Ok today wanted to take sunny for it's annual safety inspection.I had it ready and fluids good,tires etc.I go to start it and turns over,over and struggles to start!I know where the problem lies and just hoping it will run for this trip up the road.Well finally running it runs for a minute or two and dies.My thoughts are well let's go simple and just replace my fuel filter as I KNOW my fuel pump is going,and gas is OLD but had seafoam in the tank.I remove the fuel filter and my gah the fuel smell was well old bad stale gas and who knows what my tank,pump and strainer are suffering.I cleaned my garage floor and jacked the car back up all four on stands.Drop the tank with almost 5 gallons of gas(heavy as crap) too.I remove the lock ring and my goodness the strainer is all gooed up with debris and the gas was nasty orange colored and the stink.I drained the tank into a five gallon bucket and above shows inside tank actually nice and CLEAN,the strainer is toast,and sending unit is chalky and it is defective gauge read full all the time.SO I have sourced a new pump,strainer,lock ring, and bad news senders are hard to find.Napa,autozone,oriellys,even rockauto does NOT carry this anymore?So I found a company shepard auto parts that has a sender for 74.00 new and this part is specific to EACH car,check your specs if you buy one!!!I will tally up my cost and share ALL the parts I buy and where and will fix this next week to get my car inspected so I can attack the rear end restoration work planned.This problem forced me to start working on it and actually the pump and sender were planned already but,not like this.I am not fixing,repairing anyone else's stuff until sunny is past the point on my planned and unplanned work as of today.Ron I also smell like old gas but a shower and I will be good.Updates will be next week once I tackle step 2..
Reminds me when I pulled the tank out of my convertible. 14 year old gas all over my hands and clothes.. It made a mess, I had to use the fuel tank out of my parts car because the original tank started to rust out where the back seat is. When I was buying a new fuel pump and sending unit I couldn't find anywhere that had a sending unit. I checked that shepard auto parts site and there is none available for the 84 year. Just my luck! >:o
Yeah when I was searching yesterday for the fuel tank sending unit and found that the generic auto stores had zero I was getting worried.I am super tired and once I get some sleep and time to do more research on this subject I will be linking or sharing info as WE all do have to consider these parts are becoming obsolete.Please tell me what you have cav/bird and engine and if I find anything I will post up the info.I can always go to my books for specs but,the specifics make it better on my finds.And I do FIND things.Being I am very fluent on the 1st gens can at least locate or advise on parts availablility.I am super tired as is.
84 Chevy 2.0l if it matters it a 3 speed auto. Oh I think I learned how to upload pictures if so here is a picture under my back seat before I fixed it.
About time you get to do your own stuff.
Now I have to wonder if I'm the only one with a siphon that would remove all the gas I can from the tank before dropping, or is it impossible to get it all out when doing that?
Do yourself a favor ~ get an AC Delco fuel pump and strainer and an OE sealing o-ring.
The OE sealing o-ring is rubber encapsulated steel. My wagon's PO had a new tank, AC Delco pump and an aftermarket o-ring installed which I had to yank and replace with an OE o-ring, because the aftermarket o-ring pulled into the tank partially because it wasn't steel-backed.
It's something that you don't want to do twice because of a cheapo part.
~ Mike ~
Nasty looking fuel there Ron. Keep us updated with pics of your progress.
Hell yeah just get sunny going and enjoy her this summer!
Well Ron it would seem your Coupe finally cried Uncle....LoL Sometimes it takes a good kick in the butt to get moving , but once there we get a lot of things done on the ole to do list.
I suspect bad gas is pretty common amonst all makes and models that spend a lot of time sheltered with little road time. Some cars barely get started since they ride to and from the shows on trailers and such. I'd hate to see what resides inside those tanks!
Somehow I'm not suprised to read that yet another part one wouldn't suspect to be a problem child winds up being hard to get. What did surprise me was the differences in the sending units. I was of the impression all the 1st gen tanks were pretty much the same, not any more...LoL
I can vouch for Mikes information regarding the O-Ring woes. I have had a leaky tank for ....God it must be about 10 years now form a stupid solid rubber unit I never could get on right. I never can fill it all the way full. Well, I can, I guess but I leave a highly volatile trail down the road. Wonder if someone did like they used to do on the Cartoons and lit a match and the faster I drove the faster the flame chased me -
I'm hoping to re-replace my pump this year and will check into that o-ring myself when I do. My Wagon has been getting rather finicky in the cold weather in the mornings and I am having to press the pedal and sometime pump a couple of times to keep the old engine running once started in the mornings.
On a Much Happier note! I just purchased a New-To-Me 2nd Gen 1994 Cavalier RS Sedan. This will give me a proper backup to the old Wagon I have relied so much on these past 11 years. Now if I need some downtime on it I'll not have to fret. Of course I'll get some photos on here soon. I have to say the 2nd gens around here where I live are as hard to come by now as the 1st Gens. I was lucky to come across this one!
Now I blessed to have a Coupe, Sedan and Wagon.
.
Ok update on parts bought as of today.I bought a new ac delco fuel pump,new lock ring,new fuel filter(fram) and strainer AC delco.My lock ring seal comes with the pump(yeah).I bought new fuel line from the hardlines 2 and the over flow tube to the fill neck.I have to go back to napa and buy NEW fuel hose this is the one from the fill neck to the tank.The down side is the cost 28.99 and sold in 3 foot lengths (ONLY).It does have the 45*degree turn in it and rough cost 86.00 and I AM replacing this old 29yr hose.NOBODY sells this hose like the auto zone,advance,oreilly etc.I ordered a NEW sending unit from
https://www.shepherdautoparts.com which is SPECIFIC to each car.So my cost so far are $177.67 and will go next wk to buy the main fill hose.I checked advance auto for the senders and plenty of aftermarket swaps or rather will fit but nothing for my car period sold.I paid 85.63 for the sending unit shipd.And orlen glad you now have a extra ride to re-learn a variation of things while similar so different is aspects.Wayne YOU are correct I am beyond fixing everyone else's stuff and my own that are not dailys sit and wait.Well sunny clearly let me know I am 1st place and GM is flowing thru my veins with a desire to get things right!!!! I will post more as I do things.I did buy a cover for the 5gall bucket with the nasty gas to properly take to a local place to have it handled and not the old pour it anywhere idea.I did buy one gallon of evap o rust to soak in my tank to remove the bad odor and shook the tank and is outside as it wreaks of bad gas fumes.The evap o rust is sold at auto zone for 22.00 a gallon and is SAFE for plastic,metal and get this water solulible YEAH!Safe for your hands too.This product will remove rust,grease and years of grime just soaking and can attest this stuff is GOOD.Long day and btw my drier is FIXED paul for 227.00 in parts plus my free labor.Next is my washing machine and have new parts to address that already.I will stop before I write a book.
Wayne trying to remove the gas is pointless.The way the tanks are designed and the baffles inside make it near impossible.The best steps are to place a rolling jack under the tank with some wood to support it and remove the tank straps completely this alloys clearance and wiggle room.I did remove my filler neck 1st! Then the 2 fuel lines to the hardlines to the pump/sender assembly,and once loose man handled the tank with all almost 5 gallons of fuel and heavy as a b---tch it was.Once on the ground unhook the wire harness where it has a plastic ring holding the harness up for more lee way to move.I will be making a video of this maybe in two stages before install and steps and after showing the hows,what,where etc.Also I have my car on 4 jack stands with more than a foot of clearance which is a must.
when replacing the fuel pump on my wifes vert i borrowed this syphon pump from a friend. i had almost ten gallons of gas in the tank. i put a length of rubber fuel line on the end, took off the filler neck hose and put it directly into the tank. the trick is to reposition the hose several times by twistng it around and pulling in and out untill you get no more gas to come out. when i dropped the tank i had barely any gas at all in it. the pump worked great and is on my tools to buy list
see that's what I was thinking. save in weight as much as possible because it's seven pounds per gallon of gas (I think that's about the weight) that's a lot of weight you can take out and save yourself.
Cool idea for removing fuel.I guess I knew I had about a 1/4 of tank so no worries in my garage and time to do the steps I took and yes heavy but not bad.I have ordered my fuel sender and hope it comes in by late this coming week.Idk if I can get it done,and inspected based on waiting on the part.But with the so called weather predictions for later this week if it is wet,even if I get it done sunny stays inside when wet outside period.I will focus on sanding my tank straps chose to keep mine and refurbish over the cheap a-- crap made today and new bolts for the straps will be zinc coated.I have to go back to napa for the fuel fill hose at the scary cost of 86.00 roughly for 3 ft.They only sell it in this length idk why.I am really happy to be focusing my attention on the car since so many other obstacles last year just sidelined my project work.I may do some more searching so see who carries what and cost for various years to share if I can do it.I did have the wife pick up my parts ordered yesterday from autozone.So I have the ac delco pump with everything,lock ring and ac delco strainer.Long day trucking so done.
Ok quick update and I am superrrrr tired.The place I ordered the fuel sending unit fell thru.They said they had them but,not so based on inventory to ship out.I had a credit back to my account and called yesterday to find out what the freak happened.I am working on a lead for a NEW unit just have to double check some things before I do anything.I was really disappointed to not get my part.I however do have new fuel fill neck hose and will provide a pic and info on that later when not wiped out.I will be cleaning up my filler neck with new paint and show the things I have already.I am done a 14 hr day takes a lot of you!Yeah sunny is waiting but,at least dry and in my garage.R
Ron I know you got to be driving Hard to try to get deliveries caught back up. I myself stayed late at the plant I work at so a Yellow Driver could make it in and get his load picked up. I'm sure there are a lot of tired drivers out there right now!
Regarding 1sr Gen parts it looks as if you are chasing down one of those Phantom parts too. Seems like so many 1st Gen parts are beginning to set on the Phantom Shelf now. Wonder when the wrong one will finally make it all but impossible to keep these little cars on the roads.
I guess I will wind up dropping the gas tank on that old Sedan I am stripping down and pull the Fuel Sender for an emergency spare. It may not be the exact replacement but might be all I have to work with one day!!
Keep Plugging away Ron!
.
When the day comes and parts are no longer available, we'll have to resort to old fashioned hot-rodding and improvise. The term "resto-mod" comes to mind. One way or another, we'll have to keep on movin' on!
Ok update #2 I am do my diligence to isolate the closest part to fit my application.While ALL auto part searches,part sites show 0 for my specs I say I do NOT think SO! I can say after literally a hour and a half have narrowed my search.I can say while the 85 - 86 are a touch different on the instrument cluster the fuel sender in MY opinion is identical in the ohm department.The clusters on the 85 versus the 86 are different for sure but the fuel tank is 100% the same.Both hold 14 gallons and are both analog gauge set ups.Being my car has the 2.0 liter engine code P the 1986 is identical in every aspect same all the above with some mild variation.I have went back and forth on my original fuel sender and pics on various sites and compared specs,appearance and overall things.I can say that I have found what appears to be the correct part just UPDATED in style but inline with my fit,hook up and electrical plug in and etc.I spent a lot of time tonight really focusing on the specs,fit,design and yr difference design.In short just shopped for the lowest cost plus shpg to get my part.I will update later on my final buy and do believe I can upgrade a year newer on the OEM part # and go with a dorman part and get stupid cheaper over most sites with the same item.So in short makng my decision on where to buy this part at the lowest cost,and IF I clean my old sender and it works minus in the tank I probably will still replace it due to AGE! Once I have all the info in a row and correct I will elaborate the specifics.I did not take pics of the new parts I have just yet.Spent my day cleaning house a touch and washing and waxing my NEW Toyota Tacoma and picking up crap from the snow last week.DId I jus write a book or what.
http://s1088.photobucket.com/user/1987oldschoolmaz/media/2-21-2014/M4H01174_zps48f9539e.mp4.html Ok while I work on ordering a fuel sender and making a final decision on a hopefull swap I attended to my sister in laws car yesterday.In the video I made one error in regards to the oil dipstick level .I meant to say the oil level was about a half of inch above full,However at 1st I said a 1/2 above the add mark.Aside from the video goof I did get things straight with the car.Today we went back to the shop and got a full refund on the oil change and have a card to get a 4wheel alignment for 49.00 a savings of 30.00 over normal price later down the line.I did take the old oil to prove it was not changed and in 5qt jug and clear bottle.They did not dispute the error and have no idea what steps they will take with the technician who supposedly did the oil change.I will update my fuel sender info sat and may snap a pics of the parts in hand and where I bought,part #s even though each yr J has differences on engine,dash etc.I hope to get sunny back up by next week as long as I get the part by wed,thur.R
Had tires put on wife's Town and Country at Sears last year. About a two months later I tried to replace front brakes and could not get any of the 4 wheels off. Stood on 4 way with a bar on it and bent the 4 way. Took it back and they were like oh well we will rotate the tires for you. Just glad I didn't have a flat on the Highway. Just watch what anyone does on your car and TELL them not to cave in your rockers and torque the wheels correctly. Guess that is why I only bring my car to a shop when I have to. That oil change is REALLY bad for business. Ron just name the shop, they screwed up not you. Also had a transfer case replaced at a Transmission shop a few years ago. Told them to change tranny fluid while they were at it. Got it back with tranny fluid almost 2 inches past full on the stick.
Religiously I grease the threads and mating surfaces the lug nuts where they contact the wheel every time I re-install . While I read here and there such lubrications will result in lug nuts spinning back off and wheels parting with the hubs I have never ever had any of the sort happen with my vehicles over the years. I have, though had a much easier time breaking loose the lug nuts when i take the wheels off myself. Recently I have gone to using a 19mm 1/2" drive Deep Well socket and a breaker bar to loosen the lugs as I had incidences of the 4 way lug wrench stripping the head of my lugs when they are on too tight.
No doubt about it I simply HATE taking any of my vehicles to any Garage period. I Loath having to take them to be inspected each year simply because I have no idea what they are doing back there, It is sad having to get a tire balanced 3 times to get it halfway right. I replaced all 4 tires on the 94 Cavalier today myself and simply left the weights right where they were - guess what - I drove the car up to 80 afterwards and hardly any bounce or shimmy. People get charged for a lot of crap that is either not done of unnecessary to say the least.
It sure was a good thing you were there , Ron , to discover this mess for your Sister n Law. I can't help but wonder how many times her Oil .....(filter) was changed......
.
Orlen-
I use anti-seize on mine as well. Torque to spec and no problems.
Well I will say that my sister in laws car came over Thursday for me to do a brake pad check and a good thing.I being the fanatic about checking EVERYTHING found the oem battery was going south.It had one of those glow green eyes and it was like uh black? So I was like this is not good,as the mother in law is watching me check stuff.I remove the battery caps for the water level and NO water over the plates in the battery(I see a new battery coming quick).I however added water and got my multimeter to check the specs key on not running with everything on and voltage drops as it should.Now the KEY here is any car needs at least 9.6 volts with your lights on,radio on,fan for hvac on,and flashers.Then crank and watch to see how far the meter drops and IF it goes below the 9.6 it means two things.One the battery is either not fully charged,or on it's last toothpick.This battery was 4 years old and the voltage on the 10 accord dropped to 8.9 volts and in my book done! It imo was only a matter of time before it crapped out.I bought a duralast gold with 3yr free replacement for 130.00 after all core,tax and a coupon I had.Now the engine bay was filthy and decided to powerwash it (it was greasy,dusted etc).I then checked the oil and oh my way over full.RED flag and you know the story there.As for the wheel studs I use nothing on the threads as I always rotate every 5k and torque everything I touch nephews cars too.Shop that are chains get really sloppy and thank goodness I changed the oil as it would have went another 3k on a already tired 3k oil in the case.In short I have made MY point to just bring the car to me.It will be done correct and takes only 30 minutes and not a headache even when busy for a piece of mind.John the shop was firestone.In short a lot of shops say they torque wheels but look how many get stuck out on the road with a flat and can't break the lugs loose to do a simple fix a flat.If I could run a shop here and stop driving and have consistent business I would be happy man and make good money not screwing people around.However I do need benefits and those are important.My not so short response.
Ok I have ALL of my parts for the fuel tank as of today.I do need a few minor things which I will pick up wed.I will pop a pic of the new parts wed for sure.I got my new sending unit and as it is updated in some aspects it should work(I sure hope so) as the 85 -86 essentially are the same fuel tank,use the same ohms for reading.I guess as I start prepping for the install I will find out wed.The fuel sender was 96.00 shipped from amazon and stupid fast delivery.Sunny soon will run again.
Ok today wanted to take sunny for it's annual safety inspection.I had it ready and fluids good,tires etc.I go to start it and turns over,over and struggles to start!I know where the problem lies and just hoping it will run for this trip up the road.Well finally running it runs for a minute or two and dies.My thoughts are well let's go simple and just replace my fuel filter as I KNOW my fuel pump is going,and gas is OLD but had seafoam in the tank.I remove the fuel filter and my gah the fuel smell was well old bad stale gas and who knows what my tank,pump and strainer are suffering.I cleaned my garage floor and jacked the car back up all four on stands.Drop the tank with almost 5 gallons of gas(heavy as crap) too.I remove the lock ring and my goodness the strainer is all gooed up with debris and the gas was nasty orange colored and the stink.I drained the tank into a five gallon bucket and above shows inside tank actually nice and CLEAN,the strainer is toast,and sending unit is chalky and it is defective gauge read full all the time.SO I have sourced a new pump,strainer,lock ring, and bad news senders are hard to find.Napa,autozone,oriellys,even rockauto does NOT carry this anymore?So I found a company shepard auto parts that has a sender for 74.00 new and this part is specific to EACH car,check your specs if you buy one!!!I will tally up my cost and share ALL the parts I buy and where and will fix this next week to get my car inspected so I can attack the rear end restoration work planned.This problem forced me to start working on it and actually the pump and sender were planned already but,not like this.I am not fixing,repairing anyone else's stuff until sunny is past the point on my planned and unplanned work as of today.Ron I also smell like old gas but a shower and I will be good.Updates will be next week once I tackle step 2..
