Bill Ball

Maybe you will enjoy this saga of another DIY job that went sideways.

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So a local owner came over with his 84 to have the AC looked out. That it was not blowing cold was all he knew.

We were talking about things that can interfere with AC and decided to check out the heater control valve operation based on some observations he had about everyday non-AC vent temps being above ambient.

Sooooo...we pop off the air filter housing, and with an 84, the Air Fuel Meter comes off with it. We take the AFM off the filter housing and insert it back into the throttle and try to start the motor to observe the heater valve....sputter, cough, sputter, putt, sputter, crank, crank, crank, cough, crank, crank, crank, cough, crank.

Hmmmm...maybe the AFM's not seated...no. Maybe the plug is loose...no. Maybe the barn door is stuck...no. Maybe we should unplug the AFM and plug it back in...plug won't come off. Pry the plug housing wire off and remove the plug. The plug boot is somewhat brittle and torn and I can see the wires, two which have breaks in them. Bingo! (Although the wires do not appear to be touching.) Tear off the boot and tape up the wires and make a new boot with high-temp silicone tape. Plug the AFM back in...No go. Put EVERYTHING back together...no go. Same sputter, cough, crank, crank.

Aw, crap. I need to go somewhere in 2 hours and this guy is 50 miles from his home. What the H is going on here? I'm not real comfortable with AFM cars. I look around for vacuum lines or some other electrical connections we may have disturbed...everything looks intact.

Pull two spark plugs - they are dry. We have spark. Check injectors with EFI probe and they are firing. Hmmmm. Crack a fuel rail fitting slightly and there is pressure. Gas sprays out but it doesn't seem real vigorous. But it does spray out and continues to spray out as long as the fitting is cracked. Close that back up before I start a fire.

Go back to listen to the fuel pump as we crank it. I don't hear anything. The owner says he's never heard the pump. Well, they always make SOME noise if you check at the back of the car. Having been a student of Jim Bailey, I head to the CE panel. I pull the fuel pump relay and jumper 30 to 87. There is power at 30. The fuse is good. Go back and still hear nothing at the fuel pump.

Pull the fuel pump cover, peel back the electrical boots and confirm we are getting 12V and good ground. The pump is hot but not making a peep or buzz and I can feel no vibration. Pull the jumper wire and clamp the fuel hose from the full gas tank and crack the pump outlet fitting. Some gas drains, but not a whole lot. Maybe 3 or 4 ounces.

The pump must have just coincidentally gone south while we were removing the AFM. I go to my parts shelves and find I have a brand new Bosch pump. Since the old one is not making any noise at all, I decide not to even try the cheap (temporary) fix of reversing the wires to try to clear a jammed impeller. We install the new pump and the car fires right up after a few seconds.

This took about 2 hours of head-scratching consternation as to what could have gone wrong from pulling the AFM out (nothing). During that 2 hours I was not very confident we were going to find the cause. Also, it was in the mid-90s and we were out in the sun dripping sweat on the car. I didn't pay any attention to keeping hydrated and by the time this saga was over I was actually in rather bad shape. I nearly passed out at one point, my vision went very bright then dim, something I only experienced one other time after finishing a stint in a LeMons race car on a hot day. I got hydrated, felt better after sitting down for 20 minutes and finished work on the car. Later on I developed persistent foot and leg cramps that took hours to resolve despite hydrating with Gator Aid and eating mineral rich food.

What a day.

Sometimes things are just very coincidental. For me, this is not the first time and won't be the last. In the end, there was a lot of satisfaction gained from being able to get the owner back on the road...and with cold AC.

Dean_Fuller

Wow...Bill ! Glad your feeling better. At our age we can't do too much of that anymore before it goes south. When its that hot I'm working at least in the shade with a big shop fan blowing my hair..ummm hairs.. Like I was riding a bike with no helmet.

IcemanG17

L jet cars really are quite simple.....AFM is the biggie, can and does fail......the L jet brain itself is pretty stout.....TempII is often an issue (mine had temp I inside the AFM fail).....green wire is another common issue..... I also had a fuel pump issue, in a race of course.....

Glad to hear you fixed it......within your 2 hour window!!!!

GregBBRD

That just sounds like a normal day, to me.....

I just spent 4 solid days trying to figure out what was wrong with an ABS system.

Anything easy to find or fix gets done by someone else. I end up with the problems from hell, these days.

But I love it....gives me something to think about!

SeanR

That sounds like he was a lucky man having it die just where it did. You are a good man Bill.

Am doing the same thing today on an '87. Guy gets it to Rogers to pick up some relays and then it dies on him. Over the phone I have Rog and he jumper the pump, check voltage and all that jazz and nothing. Roger has a pump in stock so I head over at 8am this morning to work before it hits 187 degrees outside. Replace pump and try to start......nothing.

Fuse good, .294 volts at 30 bus. Pull cover off battery and check negative cable...nice and tight. Check positive cable......loose. Tighten up, car starts just fine.

Pump was original and the filter looked to be 24 years old so it's just as well we replaced it.

Later we are driving it and t-belt light goes off twice, so at the moment I'm doing a belt check, happily we moved the car to my air conditioned garage.

GlenL

Not unusual to have coincidences like this.

Old parts and the, especially, the old wiring are susceptible to failing when the car is touched at all. Just normal running or fixing something so there's more stress on a related part.

But more likely is the related failure like the one I'm taking a break from. Replaced rod bearings on my 944 and when I put it back together all the ATF in the power steering drained out. Gotta drop/install the rack and a fitting in the return line didn't like that.

GlenL

Bill by the hour, dude!

Mrmerlin

I had one of these 3 weeks ago,
82 shows up for a PS leak,
I put a rack in the car 3 years ago and am being told the rack is leaking.

SO as I find the hi pressure line is dripping from the hard line to flex hose just enough to drop down and blow back onto the rack boot.

Anyway as the new hose is being ordered we smell gas and so walk to the back of the car, sure enough,

A long stream of gas is flowing across the floor,
jack up the back of the car and begin draining the gas tank as its cracked at one of the girdle supports also the tank looks slightly swollen.

Gas tank drained car pushed outside waiting for new used tank to arrive,
Install new tank with new fuel filter and hoses fill wil 1 gallon of the gas and it runs, great.

I install the PS hi pressure hose,
as I am checking the belt tension the fan belt for the fan smog pump neatly separates from under the crank pulley,
Huh this is a new Porsche belt , smog pump is seized the fan bearings are seizing damn what next.

Order new fan bearings remove old fan clutch from the bearings the nut is very tight to remove.
get the new 21 inch belt as we are gonna bypass the smog pump for now, test fit the 21 in. belt ,
great, it fits.

Install the new bearings and put old worn fan clutch back into the bearings,
tighten the nut down to just past snug and the nut snapped the clutch fan shaft clean off.
Great now we need a fan clutch.

Owner orders fan clutch wait 4 days, new used part arrives fan clutch is not the right part,
turns out we have a 93 mm version not the early 85mm version ,
Order new used fan clutch,
still waiting for part to arrive,
Now owner wants to swap in new tie rods that were a Lilllie loose when the rack was put in,
so those are on order now, car has been here for 3 weeks and counting.
No telling whats coming next with job

Bill glad your feeling better its been rather hot out here as well,
Stay hydrated.

86'928S MeteorGrey

It's so important to stay hydrated and also keep your blood sugar up... Water and some fruit before long stints in the heat are mandatory. When things don't go smoothly and you also have a deadline, it raises stress levels too. Glad you got it all wrapped up so completely.

Please take care of yourself. There's only one of you Bill.

linderpat

great story! I love these stories. Always leave a little blood when wrestling with a shark is what I say.

TYP928S

You 928 Gurus best take better care of yourselves. In light of this past month, we (the community) can't afford to lose any more of you guys.......

Yourself first, garage queens second.

jon '84 US Auto

Jerry Feather

Neat story, Bill, but I am wondering how that fixed the AC.

Jerry Feather

Bill Ball

I don't want to get into the AC. It was not too straightforward either. I started out with R12 and ended up with R134a. We never did get to that heater valve, but the AC eventually blew cold and I sent him on his way while I went inside to do battle with my foot and leg cramps.

Jerry Feather

Thanks Bill. I admire your dedication to helping others with their sharks.

Jerry Feather

Dean_Fuller

Leaving blood after working on a 928 was never an option....it just happens ...every single time. I could check oil and need stitches.