get a little nearer to the theoretical depression/delivery curve requirement. These
units had a green plastic cap on the adjuster nuts and were called "green top" units.
They were only a marginal improvement in attempting to meet emission regulations and
few were fitted to cars.

Springs

I have a metering unit with square section springs. Jim Littlehales cannot recall any of
these and is suspicious that the springs are not original. He believes all springs were
manufactured from round section wire. He told me to check the cam clearances at
various depressions against the data in the manual to see if the unit was properly set
up.

Pressure Relief Valve Design

The pressure relief valve is a very neat piece of design and was the work of Harry
Bottoms. It is very well finished, as are many parts of the injection system. The quality
being above normal motor practice and reminiscent of aero engine components prior to
World War 2, it does not, however, approach modern practice.

Function

The function of the valve is to maintain fuel pressure at between 100 and 110 psi when
the car is running. However it is also designed to achieve one other thing. A concern
from the outset of the system design was the case of a "dry tank". In this situation
the system had to be capable of repriming itself and the relief valve is designed to
facilitate this. Early systems (about 70) had a "well" or small tank alongside the pump.
This filled by gravity from the main fuel tank. If the main tank ran dry the first fuel
put in it would run down the well. The well was fitted with an air vent pipe which
connected to the top of the tank. It could have vented the atmosphere above the fuel
tank "full" level except that it is both safer to close circuit back to the tank and also
ensures that any air passing down the pipe is filtered (see "filters"). This return pipe
allowed the air in the well to be displaced when the fuel flowed in, the well thereby
filling completely.

Its Operation

Supposing the system to be dry, the pump will deliver air at a pressure of about 20 psi.
At 20 psi the relief valve begins to open. In doing so small bleed holes are uncovered.
These allow the air to escape through the valve and back to the fuel tank. Once the air
is displaced and fuel flows, fuel begins to flow through the bleed holes. However, as it
is denser than air, it cannot escape as fast as the pump delivers it. The pressure then
builds up further and at 60 psi the valve moves further, cutting off the bleed holes. No
more bleed occurs until the full operating pressure of 100 - 110 psi is reached when the
main valve opens. PRESSURE SHOULD NEVER BE BELOW 100 psi at "full chat" on the
road according to Jim Littlehales or misfiring will occur.

FILTRATION

Cleanliness of fuel is essential with the system. There is a full flow main filter between
the fuel tank and the fuel pump. There are two small coarse filters in the pump inlet
and outlet elbows. There is a small nylon filter in each injector barrel and I think, one
in the metering unit. Air entering the fuel tank to replace burned petrol is also filtered.
There is only one place that a filter is needed but not fitted and that is on the fuel
pump breather pipe (see FUEL PUMP).

Early systems had the well referred to in the previous section. Petrol entering it was
filtered through a very tiny unit which according to the handbook, was to be changed at
something like 12,000 mile intervals. It was totally inadequate. A small quantity of
water in the fuel was all it needed to block the filter partially. If the fuel level was low
or even with plenty of fuel if you turned left suddenly, the fuel pump found it easier to
suck air down the well's breather pipe than from the tank. The filter assumed gravity
would always force fuel through the filter down into the well. My engine used to cut out
on my 2.5 Mk1 on left hand corners for 2 - 3 seconds while the pump screamed.
Colleagues at Hucknell nearly rammed me behind on several occasions when we were
hurrying over from Derby to get to work on time. I asked Jim Littlehales what to do.
He told me to throw away the well and fit a CAV diesel oil filter (which was similar to
or the same as fitted to 2.5 Mk 2 cars). He said it would pass nothing above 2 microns.
I did this, but retained the well although clipping the vent pipe so that its maximum
rate of passing air was greatly reduced. I never had any more problems. Recently Jim
has warned me that these CAV elements are not flushed on production and those fibres
can get into the pump and cause damage. He suggests giving a new filter element a
really good wash out before fitting it I do, not believe any of the other filters are
important, except perhaps the air filter on the fuel tank, and that is doubtful as the
breather pipe is very long, goes downhill all the way, and fuel does not burn quickly
enough for air movement up the pipe to be speedy enough to carry dust with it.

The Pump

Reliability

The pump is the only part of the system that can let you down completely and leave you
stranded. They can do so with absolutely no warning at all. I have had many fail on me.

As originally designed, it was a good piece of equipment but the value engineers got
their hands on it and the troubles started. Slowly, their integrity was restored and late
pumps were generally very good.
Regardless of date of manufacture, pumps vary greatly. Some have lasted me just over
a year. One especially selected for its low current consumption for me by Jim
Littlehales ran from the summer of 1975 to the autumn of 1978 when it aired. Cleaned,
it resumed work in the summer of 1979 and, at the time of writing, is going as
beautifully as ever. The one originally fitted to my 2.5 PI MK 2 ran from 1 January
1975 till the summer of 1979, and the pump on Jim Littlehales own car ran from
something like 1972 or 3 until just after my original MK 2 failed in the summer of 1979.
Even then it didn't really fail it occasionally skipped a beat. On examination it was
found that the carbon brushes had worn out completely and the copper rat tail brush
heads were lying on the commutator and supplying the current.

Early Failures

My first failure was of a shaft seal on my MK 1. The pump was then 3 years old. It did
not leak fuel down the vent but entrained air through the seal in some quantities. It
thus pumped an aerated mixture, especially when hot. This caused restarting problems
and the best solution was not to switch the engine off if avoidable in hot weather.

My second failure followed about a year later. The bearing pins of the pump gearwheels
wore until the gears started to cut into the pump casing centre (figure 8 aperture)
plate. Since then I have never had any real problem with the actual pump part of the
unit.

Later Failures

Recent failures have been of the motor. In almost every case, stripping and carefully
cleaning the commutator restores the unit to continued good service. I have done this
many times and the pump can run, trouble free, for as long again.

The Motor Bearings

The rotating assembly is supported by two spherically mounted oilite bushes, and
positioned at one end by a thin steel thrust washer bearing on one face against a bush
and on the other against a circlip on the motor shaft. The other end is positioned by a
nylon buffer on the end of the adjustable setscrew projecting from the motor casing's
end. I have never experienced pump bearing problems either with bushes or the shaft.

Motor Rotating Assembly

These vary in current consumption, good ones absorb less than 5.8 A and poorer ones
well over 6 A. Jim always prefers 6 A max. (5.8 for hot countries as heat causes
cavitation). Lucas manuals are a little ambitious in their claims. Windings can burn out.
It has happened to me once.

Commutators at one stage gave mechanical trouble. Oil got below the segments during
manufacture with the result that sooner or later they came apart. This problem did not
last long. With time however, on all pumps the commutator gets dirty and a certain
amount of burning of the copper takes place, causing the pump to stop working. I clean
them by mounting the rotating assembly in an electric drill to spin it then gently
rubbing fine sandpaper on the commutators. Once this shows as smooth and bright
copper all the way round again, I use fine, blunted sandpaper to polish the commutator
and finally Duraglit wrapped in a piece of old handkerchief. I then clean out the gaps
with a needle and finally clean with a hanky moistened with "tric" or "carbontet". Wrap
sellotape on the shaft before "chucking" in the drill.

Brushes

Brushes give no trouble other than in that they wear very slowly away. When
reassembling a motor be careful not to let the rat tail brush heads get caught behind
the brush holders as, with wear, the brushes will be restrained from moving for- ward
and maintaining contact with the commutator.

Leads

Heat and/or petrol vapour can harden the plastic covering. New leads can be made and
soldered on to the brush holders although the originals are welded on. Jim Littlehales
told me this.

Replacing Brushes

Someone once told me that the paxolin brush, deck and brushes from a Lucas
windscreen wiper motor will fit, although only two of the three brushes are needed. I
have never tried it has not been necessary.

Heating

According to their current consumption and state of wear, motors can get very hot.
They normally run too hot to touch comfortably. After a long run on a summer's day
the heat will sink from the motor into the pump on a car that has stopped. Fuel then
evaporates and the pump screams. The car often will not start until the whole thing has
cooled down. During running the fuel cools the pump so no problem arises. The problem
is accentuated in a hot climate.

Best cure courtesy Jim Littlehales is to install a pump cooler. Wrap " bundy pipe in a
spiral round a mandrel of slightly smaller diameter than the motor. Then spring the coil
open a bit and work it over the pump housing. Connect the bleed valve return fuel flow
to the copper pipe. It then provides fuel cooling, the warmed fuel returning to the tank.
This works well. A cruder cure is to slap a rag soaked in water onto the motor in hot
weather. It does work. Bill Phelps suggested that mounting the pump vertically should
help, motor up and pump down, as heat rises.

Magnets
Their power varies but Jim Littlehales does not see this affecting current consumption.
They can however crack, so if removing them to clean the motor housing, slide them out
with care. Replace them the right way round afterwards!

Noise

Some are quiet, some are noisy, and some start noisy and run quieter as they warm up.
The noise dips and rises with the flashes of the indicator, or application of brakes. This
is only the effect of variation in the current supply available. It is not a cause for
concern. Minimum noise requires turn of end float on the endfloat adjusting
setscrew.

Vent Pipe

Between the motor housing and the shaft seal which isolates the motor from the pump
there is a vent pipe which exhausts through the car floor onto the ground. It is
intended to dump any petrol that leaks past the shaft seal and prevent its entering the
motor. With a horizontally mounted motor as in the 2.5 PI saloons one wonders if it
picks up all the leaking fuel or whether some reaches the motor. In the estate the
pump is mounted vertically and this should ensure that any leaking fuel is dumped, quite
apart from being a better way of keeping the motor's heat away from the pump.

The vent pipe is the one point in the system where a filter should be fitted, but there
is none. This is because the pipe exhausts at one of the dirtiest and dustiest points
possible - right behind the rear wheel of the car. This would be fine if no air ever
moved up the pipe, but does. When the car is run, the motor heats. The air inside
expands and some is expelled. When the car stops, the motor cools and air is sucked up
inside the pipe. Quite apart from this the shaft seal usually leaks a little - fuel out
when stationary and sometimes when running - air in when the engine is running in many
cases. Minute differences in the pump determine whether the seal is subjected to
pressure or a depression. Many pumps actually suck air in past the seal and feed it into
the system under pressure with the fuel. This causes erosion when the air is humid.

My solution is to push a bit of cellular plastic foam up the vent pipe and, from time to
time, moisten it with a squirt of WD40. It is easy to do and at least gives a measure of
filtration to the air.

Shaft Seal

The shaft seal as originally designed was in Viton but value engineers changed this for a
cheaper and less satisfactory material. Pumps today again have the seal made in Viton
and it is very satisfactory. It is a standard proprietary seal made by George Angur.

The seal runs with less interference on the shaft than such a seal normally would. The
pressures are not very great and too much friction would cause undue heating. As it is,
the Viton seal is rather hard when cold and tends to leak a little until it warms up. It
warms quickly once the motor starts however, through friction.

As stated elsewhere in this document, the seal can allow air to pass into the pump or
fuel to leak out. If damp air is sucked in, corrosion takes place on the motor shaft and
the rust particles stick to the seal lip. They act as an abrasive and a groove is worn in
the shaft by the seal. The seal then becomes less effective in its functioning. 1 have
seen a number of pumps so affected.

The seal is to some degree lubricated - by petrol splashed at it by the helices on the
plastic drive coupling between the motor shaft and pump drive gear. Provided the seal
lip is at least wet, it is lubricated.

The Pump

The pump itself consists of three brass plates. The rear one incorporates the inlet and
outlet unions and carries the bearing pins for the two pump gear-wheels. The centre
plate incorporates a figure of eight aperture to accommodate the two pump gears. The
front plate - thin on very early pumps but beefed up on later ones as they distorted
under the working pressure inside the pump - abuts to the motor and has one aperture
through which the drive gear passes to its coupling to the meter.

The pump is made to exceedingly tight tolerances and these are critical.

Clearance Gear Faces

The centre plate is slightly thicker than the gear wheels so that there is a running
clearance between the gearwheels and the top and bottom plates. The production
tolerance on total clearance for the gears was 0.0002" - 0.0008" (2/10 to 8/10 thou).
In practice Lucas aimed with great care to achieve 0.0004" (4110 thou) on production
build. Above 8/10 thou clearance the pump rapidly loses flow and becomes useless. That
is why the tolerance is so critical. (1/10 thou extra clearance loses you 1 gallon/hour at
100 psi approx.)

Clearance Gear Teeth

The clearance peripherally between the gear teeth and the figure of eight aperture is
nominally 0.004" (4 thou). Again this is critical. Above that figure you lose one gallon
per hour pumping capacity at 100 psi for every extra thou of clearance. Several you,
therefore, and you have zero flow.

There is considerable clearance between the tips of the teeth on the gearwheels and
the roots of the teeth on the mating wheel. This is to prevent hydraulic locking
occurring by fuel being trapped between the teeth when they mesh.

Bearings
The gearwheels are bushed and run on hardened and ground steel pins mounted in the
bottom plate. The driven gear pin is not provided with special means of lubrication but
the drive gear pin is. It is hollow and has a hole bored at right angles into it. Fuel flows
down the inside of the pin and lubricates the bush through the side drilling.

The bushes in the gearwheels are of a special carbon which has a copper content. The
copper is to conduct the heat away which carbon on its own would not. As far as Jim
Littlehales can remember, this is Morganite MY3D. The bush is fitted into the
gearwheel with virtually zero clearance. The clearance in fact is 0.00005 ( a tenth of
a thou). Inserting the bush normally gives the slightest shaving to the bush.

Bearing clearance between the bush and bearing pin is nominally 0.001 " (one thou) but
this is not as critical as the surface finish in the bush bore. There is only one way to
get this finish, and it can be done by hand. Use a soft mild steel bar and have syntox
(aluminium oxide) sprayed onto it. Then grind the syntox parallel on a diamond wheel.
Place the rod in the carbon bush and polish it. It will give a mirror finish.

Bearing Wear

Bushes can pick up metal particles and then they will cut up the bearing pins rapidly. I
have only seen this in one (my second ever) pump. Strangely, Jim Littlehales once saw a
pump in which the bush to bearing clearances had become massive. The gears had cut
their way into the centre plate creating a "pregnant" figure of 8 aperture. It still
worked and still pumped fuel.

Gear Corrosion

They don't.

Gear Manufacture

Gears are ground and through hardened. Early gears were hobbed but this left
striations on the teeth. Grinding was found more satisfactory.

Wear Between Gear Facings and Plates

In theory there is high pressure on one side of the gears (c 100 psi) and low on the
other so a slight leakage occurs across the gear faces and lubricates them. In practice
the flow tends to set up on one face rather than both faces of the gear. The other
face can therefore run dry and cause friction, heat and wear. In the early days of
developing the Mk 1 system Jim Littlehales tried just about everything to achieve
lubrication of the gear faces. Finally, in desperation, he inscribed a helical groove on a
gear face with a scriber. To his surprise the current consumption of the motor went
down, showing that lubrication had been effected. It became known as "Jim's Groove"
although its precise functioning was not fully understood. Any loose fibres from the
filter used to work their way down the groove and form a blockage. In effect the
blockage became a disc brake pad. Mk 2 systems do not use Jim's Groove.

Gears can cause grooving of the top or bottom plate. 1 have seen both although Jim
says they are common on the pin plates below the drive gear. As Jim says, they are not
very important as they tend to look a lot worse than they really are.

Restoring Side Plate Clearance

If it is desired to remove the grooves, the top and bottom plates can be restored but
the centre figure of 8 plate must not be touched as its thickness is so critical. Use
brand new wet and dry paper on a completely flat surface - a measuring table or piece
of optically ground glass of size than the brass plate. The wet and dry must have no
kinks or creases.

After sanding you must rub the surface with your fingers with paraffin and keep doing
this until your fingers remain clean. This will remove the embedded particles. Lastly,
place clean paper on your flat surface and pour Brasso on it rub the plate on the paper