LESSON 1: Things to check when rebuilding from a pile of parts.

allanv6gt · 05-12-2010, 10:47 AM

Had a little issue where I became stranded on the side of the road right after my rego check. Been build this car up from a bare shell using many parts and over many years.
So... Had itr ready to go, threw some petrol in, ran it in the garage and booked it in for the rego check. All went well, with only 1 minor issue (speedo cable unseated itself and stopped working).
But then, on the way home, it died........ Cranked over okay, so either no spark or no fuel. Fuel guage said a qtr of a tank, so must be spark.

Ah well, caught the bus home, gather some tools and parts (incl ignition bits), and threw in a jerry can for more fuel (just in case), and went back in the daily driver. Got back to the car (still there thankfully !!), and still failed to start.
Okay, easy things first....
1. check connections still connected - Yep
2. fuel was low and don;'t trust Ford gauges, so threw another 20lts into the tank. Crank, crank, crank, brrm brrrm brrm. And continued to brrm for another five minutes. WTF??? But the fuel guage says a qtr full, should be heaps. Grumble brumble, just get the thing home for now. Drive home and more bus trips to collect discarded daily driver.

At home, a quick read of the manual suggested the problem was with the fuel tank sender (other guages worked fine). I drained all the fuel from the old tank - was showing just over half with fuel beforehand to now a qtr full when empty (so....sender problem confirmed!!!). After a rummage in the shed, I found another tank yesterday and swapped it into the car.

And, before I went any further with the new tank, when still bone dry, I checked that it did indeed show 'EMPTY' when empty - correct.
Add in the drained fuel, now over a qtr full.
So, problem fixed.

Moral of the story
When assembling things from mountains of bits, check at each step. Make no assumptions about the correctness of all your guages. To do so might just leave you stranded on a cold rainy night in the middle of nowhere.

Lesson learned.
Experience is a wonderful thing after the event.

Grrrr........

caprispecial · 05-12-2010, 04:09 PM

I know what your saying as recently my capri had its maiden voyage (after five year rebuild) for roadworthy and reg. A wire that supplies power to the thermatic fan fell off causing the engine to boil in traffic. I was so nervous by the time I got there that I was shaking.

I also had codriver and mobile phone and plan "b" just in case.
My fuel guage reads nearly empty when the tank is full so I check it with auxillery guage (piece of hose).
You just dont get this type of involvement with modern cars aye.

cram72 · 05-12-2010, 06:23 PM

When I took my RS2000 on it;s maiden voyage I exited the vehicle triumphant after passing through regency park. I then walked through a puddle and saw rainbows, the oil sender was loose at the back of the dash and had been spraying oil all over my expensive trainers and jeans for 50KM, ruined but man did I laugh...

cosworthfreak · 05-12-2010, 06:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by allanv6gt

Got back to the car (still there thankfully !!)..

Had to laugh at this!

One of my biggest worries if I ever broke down.

allanv6gt · 05-12-2010, 10:02 PM

I have laughed about this as well, just not at the time.

Having been sooo careful to make sure all the nuts and bolts were up tight, and no suspect wiring to catch fire when I went out in it, and even taking the manuals along in case there were any 'discussions' about what it should look like (std or not)......
....... and then a dumbass thing like this happens to you. DOH !!

And modern cars ...I just wash, check the oil, add petrol, and chg the CDs in the stacker occasionally....and let someone else service them.

WOGBOY69 · 06-12-2010, 12:49 AM

hi mate

i hear you bro i realy do..iam just about to hit mine out on the road for the first time...and hmmmmmmmm i hope all goes well......