Help with stack injection

[L79_Acadian]

 Hello again,
 Well I put the oil and plugs into the motor that was recommended to me on the forum, thanks. Now the problem is, if I squirt some gas down each stack, roll the motor over with the mag on, it'll fire. But I cant seem to get the Alcohol up to the pump or barrel valve. I've poured alcohol down the line from the pump back to the tank, and even poured some into the line from the pump to the barrel valve, still nothing. Many years ago I had a blown,injected on alcohol small block Chev, and I seem to remember that the motor fire on gas and almost right away the alcohol was up to the valve and into the motor.
 Is there a special way to "prime" the pump on the motor? Oh and I just received the pump and the injection back from Hilborn, being flowed and rebuilt.
  Thanks again guys,
         Roger

[dreracecar]

Since you are running a Mag,  one technique is to start the engine by spinning it first with the mag off, after 4/6 revolutions then hit the mag switch.
other things to check--
All lines tight? Vent to tank clear? Butterfly gap? pull feed line of BV and crank engine to see if it pumping? Is the pump even rotating in the right direction(pumps are reversable by turning the cover)
Was this a running system off your car, just sent in or is this a new/used unit?

[JrFuel Hayden]

How we prime our JrFueler is the 1'st time we fire the motor in the pits is we spin the motor, with mag off and spark plugs out, until fuel comes out the spark plug holes and of course by then we see oil pressure too.  The only problem we have ever had is when our Hilborn pump was not all the way "in" the pump drive on the cam.  You may have a problem if you fuel pump/ motor sits allot higher than your fuel tank. Mechanical fuel injection pumps are great "pushers" not good "pullers".
Our start-up program is open throttle, squirt alky into stacks, spin motor then flip mag on. If you have just changed you main jet or hi-speed you may have to try it a couple of times because you will have air in the system since you opened it up to make changes.

Good Luck and have fun with your race car.
Jon Hansen, Hayden Wheels, and Hammer-Hansen-Hook JrFuel "B" with Wayne Ramay driving to the 2013 and 2014 March Meet wins

[ricardo1967]

My car (SBC 400 with Hilborn) had a similar problem. It actually used to prime and start somewhat easily, but then at one point it got real bad. Once the squirted gas is burned, the engine dies. I even tried priming it by spinning the fuel pump with a hand drill. I started looking into electric priming systems, direction that I may take someday since I'm an one-man-band operation. Long story short, I spotted fuel returning through the primary by-pass valve while cranking. Opened it up and found a small aluminum debris keeping the valve (and therefore the return line) open. Cleaned the valve and it's all good again.

[dreracecar]

A customer couldnt get his to run, it would fire but would not run, told him to make sure the throttle blades were set (feeler gage).wound up being that they were completely closed and the motor would fire with prime but shut off off when air ran out underneath the blades.

[Gold Digger]

Make sure the rotation of the pump is going the right way                   
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Technical Support - Mechanical - Fuel Pumps
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How can I identify the rotation of my fuel pump?

Position the pump so the inlet is on your right and you are looking at the cover plate end of the pump. If the small dowel pin in the cover is at the top 12 o'clock position, it is a front cam drive rotation. If the pin is at the bottom 6 o'clock position, it is a belt drive or rear cam drive rotation.

 

[L79_Acadian]

Update, well today I had the motor running on Alcohol for about 30 seconds. I think it was running, because I had poured alcohol down the line from the barrel valve to the shut off. I took the pump off, checked the rotation, and its correct. Then I put a drill on the pump, spun the drill in reverse(engine mounted pump), and the pump put fuel out of the line as its supposed to ( I unhooked the line from the pump to the barrel valve). So that tells me the pump is working as its supposed to. I think part of the problem is the starter, its a gear reduction, and I don't think it spins fast enough. Tomorrow I'm going to check all the pill and bypass holders again, to make sure they are not leaking, or dirty. The tank is in the front of the car, lower than the engine, but with a dragster that's the only place for it.
  Thanks guys,
      Roger

[H.G. Wells]

If you had it running for 30seconds I doubt it is the starter.  I suspect you have an air leak in a line.
You may not ever see it leaking fuel either.  I have had this happen several times, especially at the first of the season after the lines have set.
Many times it was the fitting at the bottom of the pump not allowing it to draw fuel because of a small crack or just the line itself developing a leak.

Right or wrong, I start mine on Berryman just about every time.  Too many episodes worrying about a primer bottle and I always have Berryman around.
You can keep up a spray till it pulls fuel, but be very careful of backfires.

[AF150]

Make sure that the idle bypass coming out of the barrel valve is either blocked off or that there
is a check valve (poppet valve) on the return line that requires about 30 - 40 psi to open it. Drag
racing on alcohol, you can plug it. High-speed will act as a pump saver.

[hotrod316]

did you leak down the barrow valve?

[Totally T]

As with the others, Check the blade gap, check the bypasses, and check the BV Leakdown.

My only question would be is how long does the engine try to run when primed. if its just sputtering and dying or only running for a second then the amount of prime could be the issue.

I have a on board primer pump and will never race again without one.