[DeTomaso] Three steps forward, three steps back....

Art Stephens artstephens at charter.net
Fri Apr 4 11:07:34 EDT 2008


Hey Mike,
     I think the sending unit/pick-up can be removed thru the quarter 
window?  It might be worth pulling it out of there and blowing a little 
compressed air back toward the sock to see if anything comes out?  Probably 
best to start by blowing gently to keep from damaging the sock.  The sock 
may be damaged and allowing crap to get to the pick-up?  You may also be 
able to run a piece of wire back thru the pick-up to see if you can force 
anything out of it?  If the sock is not damaged,  there shouldn't be 
anything plugging the pickup?  Who knows,  maybe part of the sock has come 
loose,  and is lodged in the tube?

Art



----- Original Message ----- 
Sent: Thursday, April 03, 2008 9:55 PM
Subject: [DeTomaso] Three steps forward, three steps back....


> Hi guys,
>
> You may recall from my GPS post the other day that my Pantera is once 
> again
> on the road.   I fixed my fuel starvation problems by installing a 
> mongo-sized
> fuel filter in line with the standard filter.   Afterwards I was pleased 
> to
> see a full 7 psi on my fuel pressure gauge (plumbed directly into the 
> carburetor
> fuel feed).
>
> Today was another beautiful day.   You may also recall that a few years 
> ago,
> I wrote a post about sharing my cars, where I described letting the guy 
> who
> does my wheel alignment drive my Cobra for an afternoon:
>
> http://www.realbig.com/pipermail/detomaso/2005-April/056798.html
>
> I realized last week that although he has aligned my Pantera, and those of
> several other people whose steering racks I'd rebuilt, he'd never actually 
> had
> the chance to drive one.   Since yesterday was his birthday I figured now 
> was
> the time.
>
> This afternoon I picked him up after work, and we set off on exactly the 
> same
> route that we had taken back in 2005.   We were just cruising in 4th gear 
> on
> a two-lane road through the country with a 45 mph speed limit.
>
> Eventually we got to a fork in the road and turned onto a road that was 
> still
> two-lane, but much straighter and potentially faster.   I told him to 
> punch
> it, and we zoomed off for about five seconds, WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA and then
> WAAAAAAA-BU-BU-BU-Bu-Bu-bu-bu...bup.
>
> Damn.   Fuel starvation again.
>
> We let the thing sit for a minute and then he started it up, and let the 
> fuel
> pump 'catch up'.   He pulled away and as long as he was mellow, we could
> drive along at 45-50 mph, no problems.   We eventually got to the freeway, 
> the
> same freeway where I had been driving at 80-95 mph just the other day, and 
> now
> the car would resolutely refuse to go anything more than about 60 mph. 
> We took
> the next exit and returned home via not-very-entertaining back roads.
>
> When I got home, I checked the fuel pressure gauge, and it showed exactly
> ZERO even as the car sat idling.
>
> So, is this another blocked fuel filter?   Has the 'sock' somehow lodged 
> in
> the fuel pickup and blocked it?   Are the new fuel lines too close to the
> exhaust and causing vapor lock?
>
> Tomorrow I'll start it up and check fuel pressure; if it's still low, then
> I'll start tearing into the fuel filters.   I might also try blowing 
> compressed
> air backwards through the fuel line from the tank to the pump, in an 
> effort to
> clear out any debris that might be clogging the fuel pickup.   (The tank 
> is
> almost full by the way).
>
> Las Vegas draws ever nearer, and this is rather disconcerting.   On a
> positive note, I did successfully install and ops-test my revamped 
> windshield wiper
> motor; the fact that it is functional virtually guarantees dry weather, 
> whereas
> if I had left it off the car, a typhoon would have hit Las Vegas.   I also
> successfully removed, painted and reinstalled the aluminum reinforcements 
> I had
> made for my front spoiler, and that system (at least) seems absolutely
> perfect.   And I tweaked and adjusted my five-point harnesses for proper 
> fit and
> operation.
>
> In fact, my 'punch list' of things to do to the car is getting 
> increasingly
> shorter and more trivial, which is encouraging at least.
>
> Now, if I can just convince the car to run properly, and keep running....
>
> Mike
>
>
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