[DeTomaso] Two dumb techno questions

[MikeLDrew at aol.com]

In a message dated 1/24/09 14 54 42, cengles at cox.net writes:


> 1) Bad fuel gauge problem.    The car has been sitting for three (!) years 
> during an engine build with the tank drained.   Now that it is up and running 
> the gauge has gone wonky.  It either reads empty or flashes back and forth 
> from full to empty erratically. 
> 
>                   Is the gauge terminal? 
> 
>  >>>Probably not the gauge.   I'd suspect corrosion on the fuel sender 
> (especially if you let it sit al that time without a full tank), or corrosion 
> between the wires and the tabs on the fuel sender.   Remove and clean all 
> connections, then run another tank or two through it and see if it improves?   If 
> not you'll probably wind up pulling the sender, and then cycling it manually.   
> If it still acts up, new ones can be had relatively inexpensively now, from 
> Wilkinson.
> 
> 
>               2)  Bad starter problem.    The other car has a West Coast 
> Starter (San Diego) circa 1997.   It always starts up at the first start of the 
> day, but any re-start after that is a painfully slow 
> "whrrr-pause-whrrrrrrr-pause-whrrr-pause-whrrr" etc. lasting a painful 10-20 secs before it starts.   
> Today, I came in from an errand and turned the car off and then immediately 
> tried to re-start it.   Same thing.  
> 
>                  Is the starter bad?   It doesn't seem to be the battery.   
> This problem has been getting incrementally worse over the last year. 
> 
> >>>I'd bet the problem is corrosion on the connections and/or bad ground.   
Starting at the battery and working your way back, remove and clean all 
connections, and similarly clean the ground strap.   Running a second ground strap 
from the engine to the chassis is a good idea.   JC suggested to me that the 
ideal location for such a strap is from one of the starter mounting bolts to the 
chassis, perhaps via the engine mount?

Mike


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