Fuel Pick-up

These fuel pickups were originally developed for snowmobile applications, but they work great in rock-crawlers or in fuel tanks that don't have baffles.   These are the same type of pick-ups that are in the Holley Universal In-Tank Mulit-Point Fuel Pick-up Kit [Holley part number 12-951 - two pickups per kit].   Walbro made those pickups for Holley.

The original Walbro pickups were the MP-10. Those were the pickups in the Holley kit, too.   Those pickups had a 30 micron screen.   With fuel formula changes in recent years, the snowmobile manufacturers were noticing a type of goo building-up on the pickups.   That goo was the new fuels reacting to the plastic fuel tanks.   Walbro changed the mesh to 70 microns and there was no more buildup on the pickups. &nbsp. The new part numbers are MP-12, MP-13, MP-14, MP-15, and MP-16.

How they work:
Have you ever sprayed water on a window screen?   Recall that the screen will actually hold some of the water.   These pickups work the same way.   When the pickup is submerged in fuel, gas will pass through the mesh with ease.   When fuel sloshes away from the pickup, the mesh will hold enough fuel to fill all the tiny holes.   That mesh full of fuel acts like a solid.   At this point, the pump, sucking on the outlet will cause the mesh to suck shut, preventing the pump from sucking air.   When fuel covers the pickup once again, the valve will open up and transfer fuel.

These pick-ups have one or two 5/16 fittings.   The pickups with two fittings can be used to connect pickups in series.  

Walbro suggests that at least one pickup in the system should have a bleed hole.   If your system doesn't have a bleed hole, it can become totally closed if all of the pickups close at once.   If that happens, the closed pickups can take several minutes to re-open, depending upon how much vacuum the fuel pump has pulled.

The inlet side of the pickup has a 70 micron mesh.   The pickup is just under three inches in diameter and just under two inches tall.   These pickups have been tested in gasoline to -40 F and in diesel fuel to 0 F.

Note:
If the fuel pickups are completely dry, the pump will suck air.   The pickups won't close unless they have been initially immersed in fuel [the mesh is wet].

5/16 Hose 'Y'

Here's a 'Y' fitting you may need if you are going to put two or more pickups in your fuel tank - $4.

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