[DeTomaso] Running out of gas

Sun Nov 13 15:14:30 EST 2011

 I've got an embarrassing out of gas story with my Pantera.

Years ago I used to trailer the Pantera up to Road America in the fall to participate in the Shelby club's touring event.   I'd take my young sons with me because at that time they would let you take passengers on the track under 16 years old.

I had forgot to fill up the tank before I left and I noticed I was getting low after the first couple of runs.  Being cheap, I didn't want to buy race gas at the track (which was a whopping $4 a gallon back in the early 90s).   During my third run I determined how many miles I would drive during the 20-25 minute sessions and what my estimated gas mileage was.   I calculated that I should have enough to get through the forth and fifth session.

I alternated giving the boys a ride and when the last session started my younger son, Ben, was in the car.  As were zooming around the track I'm keeping my eye on the gas gauge.  About halfway into the session I notice that the low fuel light is coming on during hard cornering.   I decide to back off some from the hard charging and just cruise through the rest of the session.   After another lap or two I noticed in turn 12 that the car hesitated.  I told my self to take the pit road entrance after turn 14.   As soon as I got through turn 14 the car hesitated again.  The pit road entrance is about 100 yards after the turn going uphill.   I start twitching the wheel at the start of the pit road to slosh the fuel around in the tank.   Wouldn't you know that about halfway up the pit road the car dies and won't restart.   I coasted back down hill enough to get off the road onto the shoulder.  Since I wasn't in a dangerous spot they didn't sent the tow truck out until the session was over.   So we just sat in the car for probably 10 minutes.  My older son was standing by the fence right across from us while we waited asking us what was wrong.

By the time the session got over, the tow truck finally pulling us the 300 yards to my trailer and pushing the car up on the trailer an hour had gone by.   I left the track later than what I wanted not looking forward to the late hour that I would be getting home.   When we got to the first gas station after leaving the track I put some gas in the car while it was on the trailer and sure enough it fired right up.   At least it offered some relief that there was nothing wrong with the car.   I say that because a couple of years earlier I had attended the touring event for the first time.   My son Ben was riding with me again during that event when the electronic module I put in the distributor to replace the points had failed back by the kink.   That was the first tow ride we had together.  On the way home Ben asked me why he was always the lucky one to be in the car when it stopping running on the track.

I figured out why my calculations didn't work out.   While I was pretty consistent on the number of laps I ran during the early sessions, the last session turned out to be much longer.   As the day wore on and the number of cars still running thinned out, they combined classes and extended the track time.  I was mad at myself for running out of gas but it sure made for some good story telling and timeless memories with my boys.

Tom
#5186

-----Original Message-----
From: Will Kooiman <wkooiman at earthlink.net>
To: 'Rob Dumoulin' <rob at dumoulins.net>; 'Mikael' <mikael_hass at mail.tele.dk>
Cc: 'De Tomaso List' <detomaso at realbig.com>
Sent: Sun, Nov 13, 2011 1:15 pm
Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] NPC: Fun day of fixing a Ferrari

I was once flatbedded home with an empty tank - in the Pantera.  My gas
gauge wasn't working at the time, and I had simply miscalculated how much
gas I had in the tank.

And just last weekend I was trying to start a chipper (inherited from my
mother-in-law).  It wouldn't start.  I removed the gas tank, dumped the
rusty gas, and looked inside.  The tank is rusted worse than any Pantera
tank ever dreamed of rusting.

It's a shame too.  The chipper is very nice otherwise.

-----Original Message-----
From: detomaso-bounces at realbig.com [mailto:detomaso-bounces at realbig.com] On
Behalf Of Rob Dumoulin
Sent: Sunday, November 13, 2011 1:05 PM
To: Mikael
Cc: De Tomaso List
Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] NPC: Fun day of fixing a Ferrari

At least you fixed it quickly. My son's girlfriend's car would not start in
their driveway. I asked her how it was running the prior day and she said
it was hesitating a bit. I asked her where she bought gas last and the last
time she had a tune-up. Gas was a national brand but she never has had a
tune up. I picked her up new plugs, wires, cap, rotor, tools, and went
over. I had her try to start it while I looked under the hood for sounds of
a clue.  No start. I gave it a full tune up. When I sat in the car to see
if it would start, it didn't, but I was able to see her gas gauge was on
Empty and the car was on an incline. Quick trip to the station for a few
gallons to pour in and it started right up. She was embarrassed but admits
it runs better than it ever has.  Check the obvious first is right.

On Sun, Nov 13, 2011 at 12:58 PM, Mikael <mikael_hass at mail.tele.dk> wrote:

> Yes, I admit it, I have a friend that owns no Panteras and one F-car
> (348). We go back together 30 years, so I've forgiven his mistake.
> Sometimes I pity him a bit, because when his car needs a repair, he has to
> drive it to the local dealer, and usually gets ripped off. I've never
> really helped him when he had engine trouble, because I have to give up
> when looking at Motronic boxes, multiple sensors etc. Then I look forward
> to getting home and tuning on my Holley...
>
> Well 3 weeks ago he told me the F-car ran terribly, just moving it around
> the garage. And today he called, said it now didn't run at all, and that
he
> needed my help pushing it out of the garage, turning it, and pushing it
> back in the garage (uphill) backwards. That would clear for him so he
could
> get down in the pit below the car and look at some sensors on the
flywheel.
> So we did, he climbed down, unscrewed a plate (nice flat bottom F-cars
> have), sprayed the sensors. Then he tried to start it, no improvement. $s
> leaving his wallet was in the future...
>
> Being a simple guy, I asked if he'd looked at the plugs. Yes, but he
> couldn't conclude anything (he knows about www.tuningmadeeasy.com). Can I
> see them? He took one out, and I must admit, I couldn't conclude either
> whether it was lack of fuel or spark. But it was easy to test with the
plug
> held on the chassis and him trying to start. Plenty of spark. So it had to
> be lack of fuel. Faulty pumps? Clogged filters? Some sensor saying
> something strange, so no fuel? Then I popped the question of the day: "Is
> there fuel in the tank?" "Yes, the needle moves a bit when ignition is
on."
> Hhhmmm... I convinced him that since we had no other ideas to try out, why
> not drive down to the 99 octane gasstation and get some fuel and put it in
> the tank? So we did. And it started after 2 seconds :-)
>
> He was happy of course, but also a bit embarrassed. He said, that he was
> worried that keeping me quiet about this would cost him a lot. I said not
> to worry about the financial impact, because no amount of money could keep
> me from telling this story. :-) And he doesn't mind, really. He's not the
> first to do this, for sure.
>
> Sometimes it's the simple things, try them first!
>
> Mikael
>
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-- 
Rob DuMoulin
904.476.8744
rob at dumoulins.net
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