I have just lately noticed the electric fuel pump runs in short bursts at times, the rest of the time it is normal - any theories out there?

The motor seems to still run just fine -standard 1984 EA81

 

i.e. Up until a short while ago I heard the pump going steadily, like tick-tick-tick-tick-tick etc but now and then it goes tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-pause-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-pause-tick etc

 

I haven't counted but it seems about 8 or 10 ticks then a pause of half a second then 8 or ten ticks then half second pause

No guesses?

Best guess is that the pump may be going out.  Problem may not be bad now but could likely get worse.  You may want to start shopping for a replacement in case you need to get one in a hurry.

I can't hear my pump in the '90 brumby except on start up. It's generally quiet all other times unless sucking air when tank is extremely low. 

Generally with what you're experiencing I agree with Dee2 that this is a sign it's on it's way out. 

Cheers

Bennie

Put an aftermarket pump on if you wanna hear its heartbeat. Happy I went to pressured tank propane

 

Kiwi, might be a number of things and given the age of our old girls it would not hurt to inspect and flush out fuel lines from front to back so you know they flow well, replace any rubber fuel lines as they can deteriorate on the inside and cause grief. Chuck in some quality fuel cleaner for a tank or two THEN replace fuel filter - that;s the fuel side

 

Could be electrical too.  Maybe run your radio power from fuel pump pos power, see if fuel pump is getting constant power

 

Does it vary depending on how full or empty the fuel tank is?