[DeTomaso] Shout out

[Tom Shinrock]

All,


I drove my Pantera from Iowa to St. Charles, IL to attend the Great Lakes Pantera chapter's Spring Fling.  I've attended all of these since the first one three years ago.  As usual, it was good to see old friends and meet new ones.  I believe Jon Haas has attended all of these events to showcase his electronic products designed for the Pantera.  
It is always enjoyable to talk to Jon and see him demonstrate his stuff.  


This year it was fortuitous for me to have Jon attend because for the first time in 30 years I had car trouble.  The car ran great on the drive to St. Charles and it ran with no problems to the cars and coffee event we attended on Saturday morning.  Come Sunday morning when we are getting ready to leave the hotel for breakfast, my car wouldn't stay running.  It started immediately and then died.  Lots of cranking followed with no start.


Dave Doddek (GLP chapter president)  immediately came to my aid to diagnose the problem, as he is prone to do.  He pulled a plug wire and determined there was no spark. He checked for moisture in the distributor cap (there was none), he checked for loose connections on the firewall (there were none)  he looked at the fuse box for anything out of the ordinary (there wasn't).  By this time Jon joined in the investigation (after all....I was holding everybody up to go to breakfast).


During Dave and Jon's troubleshooting, I was able to start the car a couple of times but then it wouldn't start afterwards.  Dave had mentioned that the terminal block under the steering wheel column can cause problems and after looking at it, it was determined that that was the source of my intermittent ignition problem.  My terminal block was corroded so bad that the screws holding the wires could not be turned.


Jon said he usually carries that terminal block with him but he left in such a hurry for the event he didn't pack any.  He then proceeded to make a field repair using a combination of a smaller connector and spade connectors to connect the wires without the terminal block so I could drive the four hours home.  


As you are all aware, working under the steering column with the seat in is not very comfortable and there is not much room to work with the short length of wire.  Jon spent at least 30 to 40 minutes on his back fixing my car, which worked perfectly after he was done and got me home without incident.


The help and assistance offered by Dave and Jon were greatly appreciated by me and demonstrate why I love being a part of the Pantera family.


Oh...and by the way.  Jon also diagnosed that my brake switch on the shuttle valve was the reason my brake lights didn't work (as I found out driving to the cars and coffee) by another Pantera owner driving behind me.   Is this switch special to the point I need to get it from an vendor or is it a common NAPA part?


Tom
5186






-------------- next part --------------
   All,

   I drove my Pantera from Iowa to St. Charles, IL to attend the Great
   Lakes Pantera chapter's Spring Fling.  I've attended all of these since
   the first one three years ago.  As usual, it was good to see old
   friends and meet new ones.  I believe Jon Haas has attended all of
   these events to showcase his electronic products designed for the
   Pantera.

   It is always enjoyable to talk to Jon and see him demonstrate his
   stuff.

   This year it was fortuitous for me to have Jon attend because for the
   first time in 30 years I had car trouble.  The car ran great on the
   drive to St. Charles and it ran with no problems to the cars and coffee
   event we attended on Saturday morning.  Come Sunday morning when we are
   getting ready to leave the hotel for breakfast, my car wouldn't stay
   running.  It started immediately and then died.  Lots of cranking
   followed with no start.

   Dave Doddek (GLP chapter president)  immediately came to my aid to
   diagnose the problem, as he is prone to do.  He pulled a plug wire and
   determined there was no spark. He checked for moisture in the
   distributor cap (there was none), he checked for loose connections on
   the firewall (there were none)  he looked at the fuse box for anything
   out of the ordinary (there wasn't).  By this time Jon joined in the
   investigation (after all....I was holding everybody up to go to
   breakfast).

   During Dave and Jon's troubleshooting, I was able to start the car a
   couple of times but then it wouldn't start afterwards.  Dave had
   mentioned that the terminal block under the steering wheel column can
   cause problems and after looking at it, it was determined that that was
   the source of my intermittent ignition problem.  My terminal block was
   corroded so bad that the screws holding the wires could not be turned.

   Jon said he usually carries that terminal block with him but he left in
   such a hurry for the event he didn't pack any.  He then proceeded to
   make a field repair using a combination of a smaller connector and
   spade connectors to connect the wires without the terminal block so I
   could drive the four hours home.

   As you are all aware, working under the steering column with the seat
   in is not very comfortable and there is not much room to work with the
   short length of wire.  Jon spent at least 30 to 40 minutes on his back
   fixing my car, which worked perfectly after he was done and got me home
   without incident.

   The help and assistance offered by Dave and Jon were greatly
   appreciated by me and demonstrate why I love being a part of the
   Pantera family.

   Oh...and by the way.  Jon also diagnosed that my brake switch on the
   shuttle valve was the reason my brake lights didn't work (as I found
   out driving to the cars and coffee) by another Pantera owner driving
   behind me.   Is this switch special to the point I need to get it from
   an vendor or is it a common NAPA part?

   Tom

   5186