Snow cycling imposes extremely high requirements on the low-temperature cold start performance of the Fuel Pump. In order to meet the standards of the SAE J2594, fuel pumps for use in the -30°C environment should have at least 400 kPa oil pressure retention during cold start, and the flow error rate should not be more than ±5%. For instance, Bosch fuel pump 0580464075, with a built-in heating element (power 12W, energy 0.1A/h), can heat fuel from -30°C to -10°C in 30 seconds at -40°C and achieve 98% oil pressure stability. It looks like a standard part on the Arctic exploration fleet list. It has 67% reduced failure rates compared to ordinary pumps.
The cold resistance and corrosion resistance of the fuel pump materials will directly affect the snowy weather service life. Aluminum alloy casing (density 2.7g /cm³) fuel pumps and PTFE-coated impellers (such as AEM 50-1000) retain more than a 1000-hour corrosion resistance time in the salt spray test (ASTM B117), and they have 40% longer service life compared with general steel pumps. During the snowstorm in Quebec, Canada in 2022, a rental snowmobile company employed fuel pumps that were below the IP67 waterproof standard, and this implied 23% of the failure of equipment due to the introduction of de-icing chemicals into the circuits. The maintenance cost increased by 1,200 Canadian dollars per unit. But after they substituted them with waterproof pumps of Walbro GSL392, the rate of failure reduced to 4%.
The free-flow design of snow fuel pumps needs to take into account the fuel fluidity. Diesel at -20°C, according to the ASTM D6371 standard, will have a viscosity of 2.5 cSt rise to 8.5 cSt. If the fuel pump flow rate is below 60 L/h (e.g., the flow rate of the standard factory pump decline to 45 L/h in low temperature conditions), then engine power would decrease by 18%. The German Continental’s VDO Fuel Pump FP-7-1-003 supports high-concentration antifreeze additives (ethylene glycol concentration ≤50%). Its two-stage turbine design can increase the delivery rate of cold fuel by 32% and has been successfully applied in the snow delivery fleet of the Norwegian Post. No cases of five successive years of car breakdowns resulting from frozen fuel are known to have occurred.
The reliability of the electrical system is the key indicator of snow fuel pumps. Fuel pumps to the ISO 20653 standard should possess sealing efficiency in cyclic tests with humidity > 95% and temperatures between -30°C and +85°C. For example, Delphi FE0113-11B1 fuel pump employs ceramic brushes (resistivity < 10^-4 Ω·m), which also have a reduced starting current of just 5.2A at -25°C (compared to 8.7A for typical carbon brush pumps), and the voltage fluctuation range is reduced from ±15% to ±5%. It has been validated by the Alaska Snow Rescue Team as being able to reduce the likelihood of short circuits by 83%.
The selection of Fuel pumps in snow cycling involves extensive parameter check-up: pressure stability (fluctuation rate < 8%), flow attenuation rate (> 90% of nominal value at low temperature), material weather resistance (tested in compliance with ISO 16750-4), and electric protection rating (min. IP67). Customers may use the “Vehicle Components Guide for Extreme Cold Environments” document released by NHTSA or TUV SUD snow equipment test report and focus on choosing the models field-tested at -40°C (e.g., information from Bosch’s Arctic test field), with a return on investment (ROI) of up to 300% (on a 5-year cycle, maintenance cost reduced by 70%).
