Sunday, July 24, 2011

We fixed it, well after we broke it even worse but in the end it got fixed.

After getting a box full of parts (including extra o-rings that we didn't need but new wouldn't be included if we didn't buy them) and since the weather decided to cooperate today we figured we'd get to work.

Since we knew that we had to replace the injectors we didn't bold the plenum back down so we figured it would be pretty quick.
According to the the manufacture service manual take off the plenum, unscrew the fuel input and return, remove 4 bolts and it pulls right up. Of course not. No matter how hard we pulled it wasn't budging. So maybe we could remove the retaining clips and the fuel injectors will pop right off the rails without them right. Nope, but with a little extra leverage from a big wrench they did start to pop off one at a time.

Doesn't look bad for 20+ years old. Where could the skilled craftsman who made this fine piece be from?
of course the fuel rail was fine the problem were the injectors that were still stuck on the engine.
Nothing a screwdriver, lineman pliers, swearing, and a bit of finesse couldn't fix.
Put the new injectors on the rails, put them back on the engine, persuade them to go in their place with a little help from the dead blow hammer, and put on the gaskets.
Put on the plenum and tighten them up. Realize we forgot reconnect the fuel lines to the rail, take off the plennum fight with the fuel lines, launch one of the fuel line o-rings under the fuel rail. Retrieve the o-ring with the skills learned from Operation. Get the fuel lines connected. Put the plenum back on and tighten it down. Connect the throttle body to the plenum. Tighten the 2 screws to spec and

Crack

Broke the plenum where the throttle body connects to it.
That hole is not good, so it meant it was time for a trip to the Summit Pick N Pull. Not something we really wanted to do today but the beauty of GM V6's is there are always a good selection in the yards.

When we pull up to the Pick N Pull saw a sign that our luck might be changing. I peer across the lot and see a rather Curvy looking Swede.
For Sale even
Found us a nice 2.8 Celebrity
Got it home bolted it all back together again, with all the extra practice we seem to have gotten this down. No cracks this time and fired it up. Starts with no problems which was an improvement. Went to pull the throttle and it actually startled me. The car has never revved so freely. The Car which has always grumbled like an old grumpy man, is sounding less old grumpy mannish.(not sure if its sounding less old or less grumpy) And as it warmed up and relearned how to idle it sounded even healthier.

So it looks like we finally figured out what was the problem the last race. The problem was that the Fuel pump was weak and not giving much fuel pressure, but what little fuel pressure it was giving the fuel injectors were not always giving the fuel to the engine, and even if some fuel made it into the cylinder there was no guarentee that there would be spark to ignite the fuel. Of course being that the car ran 14 hours like that makes us wonder what it will be like on the track this year.

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