924Board.org

[924guy]

hey all,

this morning i finally got around to draining my fuel tank. a few months back i had serious "cut out" issues, and have been chasing ghosts with it ever since. so, i decided to ensure the fuel itself wasnt the issue, or a clogged tank pump (my 82) drained the last three gallons or so out today, and removed the in tank fuel pump.
i found quite a few particles and "chips" of crud , as well as a bit of plastic shreds (like the leftovers from drilling a piece of plastic) that i cant figure out where it would come from, but it wasnt terribly bad and didnt really seem enough debris to clog the intank fuel pump filter, but "maybe" it couldve. i also found about 3/4 oz or so of water in the drained fuel.
since i ran the tank almost empty, and water seems to sit / collect at the bottom of a container of gas, im almost thinking i may have had much more water in there, and that may have been causeing my cut out problem, combined with the debris in the tank.
but my tach was also bouncing around allot just before the cutout, which would usually indicate a ditc or electricial issue i think.
the 931 had sat mostly for the better part of the last two years, as i was collecting parts for the turbo replacement, and didnt drive it much, but after i replaced the turbo it drove wonderfully from fl to va . i had issues with the "cutout" starting only on the return trip. it would drive great for a couple hundred miles, then start burping and farting, tach bouncing around like nuts, then die. if i feathered the gas it would sometimes "clear" and be fine again. other times id have to pull over, let it sit a bit, and start it again. it would run rough at idle for a bit and with some feathering of the gas, eventually it would "clear" and be fine for a few hundred miles again..

anyhow, i reinstalled the fuel pump, but i want to get some fresh gas for it beofre i start it again. ive also replaced the fuel filter, cleaned the ditc connections at the harness, and a few other things.. i have new injector seals, but i havent gotten them in yet.

oh, and the electrical system seems fine, no drain anyhow, and i mean none.. battery was connected and in the car over a month, and still at 12.5 volts. this is the first time ive ever had a porsche that didnt kill the battery in a few days if you left it alone. i went through and cleaned all of the grounds/elelcetrical connections awhile back and it made a huge difference. i dont have a spare ditc unit to swap in if the problem continues after this latest effort, so i suppose ill have to start looking for one.

any thoughts, ideas or comments would be appreciated. anything else i should do while the tanks still empty??
_________________
Eric
78 924
82 931 SE "smokey"
99' VehiCross
Y2K Honda Insight
http://www.cardomain.com/id/924Guy
Performance by Pasha

[924guy]

well, no replies here, but i went ahead and filled up my tank with fresh gas, and it seems okay so far, but ive only had time to drive it about 5 miles.. im still thinking that water i found n the tank was the culprit, more so as i think about it more.. but ill know soon enough. i dont trust it yet for anything but local trips, but im going to give her a workout early next week and see how it goes..
_________________
Eric
78 924
82 931 SE "smokey"
99' VehiCross
Y2K Honda Insight
http://www.cardomain.com/id/924Guy
Performance by Pasha

[Ozzie]

If it ain't fuel it could be a bad connection at any point of the ignition system.
dist.
ign module.
eis
ditc
etc.
_________________
Porsche 924 1984 (UK import) NA
Its AUTO and its BLACK
Montego Black on black/red
Engineer of Electro/Mechanical Systems Maintenance

[924guy]

well, i took smokey for a 100 mile round trip ride to work the other day, she was fine on the way in, and she sat for a few hours (i just went in to work on a few issues, about 4 hours.) on the way home she started stubling again intermittantly. not as bad as it was, but still suitibly annoying.
so either i still have some crud in the lines, or ive got an electrical gremlin someplace that intermittant.
the interesting thing is that this time when it started to stumble, the tach remained stead instead of wigging out. wasnt backfiring either, though it did once or twice, it was nothing like it was doing previously.
oh and another interesting symptom, it seemed to be worse in 5th gear 75+ mph. if i down shifted and ran at 4 grand or so the symptoms deminished almost completely (though once or twice it did stumble there as well..)
im not sure what to think of it at the moment..i think im going to pull my injectors and have them cleaned, and replace the injector seals next. at least then ill have gone through my fuel delivery system top to bottom (already checked the fuel dizzy and metering plate, seems okay there, both pumps seem to pulling fine, ect) and do an out put test at the injectors after their clean (with 136k on the clock, they probably need cleaning anyhow) and take it from there..
_________________
Eric
78 924
82 931 SE "smokey"
99' VehiCross
Y2K Honda Insight
http://www.cardomain.com/id/924Guy
Performance by Pasha

[dpw928]

The stumbling/missing on my 931 was due to a bad wire at the ditc. The wires looked OK but inspection revealed that the wire was broken under the insulation.

Dennis
_________________
81 931 5 sp
78 928 5 sp Silver
78 928 AT Euro Black