Those trees look really cool Sid. Thanks for the post.

Yea, the mountains in the Texas panhandle are the big highlight. ;)

I just had a bit of a scare.

I hit the ignition on the El Camino and it did not start. Normally it fires up almost instantly, hot or cold. The starter just gets up to full speed and varoom in about one second. Anyway it was obvious it was not playing nice. I have a fuel pressure gauge in the engine compartment and it was at zero. :eek: :( :(

The fuel pump is inside the gas tank way in the back. Normally I can hear it run and it was is super stealth quiet mode or not running. I figured not running was more likely.

Crap. Scratch my head and some other body parts. Hmmmmm.

OK, I will have to call a tow truck to get the Elky and myself hauled home. I will have to move the Porsche out of the main work bay where it is for the packing process. Park the Elky in the garage and drive the 911. No way I can get a new pump and drop the tank and replace the pump before I leave. Hmmmmmmm.

How about percussive maintenance! The parking lot it was in was fresh sealed BLACK asphalt on a bright sunny day. I bet it is 130 degree pavement. Ouch, ouch, ouch, make a fist and beat on the bottom of the gas tank. Try to start the car, and varoom. Cool, I healed it with my magic touch.

I figure I will order a new pump now and it will be here before I get back. It is a real pain to drop the tank but I doubt my repair will last long term.

Oh well another project on my old cars.

New lift will make that a lot easier though glen. ;).


Oh and let me know if you run into any troubles out this way. I'm not exactly close to your route but I'd still gladly help ya out.

Thanks Sid.

I have driven to 12 Parades in a lot of different states. My car is in much better shape than when I bought it. Beside the crazy California deer I have not had a problem on the trips. I hope to keep up that streak.

I have to chime in: Glen, it was fun talking with you and Richard this morning. I'll help in any way.

Drive safe. Next time you have an empty right seat headed west, I want to be in the left seat with you navigating:D!

The Elky is just looking for attention because it sees you packing the 911 for the trip. It's nice when those things let you know they are going to fail before they completely quit.

Surprised you have to yank the tank to get the pump out. The 928 has 2 fuel pumps, one in and one out, no tank yanking needed to replace them, or more commonly replace the short fuel line between them.

Thanks Paul for everything. It was great talking to you.

The navigation is pretty simple until I hit Barstow. I will have my GPS on and running mostly for the cities. Some of the cities make staying on I-40 a challenge. The GPS says to merge onto I-40 west drive through Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and into California 1,202 miles then in Barstow where I-40 ends. Two long days of driving to Monterey.

The factory location for the fuel pump was a mechanical pump mounted to the engine for the carb. That went away long long ago. I bought the factory setup for the 6 cylinder El Camino. They came with the same basic fuel injection throttle body that I have on my 350. The fuel pump setup from the factory was in the tank for the pump. The pump lowers into the top of the fuel tank. Without cutting a hole into the bed the only way to get to it is drop the tank down.

The lift will make it much easier to fix for sure.

If you need a couple of extra arms to lower/raise the tank, just call.

Over the Hump...

http://thechive.files.wordpress.com/...pg?w=550&h=688

Don't burn your bridges...

http://thechive.files.wordpress.com/...pg?w=550&h=367

Thanks.

The good news is with my lift I can raise the car off the ground. Put 5 gallon buckets on the ground with a piece of plywood on top, remove the bolts for the tank straps and raise the car and there sits the tank. :)

Evening,
Well in a few decades I have been safe but today I got burned. I did some work on a car last week and seems the transmission took a dump, well no seems to it, it gendered. The insurance company got involved and they are claiming it was the wrong fluid in it. Yup, I am now out $2.500 for the deductible.
They already called payroll to start the garnishment. Wait don't I get say in this? I left work a little early today before I caved someones skull in. Tomorrow I hunt insurance personnel. This one may just land me in jail. With Beth being out of work I can not handle it.
Anybody want to buy some really nice guitars or equipment?

That really sucks Rick. Not much else to say. It sucks.

Yanno Glen you don't have to drop the tank to put a pump in the Elky. You can just drop a Holly inline 'letric pump on the frame rail. You can just leave the old pump in there. Might add some weight though.

Doesn't sound right to me. Don't you work for someone else's garage?

Are you saying the shop you work for has insurance for guaranteeing their work with a 2,500 deductable they garnish the responsible employee's wages for? Did they tell you that before you started working for them?

Yes they did Richard, but it was explained as if I were to get into an accident and was found to be at fault I would be responsible for the delectable.
I think I am going to rebuild the trans myself then bill them for the balance. I should at least have the chance to correct the problem myself. I should also note I used the fluid the parts dept. gave me. Not my job to double check them and I don't have time to do that on every single little thing. It's a dealership for crying out loud.

Seems chicken **** to cover their ass with insurance to cover employees mistakes, but leave the employee hanging with such a high deductable. Bet they don't keep employees very long with that kind of policy.

When I had my BoxsterS after 1 year it took the second key turn for it to start. Took it in and they replaced the MAF. Went for over a year with it backfiring on deceleration hard enough that it blew the welded seams on 3 sets of cats. Finally it spun a rod bearing. Still had the same problem after they replaced the motor from that. Finally the Tech at Porsche that was working with the mechanic on the problem happened to be on vacation when I took it in yet again for another blown cat. His supervisor looked at the paperwork and had the mechanic check the part number on the MAF. It was the wrong one. The parts guys gave the mechanic the wrong one and both times he replaced it after that they gave him the same wrong one. There are two MAFs for the 2001 boxsterS depending on the firmware in the ECU. When they got the correct MAF it fixed the problem. Moral is, not only did the mechanic trust the parts department, but also the Factory techs working with him until the problem finally made it to the attention of a supervisor that asked to check the part number.

By your companies standards the Factory Tech would have had to pay for my new motor.

Rick: How is it that the parts guy doesn't bear any responsibility for giving you the wrong tranny fluid? If that's the way things are done at your shop, seems like it's better to be a parts guy (or service advisor guy) than a mechanic guy. How come only mechanics get left holding the bag? If that's true, they should get paid commensurately more than the other guys to reflect the level of liability they hold (that the others don't).

Sounds like a call to a lawyer might help.