I have a 2003 Beta 25 marine engine. I think my lift pump is failing as I cannot now bleed the system. The handle seems quite slack to me. No bubbles or any diesel coming out of the bleed screws (although the separator is full of fuel). Can the lift pump fail like that? And does the pump need replacing entirely. And how does one get to that pesky Phillips screw that is right up against the side of the engine?
I suspect that your engine has just stopped with the cam in the operating position. This will explain the slack priming lever as well.
The solution is to rotate the engine over by hand between 270 degrees and one complete revolution. This will put the lift pump in the position where the priming lever will work as normal.
Remember that there will be a little slack movement on the priming lever before the final 1/4" of resistance where it will be priming.
Thanks very much Stanley. You may well be right! I did actually turn the engine last time but maybe not quite as much as necessary. (BTW I made a mistake, it's a 2008 engine - 2003 is my car!)
Today I took the top off the pump (perhaps inadvisably) Its difficult to be certain if the diaphragm is totally OK but what I did notice was that if I pressed the centre of it with my finger, it did go down with the expected resistance. It looks like I need to take those 2 10mm nuts off first I think and remove the pump in order to reassemble properly (I didn't have the correct long socket with me). I suppose I could reassemble and try again?
Or is it advisable to change it anyway after 11 years? How much are they? - I contacted Beta but sometimes they are difficult to get an answer from (busy?).
The lift pump is secured to the block with just the 2 of 10mm nuts. You may find that the pump works just fine when you reassemble it.
I cannot quote any pricing on the forum. We are in the USA and our pricing is very different to that of the UK.
Thanks again very much. Do you think it advisable at this point to replace the lift pump - or carry on with this one (assuming it works at the moment on reassembly?
You haven't mentioned how many hours on the engine. If you have 2,000 or more, then just replace it.
Otherwise, if it works properly on reassembly, why replace it?
If, however, it does not work properly, then replace it.
You can easily test the pump by hand with a tube and some diesel in a container.
