Well I finally decided today that I wanted to take my car to the track. Non of my friends could go so I decided to go there myself. I dont have a trailer so I said screw it Ill drive the car there. BAD IDEA!! The track is about 1hr and 15 min from my house. I was driving the car along the whole time, and it was running suprisingly well, I was crusin at like 90 and the Temp was good and the car drove pretty smooth. So i get all the way about 10 min from the track and as I get off the highway on the first stop sign the car dies out . I had to let it sit for like 5 minutes before it would start up. So I get it going and I kept up speed and right as I slow down to turn into the enterance of the track the car dies again . I waited 20 min and then started it up and nursed it into the enterance. I thought my plugs were fowled out so i asked one of the guys in a trailer if he had spark plugs and tools and he did (thank you). And I pulled a plug and it seemed ok to me. So I waited another 20 min and l stated it up again and I had to keep the speed up and RPMS up to keep it from dying. I got it on the highway and it was getting worse and worse and Bogging horribly when I gave it any gas and just running horrible, then it finally died out (even at a high speed) . So i pulled over and called a tow truck. $145 and 2 hours later Im at home.

What could be the culprit??

Symptoms:
-after extended periods of driving the car dies out at low RPMS (running rich?)
-Bogs horribly when any I give it any gas
-after sitting for a while the car runs decently for a little bit then gradually dies out again.


Some Ideas:
-Needs tuning and running rich for and hour straight will make it die out when slowed down?
-on 1 or 2 of the plug wires the metal piece insde the part that goes on spark plug came out of the boots so I might not be getting the spark on those cylinders?
-Bad mass air?
-Fowled 02's from running rich? (Can bad o2's make a car run that bad?)
-Computer too hot from being close to heater hoses?


*Weird Side Note:
I noticed yesterday (with 1/4 tank) that the fuel pump was a lot louder than usual. I got some gas and it quieted down to normal. After I got the car home from the track (with about 1/2 tank) the Pump is extreamly loud again. Any ideas on whats wrong with that, and if it might be the cause of the other problem.

Also I was driving the car yesterday for about 25 min (the longest I drove the car) and one time from a stop it died when i tried to accelerate, but didnt think anything of it.

Sorry for the long post, but Im just lost on this one. Any help is appreciated. Thanks

Chris

 

thats strange....

mine is doing the same EXACT thing right now. havent got a chance to look at it, but almost seems like a vaccumm leak to me

 

A vaccuum leak would gradually make the car run worse after running it over a period of time? Im still new to the whole car scene so im not sure how it all works. People on LS1tech suggested the gas tank not getting vented or a problem with the fuel pump. Can you explain the vaccuum leak idea?

 

Do you have cats on the car?

Pat...you ready to sell me that motor yet?

 

Check the fuel pressure, especially when its acting up. Is it a stock TPI fuel pump?

 

Sounds alot like a fuel pump problem to me.....

 

Yea i checked fuel pressure and it would start off a little low, then it would drop more and more. The pump is a brand new Walbro 255 lph pump. I ripped every thing apart and took out the pump and everything looked to be normal except for some cracks in the plastic part that surrounds the pump, but I doubt that it would cause the problem. The connections that I soldered are also exposed because the electrical tape that I put on it fell off because the gas disolved the adhesive. Im pretty sure the pump is bad, but I wonder why. I dont want to throw a new pump in there and have it go bad again. Any ideas on what could have caused it to go bad?

Here is some pics of the cracks in the plastic.



The pump

 

yes

and yes im serious

 

mine ended up being a vaccuum leak... with a vaccuum leak, the computer thinks the engine is running extremly lean, so what does it do? dumps more and more fuel in, which in turn starts to foul out plugs, becoming worse and worse making the car run rougher as time goes on

just my case, yours could be totally different

 

Well I pulled one plug and it looked fine to me, I should probably pull em all. My muffler is all brown which might indicate something? But I think it was because I was getting little fuel pressure. The pump i am almost positive is bad, Im just not 100% why it went bad. Possible the fact that the tape dissolved off of the connections and the wires were exposed in the gas tank.

 

Yea the pump could very well have shorted out the way the wires are exposed like that.

 

I figure as much...I didnt even think about the gasoline disolving the adhesive on the electrical tape. I am probably going to swap the pump, rewire the wires and wrap them in shrink tube and be done with it. I hope everything will be good after that. I finally got all the leaks fixed and everything else good then this happened. Hopefully I can get it back together by next weekend. Thanks for the help.

Chris

 

Well once you do, I'm still waiting to hear your thoughts on that steering rack from Hawk's. I can see that you hardly have any time on the car with the setup, maybe after you get more miles on it you can let me know what you think. Thanks,

Art

 

So far it hasnt been too bad after I fixed all the leaks and solved some rubbing issues. I still think there is some air in the system but Ive been occupied with this fuel pump problem. I wish I had a little more turning radius, but Its not life threatening. Honestly, its more of a hasle than its worth unless you need it for clearancing issues. I wish I would have never messed with the steering and just sent back the Kmember to hawks, but you live you learn.