New owner - 2003 Conquest - electric fuel pump questions

[northernargoman]

I am new to the Argo scene - have been looking for a few years but hadn't made a purchase. For Christmas my wife purchased me a 2003 Conquest from a fellow who bow hunts on the back portion of our property. The unit has the 20HP Kawasaki engine with 540 hours and everything seems to be tight and functioning as it should. It needs the usual cleanup, fluid change and general inspection which I am working through now. I am handy with the tools but not a expert as I am a desk jockey by day so everything I know I have learned by taking things apart and putting them back together or reading a manual.

I noticed today that the unit has a electric fuel pump and after looking through the manual it appears as though this must be something that was added as a after market part. A couple of questions that I am hoping somebody can help me with - why would the previous owner have installed a electric pump? From looking around on the forum it doesn't look like this is unusual just trying to understand why it is done. Secondly as soon as I turn the key into the run position I can hear the electric pump fire up but it doesn't seem to turn off. In my mind it would make sense that the pump would come on when the key is turned on to pressurize the system but once operating pressure is reached the pump would turn off until the engine starts, some fuel is consumed and the pressure drops in the system at which point the pump would kick on again.

Any help you could provide would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[Mike]

Welcome to the forum.

Edit: The following does not apply to the Conquest but rather the Bigfoot. See Jim's response in the next post.
The main reason for the fuel pump is that the engine can be starved of fuel when going uphill due to the location/elevation of the fuel tank in relation to the engine. Most members do put the electric pump on a switch and only use it when needed but I do know that a couple of members have it wired straight to the switch so that it is always on when the key is on. They claim that they haven't had any issues with it this way.

[ARGOJIM]

Welcome Barry, all Conquests have an electric fuel pump from the factory, the do start as soon as the key is on. If I remember correctly they may not shut off but a noticeable change in tone is heard once they reach a certain back pressure , perhaps there is an internal bypass.
The factory Kawasaki supplied fuel pump should be silver mounted under the seat about the size of a fuel filter.
as far as the manual look under the fuel sytem and seat section and it should show it there.
Good luck with the machine, Jim

[PaSean]

ArgoJim is right, they don't shut off and as he said there is a slight change in the pump sound when pressure builds up which doesn't take too long. It's a cheaper more reliable way of running a fuel pump system, no need for pressure sensors/regulators, return lines and such. The pump was the first thing I had to replace when I bought my Conquest and in case anyone is interested, I did some research and found that the Mr. Gasket pump, Advance Auto part# 42S at $47.00 works very well with no side effects.

[northernargoman]

Thanks for all the help. I am sure I will have more questions as I get deeper into the unit. Hopefully at some point I can start to provide answers instead of just asking questions.