Weber 32/36 Fuel Bowl

[MICAH1]

This question is for those who have the weber 32/36 carb installed with a electric fuel pump, and inertia switch. Once the inertia switch breaks the electrical current to the fuel pump due to shock/crash, how long will the engine run from the gas that is in the carburetor fuel bowl??? Of course this would only be a concern if the driver were disabled from a road accident.

[2 Fast 4 U]

Do you mean in time or distance?

[MICAH1]

My concern is only in case of a accident that would put my lights out.... for a short while anyway.

[2 Fast 4 U]

I only know what my car does with a Solex, if my gas supply valve shuts when I switch to LPG the car will travel for about 300 to 400 meter [almost the same in yards] according to what speed you're driving.
and if the car doesn't travel it takes about 1 to 2 min before the bowl is empty.
But I don't think that there will be much difference between the Solex and the Weber.

If you have a electrical cut-off stationary jet (ICO solenoid) you might want to connect it to the power supply of the fuel pump in that case the engine wil stop all most at the same time as the pump stops

[kwilford]

I would think for a minute or two. Should be easy to check; just pull the wire off your fuel pump and see how long it takes for the engine to die.

The main reason for shutting down the fuel pump is to avoid it adding fuel to a fire or potential fire. If you are in an accident and the fuel line gets severed (not unreasonable in a frontal collision) it could pump QUITE a bit of fuel.

[namba209]

Keith is correct, the idea behind the fuel pump losing power is to prevent a broken fuel line pumping gas in to a volatile situation. If you're in an accident, I would guess, the engine would die because it's in gear and you didn't have time to push in the clutch. Of course in an auto tranny, the engine may continue to run, until the float bowl is empty. On newer cars there is an impact shutoff valve that actually shuts off fuel going to the engine, and on FI injected cars, the engine automatically dies. Just food for thought.

[MICAH1]

Ron,
I have the inertia switch included into the electric fuel pump circuit with fuse and relay. My main concern is that in this Washington, DC metro area, you can sit in traffic forever and during that time I will most likely have the trans in neutral but also worry about some yo yo jamming me in the rear. I HAVE HAD IT HAPPEN BEFORE. Smacked in the rear and pushed under the car in front!!!

[West Coast GT]

What am I missing here?

I thought the idea behind an inertia cut-off switch is to kill all electrical power throughout the car in order to eliminate ignition sources (of an electrical nature) in case gasoline is leaking from the tank, severed fuel line, etc.

Or, are you referring to an inertia cutoff for just the fuel?

[namba209]

Originally Posted by West Coast GT What am I missing here? I thought the idea behind an inertia cut-off switch is to kill all electrical power throughout the car in order to eliminate ignition sources (of an electrical nature) in case gasoline is leaking from the tank, severed fuel line, etc. Or, are you referring to an inertia cutoff for just the fuel?

IDK of any car that has an inertia cutoff for the whole electrical system, it's mainly or only for the fuel pump, for the reasons you stated above.

[bigjim5551212]

I have pinched off the lines and the fuel will last about 4 minutes