Hi,

I was out on a ride with my neighbour this past Thanksgiving weekend. The weather was 25C and sunny so we went for a longish ride -- about 200+ km. Towards the end of the ride, I had about 1/2 tank of gas left. There was a whining noise coming from the tank region sounding like bees buzzing. I know that the fuel pump does whine somewhat and that it is cooled by the fuel but this got more pronounced as the ride went on and the fuel heated up. To confirm this, I stopped enough for the fuel to cool down. The noise was not evident.

Is this behaviour normal or is my pump on the way out and I should start saving for a new one? Could such a sound be a result of worn alternator bearings?

Cheers,
Robert.

Last year on my nine week ride round Australia whenever the temperature rose above about 25c the fuel pump would whine. I forgot about it after a while. The other day it got to 29c and the fuel pump began its humming. It's normal, but mildly irritating.

Grab a large screwdriver and point the tip against the alternator, directly at the back (after removing the two small Allen head screws and the plastic vented cover) with your ear tight to the other end and give it a listen as the engine idles, then towards the front. You will hear noises but they generally won't sound much like a fuel pump's whine. Failing bearings usually growl.

You weren't by chance riding past some English Rugby fans were you?
RT

RT wrote:You weren't by chance riding past some English Rugby fans were you?
RT

Ah so cynical

I noticed my pump started 'singing' this morning. Air temp was 25deg c+. Tank was quite warm due to air temp and heat from engine. Filled it up with fuel, stopped until it warmed up again. Do you think its due to the fuel aerating  and has anyone had a pump fail due to it? What RPM is the pump running at? John

Once the noise starts it's constant, at idle or at speed. The running of the engine is unaffected but it just bothers me as to what is happening.

Maybe when it warms up enough it presses into the rubber clamp enough to transmit noise into the plastic holder and thus into the tank, to be amplified up to year ears?????