Monday was pretty much allocated to trying to figure out what to do about that fuel leak at the banjo fitting. I think the washers I have on order will fix that, though, as long as they aren't too thick and then cause an issue with clearance with the firewall. The guy at NukePerformance told me the copper washers will work, but I need to lube the threads on the bolt going into the end of the fuel rail and REALLY crank down on it to tighten it. He estimates around 120nm, which is 88.5 ft/lbs. So I guess it depends on what those new aluminum washers look like as to what method I will try first.
Since I was already slapped around with the fuel leak, I decided to go ahead and take a stab at that stuck brake bleeder screw. Figured I might as well get 100 percent pissed off today if it was going to be another problem........ I mounted the knuckle, hub, and the brake hardware so I would have the caliper solidly mounted before putting a wrench to the bleeder screw. Used a 10mm offset box wrench so I had as much purchase as possible on the screw, and gave it a tug. Loosened right up for me, with barely a whimper. I guess a couple of days soaking it with PB Blaster and tapping it with the hammer did the trick. So I was able to push the caliper pistons back and then install the new brake rotor and pads. So now I've just got the driver's side front hub and brakes to do. I may start on that on Tuesday even if those banjo washers come in. I'm not sure how long that banjo fitting will be leaking gasoline and how low the pressure needs to drop before it stops. I may have to crack open a hose fitting to relief the pressure completely so everything can dry out more quickly. I feel like I'm really bucking fate and skirting around just torching that car with this fuel line stuff.... All it would take is a little tiny spark at the wrong time. But I'm thinking (on the positive side) that those open fuel lines going to the passenger side fuel tank were pretty likely the cause of the gasoline smell all along. Excluding the leaking fuel injector early on, of course.
But now that has me thinking about the passenger side fuel tank. I doubt Aaron ever really filled up my gas tanks while he had my car, and certainly neither did Harwood, so I wonder if it's been dry all this time? When I had the fuel pumps running on Monday, the passenger side was gurgling like crazy, so I'm wondering what exactly would happen if the driver side was the only one with gasoline in it, and I then start up the pumps with the fuel lines set up correctly. I'm wondering if perhaps some fuel gets pumped over to the passenger side from the driver's side in a case like that to try to balance both tanks. I didn't think to look at the fuel gauge to see if it changed any.
Speaking of which, how in the world did my fuel gauge even work at all? I believe BOTH tanks have level sensors in them, and there is just no way that both tanks had the same amount of fuel in them. Guess I've still got lots more to learn about this stuff.
Got those washers in today for that banjo fitting, so I went ahead and tackled that. Wasn't very much pressure in the fuel line, so I guess it does leak down after a period of being inoperative. The washers seemed way too big in diameter for the application, but I had them, and wanted to use them, so whatever.... Gotta do what I gotta do...
I probably could have gotten the copper crush washers to work had I just really cranked down on that banjo bolt, but since these washers seem to be holding fine, then I'll go with them. If they develop problems later on, then it will be back to the copper washers. Just want this fuel leak problem licked...
But the worst part was that the fitting seemed further back than with the copper washers, and was actually touching the firewall now. I wasn't real comfortable with that, so I just bit the bullet and broke out the Dremel to take a chunk out of the firewall. I'll see if I can find something to touch that up later so there isn't that ugly gaping hole sitting there. Maybe some sort of black duct tape or something similar. Maybe even making the hole much more uniformly circular and finding some sort of black plastic recessed cap or something similar to JB Weld into there. I'm sure something will come up for a fix.
Anyway, I had the camcorders running, just in case the car went up in flames during the SMOKE TEST. A hundred years from now I might have found watching something like that on a video humorous. Anyway, I just had the fuel pump itself running for a while, and it built up pressure pretty quickly. I checked all of the fittings, lines, injectors, etc., and didn't see even the slightest fuel leak. So I figured I might as well crank it up and see what happens.
Now it was interesting to me to note that the car seemed to idle and rev up MUCH better than before. Kind of odd, since all I did was straighten out the fuel system. So I'm wondering if there was something subtle going on with the fuel system affecting the tune and how it was running. I couldn't rev up the engine quickly and release the gas pedal suddenly before without the car just dropping on it's face and stalling. But now it handles it just fine. Beats me....
Just to see what would happen, I used HPTuners to command the PCM to go into CLOSED LOOP MODE. The car had been running in OPEN LOOP the entire time, and I wanted to see what would happen when the actual tune was used putting the oxygen sensors in the loop. Pretty much died right away, so obviously something is wrong somewhere in the tune, or whatever the tune is looking for in CLOSED LOOP.
In any event, I can now pull out the fuel injectors and send them off to be inspected for gunk from the unfiltered fuel going through them, and also get the fuel pump out (after emptying the fuel tank) and off to Lonnie's Performance to be modified. Then while the fuel rails are off, I can relocate that MAP sensor from in back of the intake manifold to up in front somewhere. Just have to figure out some vacuum plumbing for the MAP sensor and a line running to the fuel pressure regulator. I will likely need another vacuum line for that modified fuel pump, since I seem to recall it activates that second booster pump when 2 or 3 pounds of boost is detected, do that indicates to me that it probably triggers off of positive pressure being detected in the intake. So somehow I've got to get three new vacuum lines available. I don't think I can do anything with the vacuum hookup the old MAP sensor is using, so I'll likely just leave that sensor in place anyway.
Maybe by mid to late April my car will be on the road again. Hopefully I won't find something else wrong that will try to "brick wall" me.
I know you have put a clearance hole in the wall but I have an idea that you might want to consider. You will have that rail off again when you send out the enjectors so if you have a spare banjo bolt you might try grinding it so the edge will clear the wall and if it will then you can patch the wall before the enjectors come back.
Figgure 1 is the problem and Figure 2 is my effort at showing how the bolt can be altered to give the wall clearance. Even if you take away half of the flat for a wrench or socket you will still be able to torque the bolt down.
Yes, I see what you mean. Actually a more narrow head on the bolt itself would probably help. But what is done is done. The hole is in the firewall so there isn't any need to do anything more with the fuel rail and fitting. I am talking to some suppliers of recessed sheet metal and panel plugs to see if they have something that will work for me in that hole. If I can get that hole rounded out better and get a recessed plug flexible enough, I should be able to JB Weld it into that hole and make it look much better. Unfortunately the firewall isn't exactly a flat surface there, so I will need to form something to fit flush all the way around. If not, well, I have a roll of black duct tape on order....
To get the hole cleaned up drill a hole in a piece of wood that is bigger than the plug hole you need. Then get some playdoe or modeling clay and put it on the firewall. This will allow you to ignore the shape of the firewall. Now you can mount the wood piece flat over the hole you have. Now get a bit for the dremel that has a rasp or file end and use the smooth shaft to run around the hole in the wood template. That should give you a betteer looking hole and if you size it right the plug you are suggesting should work.
Actually I used a side cutting bit in my dremel to cut the hole you see there. But yeah, having a template would be helpful. Only problem is that it's pretty tight back there, so not a lot of wiggle room to get fancy. Putting a piece of wood and still being able to get a dremel back there might be a challenge.
Since I now have the fuel being filtered before going to the fuel injectors, I've been running the car an hour or so periodically to drain the fuel tanks that way. Kind of comforting hearing the car rumbling in the garage while I do other stuff in the garage or around the yard. Coolant temp doesn't seem to get above 195 and no fuel leaks spotted anywhere. There is a slight coolant leak right at the petcock, though. It was there a while back when I first ran the car for a spell, so I tightened the petcock fitting and that seemed to make it better, but not perfect yet. Might need another eighth turn maybe.
Been checking the oil and it looks just as clean as when I changed it not that long ago. I'm not sure why it was so black when I got it home from Aaron's. Seems odd to have been that dark with only 400 miles put on it and supposed to have been changed by him at least three times.
I should have the gas tank drained enough by early next week to pull out the fuel pump and send it off to be modified. I'll be pulling out the fuel injectors at the same time to send them off to be inspected. Need to figure out some vacuum plumbing in the meantime, but once that stuff mentioned above being sent out comes back and gets put back in, it should be time to start on the tuning.
Location: 25 miles south of Boston, MA. Also have a house in Dunedin FL.
Posts: 1,927
Name : Andy Anderson
This is good news Rich! At least when you do it yourself, you know it's done, you know it's done the way you want it done, and you learn detailed info about all of the different aspects of the car. If you have to leave something "undone" while waiting on parts or something, you always go back to it and finish it up. From the tone of your posts you seem to be very confident and satisfied about those areas you've worked on. Little by little, it's ALL getting done, and it should be a BEAST when it's finished!
Andy Anderson
Yeah, I'm definitely learning a LOT as I go. Not that this is really what I wanted to be doing, but I didn't see any other acceptable alternatives presenting themselves. Between Chris Harwood, Aaron Scott, and all the parts and tools I have had to buy after their "workmanship", I guess I have spent at least twice what I had planned on doing this project. As Aaron said to me on the phone one day "Rich, your car was a piece of sh!t when it got here, and it was a piece of sh!t when it left." So Harwood turned it into a "piece of sh!t" in the 11 months that he had it, and Aaron didn't do enough, by his own admittance, to change that situation in the 14 months he had the car.
So yeah, I have to play the clean-up crew, I suppose....
Guess I've still got lots more to learn about this stuff.
I'll see if I can find something to touch that up later so there isn't that ugly gaping hole sitting there. Maybe some sort of black duct tape or something similar. Maybe even making the hole much more uniformly circular and finding some sort of black plastic recessed cap or something similar to JB Weld into there. I'm sure something will come up for a fix.
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