Interesting fuel pump problem

[wedged]

One of my projects is a '94 Dodge Dakota with an NA 440 that has an XFI EFI system on it. It's been together and running for about 2.5 years. I really don't drive it much at all-maybe 500-800 miles total during that time. I was long term planning at the begining with hopes of adding turbos, so I went "overkill" and set up the fuel supply system to handle 700 hp.

I've had an intermitant fuel pump problem. The truck had been running fine (well-running "ok" as I am fooling around with tuning the XFI). When the gas prices skyrocketed last summer I drove it less and it sat longer between uses. The truck gets about 7 mpg in around town stop and go- lots of traffic lights and no OD yet. I am guessing it was sometime about a year ago that i tried to start it and it would not fire. After cranking for a short period I realized I did not hear the fuel pump prime when I turned the key to run. I checked the fuses, relay and had power & ground at the pump, but it would not run. This is a high end well known inline/submersible pump. Since I had the pump for over a year at this point, I figured the warantee was expired so I took the pump apart. I found absolutly nothing wrong. No debris, no visible damage. I did not disassemble the motor itself. Upon reassembly the pump felt a bit hard to turn and still would not run when bench tested. I sprayed some WD40 into the pump and into the motor and turned the pump by hand. This seemed to free things up a bit. I tested again, and the pump ran. Re-installed the pump and then the truck fired right up.

Since that time I think I probably drove less than 100 miles, and the truck has been sitting. A few days ago, I wanted to move the truck. No start-no prime. Power & ground OK, so I pull the pump again. This time I pull the motor apart too and find that one of the magnets has become unglued from the outter steel case of the motor. One of the brushes looks very short, but i discover a broken piece of brush laying inside the motor. I call the manufacturer and the tech line says they see this when fuel with alcohol in it is used or fuel is contaminated with alcohol. These days, almost all pump gas has some alcohol in it ?? They have a special fix that they perform on the pumps for use with mini sprints which use motorcycle engine that run on alcohol. It sounded like they mechanically fasten the magnets rather than gluing them.

At this point I am not sure what I want to do. Put in a stock type in the tank pump that will be "good enough" for the pitiful amount of power my low compression 440 makes, or send the pump in for an upgrade that would cost no more than $200 plus shipping.