Another weekend down and another short project...

completed!

This weekend was the re-installation of the SU fuel pump in it's stock location with cover. It also was the installation of an electric fan with temp sensitive controller, and a reflush of the cooling system.

The fuel pump required minor rebuild to get it working properly and to stop leaks. I didn't take any pictures of it, but it's mounted in a gaping hole in my trunk floor that I've been staring at since I got the car. It also now has a cover over it to protect the electrical connection from getting banged up by the contents of the trunk.

Flushing the coolant system was about boring. Luckily, I was able to work on other things while the car was in cool down mode between cycles. I think I ended up filling, warming, cooling, and draining the system about 5 times before I got consistently clear fluids in the system. For the final fill up, I put about 1/4 of a jug of anti-freeze in, and filled the rest of the system with distilled water.

The electric cooling fan went in pretty easy. It was set up as a 'puller' when I got it. I flipped the fan blades, and switched the polarity to make it a 'pusher' fan. I then hooked it up to an electric fan controller, and wired the controller so that it can run with the ignition switched off. I have pictures of the new fan and the controller installed. I'll post them later.

A trip around the mountain, and the engine temp never went past middle 'N' while in stop and go traffic. However, it did creep up a bit (a little past 'N') while on the HWY driving at sustained 70+MPH speeds.

I think the best parts of this weekend's projects are: 1) No more Facet fuel pump, and the SU pump is now mounted in the stock location, and 2) the engine won't build up heat after shut down. The electric fan system will continue to cool the engine until the temps drop under 160 deg F, and the fan will cycle on/off as the thermostat opens and closes.

Your temp sounds about right even with the rise on the highway. Have you solved the fuel starvation problem when hot with all the work you've done lately?

I'm not entirely sure. We haven't had a really hot day out here to give that a thorough checking. However, as I mentioned in my "SU Fuel Pump" thread, I HAVE found that I can build up pressure in my fuel tank by blowing air into the filler. Which, I assume, also means that it is possible to build up a vacuum in the fuel tank from prolonged driving.

So, my current line of thought on that fuel starvation problem is that it may be happening because a vacuum builds up in the fuel tank during long drives in conjunction with the heat build up under the hood worked together to starve the engine of fuel.

On cool days, it seems to take longer for this to happen, on warm days it happens much much more quickly.

Either way, I believe I need to address the potential issues with being able to build up pressure/vacuums in the fuel tank.

When I last checked a while back (will check again this coming weekend), I was able to blow air through the vapor separator lines towards the charcoal canister AND towards the fuel tank. However, this weekend I was able to prime the SU Pump by blowing air into the fuel tank to build up enough air pressure to force the fuel into the pump. That strikes me as odd, because if the vapor separator system was/is hooked up properly, I don't think I should be able to build up pressure in the fuel tank by blowing air into the filler.

So, like I just said, I'll be investigating the vapor separator system this weekend.

So, put a peice of plastic over the fuel filler with a rubber band around it and poke a small hole in it. Does that solve the problem? Give it a few days.

The restrictive nature of the cannister couldn't/shouldn't allow enough pressure to escape if you blow into the filler hard. The fuel would HAVE to go thru the pump... Vacuum, same-same. Other thought is: if this happens on HOTTER days more rapidly than cooler ones, it seems to me expansion (therefore increased PRESSURE in the tank) due to heat would be more likely than an increase in the vacuum (with attendant fuel "starvation" symptoms) in the tank. I think the problem is someplace else. Fuel "boiling" in the steel supply line causing a vapour-lock condition, that ZS piston slide hanging from a temperature issue... Run the SU a while and see if the problem manifests itself again.

great... I just need it to be 90 this weekend and I'll go for a joy ride in the mountains to see how it goes... /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/laugh.gif

Or maybe, if I'm gluttonous enough for the punishment, I'll drive I-5 to Anahiem and back... /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/nonono.gif

Carry a gascan and a hose so's you can "gravity feed" the beast for the trip home! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/devilgrin.gif /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/jester.gif

Why not make it interesting 134 to the 405 to the 105 to the 605N to 5 south. True trial by fire /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif

actually, I think Malibu this weekend for Steve_S's Malibu run will be a good test run /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif

hmmm... seems the mods I made this weekend has created a behavior that I need to adjust my driving habits to account for. Either that or I need to make some fine adjustments to the carb.

I stopped off at the grocery store on my way home. When I came back out the car started right up, but then stalled as I pulled up to the first stop light. I restarted it easily enough, but then it stalled again less than 10 seconds later. After which it would not restart.

I pushed her off to the side, opened the gas cap. I couldn't hear anything over the traffic, but a burst of gas fumes hit me. Checked to make sure I still had fuel pressure all the way up to the carb, which I did. Checked to make sure the heater valve wasn't leaking on the dist, which it wasn't. And finally, hopped back in the car, glanced at the temp gauge and noticed it wasn't at the "normal operating temp" position. So, I then pulled on the choke knob until I could feel the cable move the jets down a little. Low and behold, it started right up like nothing was wrong.

It's rather cool here right now (60F... too cool for the end of May if you ask me; but that's different discussion). So, I figure the cool weather plus the addition of the electric fan probably worked together to cool the car off post shut down much faster than what I'm use to.

So, I think I may need to do 1 of 3 things:
1) Tweak the fuel mixture so that it's a tad richer than it currently is.
2) Apply a little choke after the car sits in a parking lot for a few minutes and the temp gauge reads below the "normal operating temp zone".
-OR-
3) Do a little of both.

This morning's drive in to work may be an indicator that I may need to make it a touch richer. I disengaged the choke completely before the temps reached the "normal" zone, and the car stalled at the first stop light I came to. I reapplied enough choke to feel the enrichment mechanism start to engage and the car started right back up and ran without issue. Once the engine temp got into the "normal" zone the car ran without any problems on the way to work.

Might want to think about adjusting the thermostat on the fan??

hmmmm...

well, it's currently set to come on when the temp gauge hits the left leg of "N". There's not setting for shutting it off. It just automatically stops blowing air when the temp drops below 160.

I suppose I could increase the turn on temp so it comes on when the gauge goes just past "N".

Re: Another weekend down and another short project

Enrich it a couple flats, see what happens. It sounds like you're ~just~ lean. Better to go a bit the other way than to toast a valve. Anyone have a colourtune in the area? Steve?

Leave the fan control for later.

Re: Another weekend down and another short project

Or, what color is the inside of the exhaust pipe? Here a pic would help. Black, too rich, brown, about right. Tan to brown, spot on.

Re: Another weekend down and another short project

eh... color in the tail pipe has too many miles of rich running built up for me to use as a gauge.

I spot checked the plugs this AM, looked on the lean side of brown.

The problem has gotten worse. I'm starting a new thread for the problem.