frozen fuel pump push rod

Has anyone ever come across a frozen or seized fuel pump push rod in a 454 Mercruiser? I have & I am having some dificulty breaking it loose. Does the cam have to come out to remove it, or should it drop out the fuel pump mounting hole?

 

They usually drop by their own weight. Keeping them in place to install the pump is the tricky part. Seems like it bent.

 

The prior owner had it converted to an electric pump that was incorrectly wired. I am trying to restore the motor to it's original condition. I think I now know why the electric pump was installed.

 

If you have an electric pump, make sure is marine and that there is an automatic shutoff switch at the oil pressure line.

 

That's why I removed the electric, it was not marine, it was too week & there was no safety mechanism in place; if the key was on, the pump was pumping! The prior owner was a real brite guy.

 

Also, make sure the pump is 5-7PSI. More than that makes the carb overflow at low RPM and waste fuel.

 

I want to get that push rod out & put on the mechanical pump that she was born with.

 

update

Just an update, I gave up on the mechanical pump & installed a Holly marine pump. That push rod was not getting out of there.

Thanks!

 

How is it running?

 

Well, that's another story. I ended up having to disassemble the carb & give it a good cleaning. I rebuilt it using the original metering rods & springs. I replaced the needle, seat, accelerator pump etc. It starts right up & idles great. I launched her yesterday, it runs great up to around 2200-2400 RPMS. As I tried to accelerate her on plane; she started popping pretty bad from the carb. I'm not too familiar with the 454's, I think I set the timing correctly. There's a groove on the balancer (I assume that it's the TDC mark). I set the timing to 8 deg BTC based on that groove and the timing marks on the cover. I took her out again & I got her up on plane to around 3000 RPM's. She started poping again, but not as bad. I went back & checked everything. I did not get a chance to take her out again, but when I rev the motor quickly in neutral; I still get a pop every other time or so. I'm assuming I did something when I re-did the carb. I'm pretty frustrated right now. The transmission swap went very well though. any ideas?

 

It will pop like that if the mixture is too lean

 

I'm pretty sure I have the float set incorrectly. I am also not 100% certain that the primary metering rods are correctly seated on the hanger.

 

All's well, I'm getting 12.5 knots at 2800 RPM, 15 knots at 3200. The motor was running a tad on the warm side so I didn't push her. I feel I should get close to 20 knots at wot. Not too bad. A new raw water pump impeller & I should be sailing smoothly!.