What would cause it to overheat? The end cap melted around the brushes, and they are locked in.

Racetronix RFPK-001 - F99 Fuel Pump Kit HP 1999-2000 RXP255

1) Original Fuel Pump 05-08-2000 to 01-04-2015 @ 169,000 miles 14 years, 7 months

2) Racetronix Fuel Pump 01-04-2015 to 06-28-2024 @ 196,700 miles = 27,700 miles 9 years, 5 months

3) ACDelco MU1730 - Fuel Pump 07-05-2024 @ 196,700 miles

 

How often do you have less than 1/4 tank of gas? The in-tank components use the gas as a cooling agent, if the level drops too much it can cause heating issues, if done frequently it may lead to heat damage. Only other thought would be wiring to a source sending too much current over its specs.

This is all assuming the QA at Racetronix is pulling enough samples and has a variance narrow enough to keep bad units from slipping through to the marketplace.

 

I would definitely call them to see what they have to say about that. When I first got my car running I had a pump dead out of the box. I got a replacement and they've both been good ever since

 

I usually fill up before I get down to a quarter tank. I do remember one time the low fuel warning light came on, but that was with the original pump. I swapped out the original pump at 169k miles as I heard that the F-Body pumps were crapping out around 170 to 190k miles and I didn't want to get stranded somewhere.

This is the second time that I had to get towed home with the Racetronix. The first time, about a year after I installed it, I stopped at a gas station, filled up, and it wouldn't start back up. It was at a busy intersection, so I couldn't hear the pump prime, so I checked the fuses, and they all looked good. I depressed the Schrader valve on the fuel rail and gas sprayed out, so I then focused on the ignition, checked the fuses. They all looked good, swapped relays and no change, towed home.

Later that night, I thought that when I depressed the Schrader valve earlier maybe the fuel sprayed out because of pressure caused by heat. So i depressed the Schrader valve again. Nothing. I turned on the ignition and didn't hear the pump prime. I pulled the fuses and checked them with an ohm meter. The fuse in the Hotwire harness was bad even though it looked good. I put a new fuse in, and it was good until now.

I'm pretty familiar with this fuel system. Racetronix has a good description of its function in the link below. I guess I should also add that I'm the original owner and I don't think I'm doing anything differently that caused the failure. I also checked the bucket when I removed it. It had fuel in it, and it didn't leak out of the bucket when I removed it from the tank.

So the only thing I see is the end cap melted, which seized up the brushes, and with some wear, it eventually lost contact with the commutator = dead fuel pump.

Apparently, I'm not the only one that had issues: Racetronix Fuel Pump Failure

F99 Fuel Pump Kit HP 1999-2002 RXP255
RFPK-001 - 1999-2002 LS1 Camaro / Firebird / Trans AM
https://www.racetronix.biz/k/f99-fue...xp255/rfpk-001

 

Don't be putting too much faith in Racetronix wiring, I had their entire dual pump harness and it just flat out didn't work at all. Wire everything up yourself

 

From another thread:

 

OP:
Deadhead( returnless) or a bypass- Return regulator system ?

 

2000 Pontiac WS6 Formula
+
Racetronix RFPK-001 - F99 Fuel Pump Kit HP 1999-2000 RXP255

.

 

Now:
2000 Pontiac WS6 Formula
+
Racetronix Fuel Pump Hot Wire Kit
+
ACDelco MU1730 GM Fuel Pump And Sender Assembly

 

Running less than 1/4 shouldn't matter if your canister is staying full. I see you're getting a new canister so doesn't matter now I guess, but there's a check valve at the bottom of the canister that could be bad and could be letting your canister bleed down too low preventing the cooling of the pump. Normal operation in stock pump is the pump sends some fuel through that little hose which causes a venturi to suck fuel in to keep the canister full, there's also another check valve I believe opposite that that allows natural inlet of fuel and blocks outgoing fuel. If either of those are bad it could bleed down. In those cases going near 1/4 tank or hard cornering could cause pump to not be cooled.

 

I know, but good info for someone that doesn't know. See the below in bold from my previous post:

 

I'm very interested in how this happened because I have a racetronix in my daily.

Kinda hard to tell in the pic. Do the commutators look extremely worn? Like a brush was stuck when it was assembled and that extra wear/friction of the stuck non-moving brush caused it to get hot?

I'd also consider cracking it open further and make sure the wires going to those brushes are adequate gauge to handle the required amps. Otherwise I could see them heating up. Since your bucket was full it's gotta be something like that.

 

I found the link below, and I've been going to the same gas station for over thirty five years. Maybe Chevron has had contaminated gas on occasion?

What Causes Fuel Pumps to Fail:
https://www.agcoauto.com/content/news/p2_articleid/195

 

Interesting article and the images speak for themselves. Only question I have is how does the OEM pump see to operate better with less failure over a "performance pump"? I know OEM pumps fail and get replaced but not all that often and if a station is selling bad gas there will be a lot of customers with future fuel pump failures in their near futures. I would be interested to see what potential solutions can be other than "better quality fuel". Would a "solution in a bottle" be viable with stabilizers, octane additives, conditioners, alcohol based items to break down these deposits into less harmful?

 

If it was a stuck brush, I'd expect only one brush would be worn/melted.

I think you're on to something with BOTH worn and melted, and plastic between the two brushes and shaft appear to be in good shape. Clearly the commutators are worn to hell now that you can see it compared to a normal one.