Many of you may remember my car and its fuel problems at Pigeon Forge. I actually over-nighted a new A1000 to Bill's house/shop and replaced the pump in an attempt to fix it. My car was doing the 30 minute boogie -- and it just started that weekend. During the actual run through the hills, I had to stop every 10 minutes or so to let the fuel pump cool down.
'll know in a day or two, but it looks like my problem was dirt simple: I had a dirty fuel filter. (sorry...)
I've just now gotten my car back together after that (it now has an integrated iPhone/stereo and A/C). I also re-plumbed the fuel system to route it away from my headers, and added an Aeromotive fuel pump controller (shout out to Steve Rupp: he's the man), and put in an RPS Street Twin clutch.
I've been doing a lot of shakedown runs (adjust the clutch, fix the alternator whine in the stereo, see if the defroster works, etc.).
Wouldn't you know it, my car crapped out just like it did in Pigeon Forge. This time I measured the temperature of the gas in the tank (easy since I just filled it up). 78 degrees.
The fuel rail temperature was 108.
A re-read of Aeromotive's website (I run all their stuff: A1000, fuel filters, regulator, fuel rails), and I happened on a little gem that said a restrictive fuel filter on the suction side can cause cavitation of the fuel pump. So I pulled my filters out and examined them. The suction side filter was fine: no noticeable debris. But the pressure side was black with chunks of my old Russell SS hose in it! Why I didn't check that at Pigeon Forge is beyond me. I checked the suction side, but not the pressure side.
I think the pressure side filter had enough restriction that the fuel pump was working too hard to push fuel through it... over time (say.. about 30 minutes) it would overheat and cavitate.
I've heard reports of the 10 micron filter needing to be replaced often. Anybody else heard of that?
Anyway, a new element is on its way. Sometimes the little stuff matters.
jp
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