What it cost me to own a $500 car, part 54

"StudyStudyStudy" (jesterjin) 01/07/2019 at 12:05 • Filed to: None

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Catching up, I’ve been working on my new fuel system.

The problem: Fuel starvation/aeration seemingly half an hour into running the car. I sent the pump to DW for a R&R and they found nothing wrong, being a good company they did send a new pump along. When I went to install it, I noticed not much flow from the line feeding the fuel pump compared to when I pulled the fitting at the tank. Inline filter was suspect. I pulled the filter to find it about 1/3 clogged.

This is even after some cleaning. Some fine particles, and some big particles from when I drained the tank and filled a container. Fail/win I suppose. The fact the filter kept the pump clean is definitely a plus, but I was kind of embarassed that wasn’t the first thing I checked. Definitely answers the question as to why the car would run ok after it sat. It wasn’t cooling of the pump, it was the particles being redistributed back into the cell. After about 30-40 minutes depending on the amount of fuel in the tank it would all be sucked towards the outlet again.

In for nickel in for a dollar, right? I was already invested in this with the ridiculous amount of driving I did to acquire the tank.

Once in a while amazon does weird things where they have returns or low stock and they mess with the price, I got two tie rods for less than half price this way, similarly I found a pump assembly I wanted for half price so I bought the spectra 3369m. This is for the V6 which is what I wanted as it does not have the built in fuel pressure regulator, but boasts the same output of 50gph. However I was not sure if I could trust the rating, so I bought a racetronix LS1 fuel pump kit. However, it seems not only is the missing fuel pump regulator the only difference, they also removed the jet pump on the V6 model. The racetronix page waxes poetic on the benefits of the system, so off I went to buy a V8 housing. I cheaped out here since I only needed the physical housing and didn’t care about the electronics. So all in about $250 for everything.

Now as aftermarket companies do, everything was a little different. Some changes minor, a little clearance too tight here, a little height loss there, not a big deal since the pump is retained by a rubber sleeve and is just a matter of sliding it up and down and using a little bit of lubricant to get it to seat.

Some changes a bit more major like increasing the hose size of the return to the same size as the feed (somewhat of a plus in my book) and redoing the electronic fitting size....The problem was that the factory used the same size terminals for the fuel level (float) sender to send power to the pump. Given the amperage draw the aftermarket companies decided to change that and go to a much bigger terminal for the fuel pump. Racetronix did something a bit in the middle where they used nice thick gauge wire, but left the tiny terminals as there pump is a plug and play for the stock system. I was so excited to buy parts from an american company that had instructions in english and step by step pictures, but it seemed they didn’t think anyone would replace the factory system with an aftermarket one.

The dilemna was do I use the plug from aftermarket which is thinner gauge with bigger terminals, do I use the supplied plug from racetronix and buy another top with the thinner terminals, do I try to make a splice to combine the thick gauge with the big terminal, or do I try and just put on the big terminal on the big wire.

I have the correct tool to get these on, but finding the terminal was another problem. Resorting to sorting through catalogs of generic plug manufacturers seemed daunting. So the decision came to reuse the terminals. I’ve become quite adept at undoing these now. Involves cutting the wire, grabbing a few strands and pulling them through, then inserting a tiny screw driver to pry the prongs up. Apply too much force and you can snap the connector, so care is needed.

In the end I managed to snap one, and get two to crimp with one more as a spare. All in the sake of peak power fuel delivery efficiency.

Install came next. In some ways I knew I was always going to have to replace my fuel cell. I made it so that it was hung on hangers and then slid in with a hinged hatch covering the gap. Removing some seam sealer and undoing 4 bolts let me drop the tank. My plan was to utilize the main frame and the top brackets, but after test fitting we found it would sit really low, like lower than the diff. My friend convinced me to integrate the mounts to the frame, and looking online I found people would bend the tabs on the straps up to gain some additional clearance.

First iteration. A real slap on the forward moment. The fore to aft length was too long so it would not slide into the brackets. A bit of adjustment and here is the result.

The piece slides in in a very specific orientation. You also have to push the rear skirt of the car to fit the straps, but everything bolts in and can be removed as required.

Also came time to wiring up the fuel gauge. The GM one is an odd 40-250 ohm range. As most people don’t use the GM range finding a gauge that could do the range was a real challenge.

Found this guy on ebay for a reasonable price. The dip switch diagram was backwards, but it seems to do the full sweep.

Also getting quite good at this wiring thing if I say so myself.

Was also surprised to find that this gauge is a bit more than advanced then I realized. Not only does it dance when you start the car, it also has a nice LED illumination which makes it look real smart. As the gauge also gets low the brand name changes to a yellow color and I think it even starts to buzz the motor.

No more hoses hanging out the back, and the noise is quite reduced. A little concerning as I’ve grown accustomed to the whine telling me all is fine, but this has its own merits.

R154 package sale - -2100

Fuel tank - 50

Fuel baffle bucket and pump - 100

Racetronix pump - 150

Steel - 50

Fuel gauge - 50

Total spent - 31282

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > StudyStudyStudy 01/07/2019 at 12:10

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This series has the added bonus of reminding me that I’m not good at anything except changing the oil on my car 

DucST3-Red-1Liter-Standing-By > StudyStudyStudy 01/07/2019 at 12:19

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I think a studystudystudy and binky crossover is needed!

Spamfeller Loves Nazi Clicks > StudyStudyStudy 01/07/2019 at 12:24

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Nice, clean wiring job! RootWyrm approved. (The highest approval you can get!)

One thing I would draw attention to is the gauge of the wires on your gauge. They look to be a bit too heavy. So it might be slightly off. Definitely make sure you calibrate from the sender connectors.

benjrblant > Spamfeller Loves Nazi Clicks 01/07/2019 at 12:45

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the bluemazda2 seal of approval would like to have a word with you.

Spamfeller Loves Nazi Clicks > benjrblant 01/07/2019 at 12:54

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Nope.

I’m not giving up my bill rate. Nuh-uh.

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > benjrblant 01/07/2019 at 13:13

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RIP in peas

StudyStudyStudy > Spamfeller Loves Nazi Clicks 01/07/2019 at 14:56

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Hmm didn’t think about that, but that makes sense. Thanks for the tip! I’ll have to see how good it is about reading the level by running it try one of these days.

StudyStudyStudy > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 01/07/2019 at 14:57

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I’ve done 3 engine swaps and only 1 real oil change, so you may be ahead of me in oil change experience haha.

StudyStudyStudy > DucST3-Red-1Liter-Standing-By 01/07/2019 at 14:58

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Oh man, they put me to shame. I imagine if I had my own space and time, I could find a way to up my game, but the engineering and overbuilding they do is  hilariously top notch.

Spamfeller Loves Nazi Clicks > StudyStudyStudy 01/07/2019 at 15:22

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Indeed! It’s something everyone misses right up until they have to work on a wiring harness that’s got differential signals and resistance sensitive wires. And then you never fucking forget it again .

Should just need to make sure it reads correctly by setting up the expected resistance values where it plugs into the sender though. I just don’t remember if these are low-resistance empty or full. (If it reads slightly low when full, who cares, right? ;)

StudyStudyStudy > Spamfeller Loves Nazi Clicks 01/07/2019 at 15:48

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Right, I imagine the room for error is quite generous in this application. The concern would be for things where voltage, ms duration, and resistance would have an affect ala injectors and spark potentially, more so injectors I imagine. I think they are 16 gauge compared to 20 gauge that is pretty standard at the thickest. These wires are a bit special in that they are oversized in the outer coating for temperature resistance.

DucST3-Red-1Liter-Standing-By > StudyStudyStudy 01/07/2019 at 15:58

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you sell your self short! Always fun to read your stuff!

Spamfeller Loves Nazi Clicks > StudyStudyStudy 01/07/2019 at 16:25

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Oh, most definitely. I mean, you’re talking a huge range. The concern would be the wires creating a false floor, I think. (I’m rusty on this stuff because I always greenfield with very precise data, or same-as-stock.)

Mostly the shitty wires are ABS and knock sensors though. Buick W-bodies use twisted pair for the wheel sensors, which are integral to the hub. It’s partially sub-harnessed, which doesn’t mean a goddamn thing when you have to pull all the shit apart for the third time because at some point it got rotated EXACTLY one damn turn on ONE side and now it randomly throws an ABS soft-code going down the road.

Jacket, amusingly, I’ve never had a problem with. Even when I go really crazy, which I often do. Nobody likes having to fix rub shorts. Even guys being paid actual instead of book.