Thursday: Me and my old mom spend some days at her cabin, and as I was going to get some groceries, my engine started, idled, but repeatedly stalled when shifting into gear and tried pulling away, so I gave up on the shopping. I have had some trouble with my BBD carb for a while (I have a replacement just waiting), so I partly dismantled it and checked intake needle/float level and looked for clogged jets and so on, and checked up on all adjustments when assembling it again. Car started, idled, and seemed fine, but by then it was late in the day, so I left it there.
Friday: Next day we intended drive home, to pick up the mail. Car started, idled, but hesitated when engaging the gear, and stalled when trying to pull away. I tried repeatedly, and found that by milking the gas pedal while braking, I could put it in gear and drive. Could just be some goo from the fuel tank clogging up the jets, so I guessed it would clear out when driving. After a couple of miles we turned and limped back, the car was hopeless to drive. Knowing the carb was OK, I checked the timing and dizzy, and looked over every part I could think of. It started, idled and died. I have a lot of goo in my fuel tank, and I had a new fuel filter that I had intended to use for something else, but I used it to replace the old one, and in the process I also checked for cracked hoses sucking air. Started, idled and died. OK, clogged fuel line. Cannot do anything till tomorrow.
Saturday: There is no compressed air to clear the fuel line for miles around, so despite the temperature was only a couple of degrees above freezing, I took my bicycle and went to buy a poor man's manual air compressor: A garden pesticide spray container, you know those 5 litre plastic jars that you can pump up.
Cold. Very cold.
Yesterday: The spray jar's nozzle attachment accepted a piece of 5/16 " pipe, I pumped the can till the safety valve popped, jammed the pipe end into the fuel hose that I took off the fuel pump, and squeezed the trigger. Oh joy, the sound of bubbles from the fuel tank told me the line was cleared! Hmm, that bubbling stopped awfully quick. I squeezed the trigger again. Nothing happened. I vent around the car to open the fuel cap, I definitely smelled gas, I heard the sound of something guzzling out from under the car, I opened the fuel cap and got a hissing sound of escaping fumes, and I got down on all fours and looked under the car. Oh sh.., the epoxy I had used on those two small holes in the tank that I made when landing on a rock some years ago, had been blown away from the pressure in the tank, and the fuel was spurting out in two small sprays. Quicker than lightning, I cut open the side of a gallon-sized plastic can I had in the back of the car, and placed it under the leaking fuel tank. I have never jacked up a car and taken a wheel off in so short a time before, fire extinguisher by my side. I finally managed to stem the fuel flow with some epoxy glue, and left it to cure overnight.
When using the compressed air to check the fuel tank ventilating pipe, it turned out to be clogged solid, so I used some brake line and made a short new pipe.
Today: (Monday) I replaced the hose between tank and fuel line with fuel injection hose, and mixed a new batch epoxy to cover the area were the holes in the fuel tank was.
I bought a fuel filter/water separator some time ago, so I took the opportunity to fit it, using new fuel injection hose all around, and took my time to do some other small repairs and fixes. I lowered the car again, attached the battery cables, and turned the engine over to check for leaks. It started right away, and I cut it immediately and went to the engine compartment to check the hose connections. No leaks, the see-through bowl of the new fuel filter was filled immediately, an everything looked fine. I was going to take the car for a spin, so by impulse I checked the oil. Oh holy f..k!! The level was WAY up there on the stick, cannot be right. Checked again - OH NOOooo! I guess a broken fuel pump must have pumped gasoline into the engine oil, must be half a gallon there! Christ, what had happened if it had ignited inside the engine? I have some old parts at the cabin, and by chance I found a fuel pump, I think it is OK, I'll find out tomorrow.
Now the question is, how much damage has been done to the engine because of the diluted engine oil (synthetic)? Anyone out there having experienced that?
I'll report back tomorrow.
Olaf.
Let us know how it goes.
