My car just makes me laugh sometimes.

[Subliminal]

So, I've been driving around this 86 GTS I bought. Trying to save some money on gas, but it keeps up with these silly problems.

The three most recent are:

1. The Radiator. The thing has a pinhole in it, on the passenger side, about 3/4 the way up. Funny thing about it is that the pinhole actually sprays a nice steady stream of antifreeze onto the distributor cap, after you cut the engine. Might do it other times too, but i know it doesn't do it at idle and it does do it after you shut it down.

2. Fuel smell. Bad. I read around and it seems the most common occurance of this is when you have bad rubber lines at the fuel rail. Basically, when you're driving, everything is kosher. But when you idle at a light, it gets REALLY stinky, especially with the heater on. So, that's my next item to check.

3. I have no left blinkers. The bulbs are both ok. When you turn on the headlights, the blinker indicator lights up on the dash, whether the blinker is on or not. Which also doesn't matter, since it doesn't do anything if you turn it on or not. I've read that a common problem resulting in this condition is the rear ground on the drivers side of the blinker wiring. I'll have to check that.

Cracks me up. I guess, in hindsight, i should have just kept driving my truck every day. It might have cost a lot on gas, but it never really had any problems...and it has more miles!

Oh well...what's a guy to do? ;)

[slasky]

The bad fuel smell could be from the charcol canister.

[cordes]

I just fixed a leak right at the fuel rail on my shadow. Holy moly, was that thing sucking gas. I could only smell it at stop lights too, but when I looked under the hood to see where it was coming from I could see a steady spray at the rail.

I was luck the darn thing did not catch on fire.

[turbomopar87]

3. I have no left blinkers. The bulbs are both ok. When you turn on the headlights, the blinker indicator lights up on the dash, whether the blinker is on or not. Which also doesn't matter, since it doesn't do anything if you turn it on or not. I've read that a common problem resulting in this condition is the rear ground on the drivers side of the blinker wiring. I'll have to check that.

my daytona has the exact same problem, except its right side. None of them work. Let me know how you make out with fixing that, i have given up on mine unless i here something new to try. I haven't checked out the ground yet though...

[looneytuner]

klIf you don't fix the gas leak, at least buy a good video camera so you can sell the video when it catches fire. Drive in a gas station and film everybody running. The two fuel lines at firewall, the fuel rail or an injector leaking.
FIX IT NOW!!!!

[Lee'sdaytona]

Damn Damon....I had a TI radiator that was in pretty good shape...I think it had a slight leak at the filler neck...but I threw it out after the TII conversion...figuring who would ever need one around me? Good luck getting it all fixed up. By the way, I don't know if you know about the 2 junkyards in PA...I frequent them and there are usually td's there--In Morrisville....one is called Pick a part and the other is U pull it...(origional names huh?) but if your interested, I could give you directions
-Lee

[Subliminal]

Lee, thanks! I'll hit you up for those addy's sometimes. I usually go to the one in New Brunswick and the one in Jamesburg.

Well, I left work, walked into the parking lot, popped the hood, and hunched inside the car to start it. When i was hunched in the cab, i could see a little bit under the now-open hood. When I started that baby, the spray from one of the rubber hoses must have been putting out about 3 gallons a minute. That was one impressive stream. Anyway, the lines were plenty long, so i just cut about 1 inch off and refastened it. Now that's solved. I think I'm going to nab the rad/ic combo off my gold car and stick on this one for a while. it's a recored t2 setup. Should work scrumptiously.

d

[87glhs232]

Anyway, the lines were plenty long, so i just cut about 1 inch off and refastened it. Now that's solved.
d

I would'nt call it 'solved'. The rubber you cut back to could be just as bad as the ends. It could leak again very soon. Do yourself a favor and replace them!

[looneytuner]

plus one!!!!! You're griving me crazy driving a time bomb......tick, tick,tick
Hello??? Homeland Security, There's an incendiary car in NJ.
PLEEESE fix it. I'm having a nervous breakdown worrying.

[turbomopar87]

FIX IT NOW!!!!

When I put in my new motor I got both lines (cut to correct lengths)and all 4 hose clamps from Advanced Auto...the total was under $3.00...and it took all of 3 minutes. DO IT!:yuck:

[dwh4784]

My friend had an 86 Lebaron GTS he got for $100, it was such a funny car. It would die at random times, causing us to burst up laughing. We called it the "LeBeater"

[Tony Hanna]

I've gotta agree with everybody about replacing the fuel lines. It's good insurance against a fire. Be sure to get the "fuel injection hose" for the high pressure side. I've used the regular stuff in the past, but it's really not rated for that much pressure and probably isn't safe.
Good Luck,

[Subliminal]

Well, basically here's what going to happen tomorrow:

Since I'm robbing the rad/ic off my golden car project, I might as well grab a few other things as well. The first of which will be my super-snazzy hogged out fuel rail, adjustable regulator, gauge, +20s, and brand new rubber lines.

Poor golden car. I wonder how hard it is going to be to swap all this stuff back during the summer, so I can drive a vert.

I'd like to take out the wiring harness and all, and swap it back and forth across cars, but I couldn't get the LM wiring out of the 85 when I pulled that harness, so I cut the wires right by the passenger side of the firewall.

Other than that, I see the clutch cable being the only bummer.

Anyway, no fuel spraying anywhere right now. 'tis all safe, fellas!

d

[cordes]

I've gotta agree with everybody about replacing the fuel lines. It's good insurance against a fire. Be sure to get the "fuel injection hose" for the high pressure side. I've used the regular stuff in the past, but it's really not rated for that much pressure and probably isn't safe.
Good Luck,


+1 for using EFI hose. It is well worth the extra 5-6 bucks to have a hose that is rated for the pressure we run.

55PSI +10-12PSI while in boost is going to be at least 2-3 times what the regular stuff is rated at.

[dodgeman87]

Fix fuel problem as soon as possible. Also your lights problem sounds like a bad ground. Try grounding the sockets with a piece of wire and see if the problem stops.

[Tony Hanna]

+1 for using EFI hose. It is well worth the extra 5-6 bucks to have a hose that is rated for the pressure we run.

55PSI +10-12PSI while in boost is going to be at least 2-3 times what the regular stuff is rated at.

Yeah, I used the low pressure stuff to hook up an extra injector on my first TD. It was a pretty long run of rubber line. Looking back, I count myself lucky it didn't split and burn the car down. I'd say the only thing that saved it was that it didn't stay that way for long. I'd hate to think what would happen under that kind of pressure with some age on the hose.

[Aries_Turbo]

lowes has an assorment of fuel line.... 200-300psi working pressure i think. good price too.

Brian

[Tony Hanna]

That's good information. I'll have to remember that.