[Spridgets] My car didn't start either - different reason.

[Tim Collins]

This week will be another with temps in the mid 90's or above. I plan to
drive the Sprite around (and around and around) the subdivision until it is
nice and toasty warm. Then I'll stop at home, wait 10 minutes, and then try
to restart the car. My expectation is that it won't start.

Then I'll start putting cool rags on the fuel filter, carbs, and pump to
see if I can bring the car back to life by cooling these components. I'm
thinking I won't be able to isolate a single offending component - exactly
where the fuel is turning to vapor, but that would be a nice find. If
for some reason the car quits mid route, the walk home will be short and
I'll save a $70 tow. The pump is new. I probably haven't run 5 tanks of
fuel through it.
Stay tuned. . . .
Tim

On Sat, Jul 4, 2020 at 8:39 AM Tim Collins <thcollin at mtu.edu> wrote:

> Hi guys,
> Vapor Lock
> I was out for a ride yesterday in my 1966 Sprite to view damage caused by
> the failure of two dams in my community. This meant driving through
> subdivisions at low speed. Also, I stopped for about 10 minutes (engine
> off) to talk to an acquaintance about damage to his home. I had a little
> trouble restarting the car, but it did start.
>
> On the way home I stalled the engine at a stop light on a 4 lane artery
> (with center turn lane) and it wouldn't restart. Fortunately, traffic was
> light and I had an opportunity to push the car into the service drive of a
> strip mall. There happened to be a tree/shade at the entrance so I stopped
> there and opened the hood and waited for the car to cool. (I suspected
> vapor lock.)
>
> The (new) fuel pump (Airtex E88016E) wasn't "tick - ticking", but I
> attributed that to the plunger not being able to trigger the electronics
> because of the fuel lock. I reminded myself that banging on the pump
> wouldn't work because there are no mechanical points in this pump.
>
> The air temp was near 90 deg. and I was parked on an asphalt lot - it was
> hot! I found my way home with the help of a good Samaritan. (I'm one of the
> last people in the world not to own a cell phone) Several hours later I
> went back with my wife - the Sprite still wouldn't start. I called a
> flatbed tow truck ($70 - about a 3 mile haul ) and got the car home. At
> home I turned the key and heard the familiar tick, tick. Shortly
> thereafter, I tried starting the car. After a few tries things got cleared
> out and it started.
>
> Troubleshooting
> The fuel in the tank is from last Fall (could have been a Winter blend)
> Shell V-Power NiTRO+ Premium. Probably too volatile for this heat. A fill
> up with Summer blend should help greatly. This is my #1 suspect for the
> cause of the problem.
>
> I suspect that the vapor lock occurred either: 1) in the fuel bowls, 2) or
> in the fuel filter (WIX 33031, metal can type), 3) or in the fuel line
> connecting the carbs (low chance) 4) or some combination of these. The fuel
> pump is in a "cool" (factory) location so not a suspect. Fuel lines from
> the tank to carbs are in factory locations - away from the exhaust pipe.
>
> The fuel filter is about the size of the float bowl on the SU carbs. I'm
> wondering if the size is too large thus allowing heat soak while the fuel
> spends too much time in the filter? What do you think?
>
> I should have walked to the grocery store in the strip mall and bought a
> gallon of water to try and cool the float bowls and fuel filter. Anyone had
> any success doing this?
>
> Your thoughts??
>
> ps: Someone stopped and said I needed a clothes pin on the fuel line.
> Evidently some people believe in that as a fix. I can't imagine any science
> behind doing that.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://autox.team.net/pipermail/spridgets/attachments/20200705/3230848c/attachment.htm>