Tag Archives: Mustangs

Corvette Consternation Part 3 Fuel Foley

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Let’s recap for a minute: 

1.  Rack and pinion failure 

2.  Power steering leak 

3. Electrical system failure 

As you know the electrical system failure was the alternator and it was replaced. 

A now the story continues…… 

I picked the car up and it started fine, even had power to flip the lights up (it could do that when I dropped it off) and I drive two miles home.  It ran just horrible. No power at all.  That was worrisome. 

Now the ’84 Vette has  a very simplistic computer that controls the fuel injectors and it does take a bit after a “power outage” for it to get the mixture correct.  This should happen after a couple of miles.  Well by the time I got home there was no change in the how utterly horrible it ran.  So I took it for another spin and still no change. 

So I disconnect the battery for a few minutes and then tried it again…still the Vette could barely keep idle and giving it gas made it shake and the idle dropped to 400, 500 rpm.  So I thought ..ok..I’ll drive it to work in the morning and see if the 10 + miles will straighten it. 

Next morning, a Volkswagen bus filled with 40 people could have passed me like I was up on blocks!!!! 

Ok…at this point I’m getting a little bit…P.O.’ed…(that’s short for…oh..you know what it’s short for!!)  I call up my guys and I explain my displeasure.  My take was that they should have test driven the car and that they have had the damn (that’s short for @#$@#%%!!!!!) thing enough to know that it wasn’t running right.  I expanded on my thoughts in person when I limped the car back there after work..which was not a great day…which might have contributed to my disposition.  Sorry Sean, but you ya know noting but love…its all good dude….Sean later told me I hurt the only “feeling” he had…I told him to get over it.  They had a new guy there and he was the one that test drove it after the electrical work. 

This was the start of a 3 day, all hands on deck, WTH…(that’s short for “What The Heck” >wink?<…I didn’t want to push the envelope with the “bad words”, because I would have had to add “put the kids to bed ..I’m about to use some adult verbiage”) is wrong with this car!!! 

I’m thinking it’s still electrical, computer was F ‘ed (short for “fried”) or there was a short somewhere.  I ended up at the garage a couple of nights after work poking around a bit – Tim Sisk the guy that runs the places is good about that.  

So here is what was happened. 

 It appears that the evap system that is supposed to take the fumes from the gas tank for emissions was filling up with fuel every now and then.  This system is supposed to push the fumes through a canister filled with charcoal and remove some of the harmful particles.  Of course it doesn’t stop there the “cleaner” fumes then are pass back into the intake manifold to be “re-burned” and sent out in the world through the Vettes exhaust system.  This simple hose highway runs along the entire length of the car and isn’t designed to handle fuel.  

The end result was fuel running through the hose design for only fumes, traveled the hose highway all the way to the front of  the car,  filling the charcoal canister – which wasn’t designed to hold gasoline.  Once full the gas has not where to go but across the engine, just following Avenue Hose, and dumping fuel directly in to the intake.  That’s the cause of the poor (understatement) idling and running. The car was drowning in fuel. 

Canister - now rendered useless.

 

How does this happen? Well it occurs when too much pressure builds up in the fuel tank.  The venting of the fumes is supposed to prevent that. Once the pressure builds, which doesn’t take long with a full fuel tank, the gas has to go somewhere, so it takes a trip up the evap hose. 

Now, here is where a guy starts to wonder  WTH (short for….) am I doing with a one off car???!!!  Really the 84 Vette is a one off production year.  There were not ’83 Corvettes sold and although it has the same basic engine as the ’82 Covertte crossfires, nothing else was the same, and the ’85 Vette was an entirely different animal.  This leads to a fairly significant lack of printed knowledge on the system..this many years out.  Why do I mention this?  Because it’s tough to find the knowledge after this long and the newer repair books treat the ’84 systems as ..”oh yeah..it’s not the same as the ’85 or the “L83 (my engine) is similar.”  Gee..thanks for that.  But it is different and it’s not similar in many ways. 

Here is one.  

The fuel tank on ’85 Vette has what is called a check valve with allows vapor to travel through it, but if fluid enters it, a small ball is pushed by the denser liquid to a point where it will block the hole.  There is a diagram of that in many of the new  repair books.  But there are none for the ’84, and no, upon actually view the parts, you aren’t going to see anything that looks like the ’85 check valve. 

Ok..armed with is knowledge, I showed up at the garage and share the info.  This left us all scratching our heads.  There seemed not logical reason for pressure to build up. There is only the fuel pump down there (that we tested in a bucket of fuel and worked as it should)  there was only one other fuel delivery system was the “limp home” system which use the oil sending unit to push just enough, when the tank was low or fuel pump failed, to get you home or a repair shop. 

This lead into the third day, at which point the fuel module was removed from the tank again and it was discovered that there was indeed a check valve. 

There is a check valve built-in to the fuel module, it had a piece something (appeared to be plastic or maybe rubber) lodged in it large enough to keep the ball in a position where the it increased the pressure so much that sent it shooting fuel out up the vacuum line.  It was incorporated into the system in a way that was not conducive to separate replacement.  It was cleaned and that solved the problem..well most of it. 

The canister should be replaced find one it not easy. Right now we replaced the PVC valve with a right-angled and the canister is no longer in the flow. 

For my 84 that’s not a problem since there is no sensor that checks that and the car is running great. I’m not sure but I think she’d even pass emission, unless they were to visually see that it wasn’t connected. 

Of course I’m a big tree hugger and (you can tell because the Mustang gets 4 gallons to the mile ..hey that’s what dead dinosaurs are for!!!!) so I’ll eventual get it replaced. If I can find one.  In the mean time I’ve re-routed the  hose to protrude under neigth the engine so the fumes don’t fill the engine bay. 

Some pics: 

Hose Highway with Canister

 

End of the hose that is supposed to travel on to the Intake, now routed under the car, temporarily.

 

So there you have.  Good thing there wasn’t a car crusher in towing distance….nah…I love that car. 

Thanks for reading. 

TIm

Auto Factoids for 8/8/2010

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8/8/55 – test of first solar car.  William Cobb  created a prototype, but it was only a 15 inch model. Basically, an electric current was produced that in turn powered a tiny motor. The motor turned the vehicle’s driveshaft, which was connected to its rear axle by a pulley. I couldn’t find a pic of this one.  However, Alan Freeman developed the solar-powered car  in 1979 that you could actually put a human in.  Here’s the pic.  (It’s really just a bike…I think.)

Alan's Solar Car.

 

8/11/66  Chevy introduced the Camaro.  There is some discussion on whether there is such an animal as a 1966 Camaro, they  were, build in 1966 but sold in 1967.   Here a  pic.

8/15/56 Packard no longer producing cars in Detroit.  Previously the Packard company bought Studebaker and tried to keep the Packard name a live in 1957 by reworking a Studebaker and give it the Packard name.

1956Packard

 

1957 Packard...looks alot like Studebaker

8/21/1897  Oldsmobile becomes a company. Of course the company is no longer in business another icon gone.

1897 Olds

Thank’s for reading.

Tim

Wrenchin’ Tip Engine Swap 8/15/2010 Label It!

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Now the Mustang is a fairly simple machine, even the electrical system is easy to work through. Pls note, I hate electrical problems and I equally dislike having to chance them down and I don’t care how simple it is.  My 84 Corvette is nothing short of a nightmare. 

Keeping this stuff straight is hard to do.  Now tearing out an engine doesn’t necessarily mean you are starting out with all new wiring, but it could.  A tip I use is to label everyone single wire with (normally) white duct tape. 

Like so: (not white duct tape!!) 

This actually reads: Starter Relay. (Yeah...spelling issues..like you haven't noticed!!!)

 

This is eXtremely handy.  For example there are no less than 18 different wires just on the driver’s door for the Corvette.  I’ve taken the door apart so many times for repair, that I started leaving them labeled. 

Of course you can use this for hoses, lines and parts. 

Thanks for reading. 

Tim

Wrenchin’ Tip Engine Swap 8/8/2010

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At some point I’ve promised myself I would cover the restoration stories that center around my 1970 Mustang.  There is a lot to tell, trust me!! I’ve learned a lot!!!  

Engine - Before (250)

 

Engine After - (302)

 

But for this Wrenchin’ Tip, I’d thought I’d share a few hints that I did pick up.  Just to be fair I didn’t  do a lot of the engine swap work myself (Average Guy w/ average tool and average skills) but I learned a lot of general helpful hints and some Mustang specific helpful hints!!!  

So here are a couple of tips:  

 1.  Planning and scheduling a restoration is important.  If you are doing an engine swap or pulling it out for an overhaul make this the first step in your restoration.  Yes, I’ve seen the TV shows where they put the engine after the car is back from the body shop.  But hey this is the real world, and in this world, money is tight and body work is expensive enough not to what to afford to re-do it.  In this world, my average guy world, wrenches slip, grease stains and sometimes swinging 400 lb engine at the end of a chain can be…well…a bit dicey.  

2. Before preparing the engine for removal, you know, disconnecting all the electrical, fuel, A/C,  vacuum system, etc., take the hood off and store it someplace safe.  You’ll have a ton of room and you won’t bounce  that shiny, newly painted engine against it.  

3.   Test fit the headers before you install the engine, especially if you aren’t putting stock headers back on.  You need to check the clearances around them and ensure you can get to key components , such as starters, after the engine is completely installed.  Nothing is more insane that having to pull an engine or headers just to replace your starter. Here is a pic of my Mustang’s engine with all the attachments.  

Clearance checking pre-fit!!!

 

More engine swap tips coming up.  

Thanks for reading.  

Tim

Auto Factoid 8/8/2010

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This isn’t my normal “on this date back in…” factoid.  This one is current.

8/6/2010

At the VW Automóveis Ltda. plant in Portugal today the hundred-thousandth third-generation Scirocco rolled off the production line. Since its launch in 1974, this compact sports coupe has been the most successful Volkswagen two-door with more than 800,000 sold to date. Another notable Giugiaro coupe is the breathtaking beautiful Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint.

These cars were a hot item in the use for a short while.

2010 Scirocco

 Thanks for reading

Tim

Auto Factoids for the Week of 7/23/2010

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7/20/1984 E.L. Cord was in Missouri.  If you think he’s only responsible for the Cord 

1937 Cord

 

 Think again!!!!  How about a company that included Stinson Aircraft, Checker Cab and American Airways (now American Airlines)? But let’s just stay with the cars.  How about the Auburn and Duesenberg?  His history is a good read. 

7/23/1894 first auto race.  It was organized by the Parisian magazine “Le Petit Journal” between the Paris to Rouen.  And the winner was………… Count Jules-Albert de Dion it took  6 hours and 48 minutes at an average speed of 19 km/h (which was approximately 11.806052652509345 p/h). I don’t know what he drove but 2nd places was taken by George Lamaitre and he drove a Peugeot: 

Peugeot 3 hp

7/24/1929 – 2, 000,000 Model A Ford built – A huge milestone. 

1929 Model A

Question from Reader Dodge/Plymouth 318 Poly

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Steve asked. 

As long as you are on the subject what the heck is the difference between a regular 318 and a poly 318? 

Poly is short for Polyspherical head. Some say it was a forerunner to the Hemi (Hemispherical head). Basically it was based on a theory that you could get more combustion or volume by angling the intake and exhaust valves then if you had them parallel. From Hemmings  Motor News book of Chrysler Performance Cars…”The ploy’s exhaust valve is located parallel to, but offset from, the cylinder axis.”  

This increased the efficiency.  The hemi was constructed to increase the efficiency with a more angled system. The shape that the valves make are semi-circular with the Poly being a little flatter than the Hemi.  I did the below image in Paint. 

Poly and Hemi

 

Thanks for the question Steve!!!  More to come on the 318. 

Thanks for reading. 

Tim

Intro Engine History Segment

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If you’ve been reading my “stuff” on this blog or Facebook or Racing in America http://www.racinginamerica.com/ (Henry Ford foundation) you might wonder…what’s wrong with this guy? Does he write for a living?  Well if I did I’d be starving and driving a 1993 Honda Accord with only one plastic hub cap (that’s really my son’s car…he’s a starving artist – I have a plug for him on my blog – RJS Graphic design – he’s pretty good and he won’t strave..Mom won’t have any of that!!) instead of a shiny red 84 Corvette and restored 70 Mustang.  I do it for fun, I haven’t made a single dollar from any of my writing.  I don’t even have sponsors or advertisers for the places I leave my droppings.  Actually this costs me money!!!!

So…yes..I do this for fun and the very informal approach I take…..eeeerrrrkkkkk…..ok folks…I don’t have an approach..real writers do.  The way I like to do this is to just sit down and type…there’s no drafts, unless I save it to finish later, there is no real planning,(hell my poor readers are lucky if I remember to run spell check!!!) other than a Post-It-Note or an email sent to myself when I get an idea.  Nope, I just sit down and type.  If it is on a project I’m working, I sometimes take a break and with the fresh smell of GoJo still on my hands I just start typing and up loading pics.  99.999% of my blogs are done in one sitting.  Type and post. (Sometimes I re-read them…mostly to laugh at my super great witt…HEY!!!!!  DID YOU JUST ROLL YOUR EYES????!!!!  That’s rude!!!)

So I have a list of ideas and one of them was to start a regular piece on engines (I mentioned this a while back.) But man, there’s a lot of stuff out there and great publishing works like the Hemmings nation and Hot Rod magazine do this all time.  Am I going to add some thing never before discussed? Nope.  Am I going to present it in way that nobody ever has?  Well the way I write, yeah probably, no one write like this I don’t think.

My idea was to talk about an engine and include when it was first introduced and what it was used in and for how long, that kind of info.  I’m a big fan of history, history of anything, buildings, streets, towns, cars, really anything that as a little history, I’m interested in hearing about.

So my issue was I just hadn’t sat down and picked one yet to write about.  I was going to do the Ford 302, the engine my Mustang has, or the Crossfire in the Corvette and I will.  But the other day I got my September issue of Classic Car #72 from the Hemmings nation and on the cover was “12 Dynamic Dodge Darts Fun Cars that you must own”.   That triggered a memory of the Dodge Dart I owned when I was in college, I think owned it about 5 months..just long enough to remove all the rust and patch the holes and get it into primer before selling it.

As I read the articles in this issue, I remembered the 318 that my Dart had in and as I read further I decided to kick my series off with Mopar’s 318. 

So over the next few posts I have some interesting details on  configurations and various cars it was used in and some specs.  I’ll try to remember to list the references so you can look up additional info.

Thanks for Reading

Tim

From a Reader – Household items to fix Cars.

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Tim,

Here’s my story of using household items to fix cars.  Kinda like a turkey baster tool.  Ha Ha.

Finally solved the fuel boil over problem on the 82 Cougar wagon with an inline six and 1 bbl carb.

I live and drive mostly above 2,000 feet and with the fuel blending today the fuel in the carb bowl will boil over and come out the fuel vent in the carb throat, pooling in the intake manifold causing a flooded condition resulting in hard starting when the engine is hot with the huge plume of black smoke when it did start. I’ve tried all manner of fixes that included: lowering the float, retarding the timing, advancing the timing and investigating whether the manifold, catalytic converter or the exhaust was restricted in some way. I built a heat shield out of aluminum and tried that. Some people had suggested using a thicker carb base gasket or even doubling the gasket which would have required longer mounting studs for the carb. Since it hasn’t been a daily driver in the summer due to a broken a/c I’ve put off the fix. I tried to find a phenolic material to make a carb base spacer for the carb that would insulate it from the heat with no luck.

Finally my wife went to Wal-Mart and bought a plastic cutting board for me on my request. It’s made from a hard polyethylene material that’s just over 7/16″ thick. So, I did the obvious scientific test on the material. I got the car to operating temperature and held the cutting board to the exhaust manifold and it did not melt. So I cut the board, drilled the carb bore hole with a 1 and 7/8″ hole saw, drilled the stud holes, made a thin gasket for both sides of the material and sealed it with red high temp permatex gasket maker and installed my new base plate. To test I drove the car in 108 degree heat to full operating temperature for 10 miles with the now fixed a/c blowing hard and the boil over problem is gone. There is no longer any fuel smell or hard starting when hot due to fuel in the intake manifold. Finally after almost 8 years this annoying problem is fixed. I don’t know why this material insulates so well over the factory thick gasket but it does.
The material doesn’t seem to be affected by fuel either.

I’m sure others have been baffled by this problem since most fuels today contain ethanol and other materials that lower the boiling temperature of gasoline.  Altitude certainly plays a part as my car never did this at sea level even in 100 degree weather.

Steve Sears
Ridgecrest, Ca.