Misdiagnosed problems, going in circles....how much time have you spent?

[BAILEIGH INC]

2 Fuel pumps.....broken, cracked rubber fuel lines....sucking air.....mouth full of gas.......Yuck!..........(don't ask)

Yee Haa!

Got the Corvair back on the road! Leaned allot about Corvair fuel systems over the past couple of days. What to do, and what not to do. I think I was going in circles there for a while.......

How much time have you spent on a simple, misdiagnosed problem or oversight?

[GregWeld]

Took me THREE DAYS to find that my coil was bad....

Driving along the freeway -- car just died.... fetch trailer and drag it home.

Immediately order a new ECU -- $650 -- fedexed next day -- arrives Tuesday -- same problem - ie., no run.
"
Rip out MSD box under front seat - fetch new MSD "Digital" box - $300 - install - same problem.

Fire starting fluid in stacks - catches and dies... must have "spark"... so has to be fuel... chase all wires - open wire harness - twice - trace wires - check fuel pump (works fine - pressure exactly what it should be)

Remove fuel rails - clean - check - look for bad injector issue... no fixie

Take both MSD boxes to parts guy - both work fine... while there I said - Give me a new coil while I'm here - $150....

Install OLD MSD analog box - new coil - fires up and runs like a champ.

NEVER EVER EVER in 40 years had a coil go bad... and this was one of big ol mondo MSD bad boys with the fins etc.

Reason it coughs and dies -- ignition passes 12 v to plugs until you release key to run position.... so with starter fluid - she'd cough giving ME false indication that it was fuel not spark. Lesson learned. :rofl:

Take back new MSD Digital box - since not using... get store credit.

Now have a "spare" ECU.

Decide I should have the newer Digital box now that problem is fixed - so go use my store credit for new Digital box -- installed it - so now have a spare MSD analog box that I will never use.

[conekiller13]

How much time have you spent on a simple, misdiagnosed problem or oversight?

My whole life........it never ends......:willy:

[BBC71Nova]

This ^

Shane,

You guys setting up at SEMA this year? Don't remember seeing you guys in the past. See you a lot over on YB. You guys have some cool stuff. I need a manual tube bender and a combo shear/brake/roll and like Mr. Weld, some skill to use them :lol:

John

[SLO_Z28]

I spent 2 days trying to diagnose a bad coil on my car once. It wold run like crap when it was warmed up, and eventually stall. The coil would test good by the time I got around to pulling it out and checking the primary and secondary resistances, and the output. Then when It was on the car it would overheat and fail. I chased that one down for 2 days, and I mean a full 2 days (40 hours) while I pulled the engine and re-degreed the cam and checked everything, rebuilt the carb, changed intakes, got a second electronic pickup(points distributor with petronix conversion), canged intake manifolds and carbs.

Ill never forget that one.

[dhutton]

I was having trouble with my rear disc brakes. No matter what I did they would not grab. I bled them 5 times and replaced the hoses. I ordered but did not install a new power assisted master to replace my manual master. Ordered a Longacre brake pressure gauge. Finally figured out that I was turning my Wilwood proportioning valve the wrong direction and I had essentially turned them off. DOH! The direction that you should turn it is clearly shown on the knob but my lousy eyesight and bifocals made it difficult for me to see. Luckily I can use the new master on my current project and I learned a bunch in the process. Hard learned lessons are usually the best ones in my experience.

Don

[GregWeld]

I was having trouble with my rear disc brakes. No matter what I did they would not grab. I bled them 5 times and replaced the hoses. I ordered but did not install a new power assisted master to replace my manual master. Ordered a Longacre brake pressure gauge. Finally figured out that I was turning my Wilwood proportioning valve the wrong direction and I had essentially turned them off. DOH! The direction that you should turn it is clearly shown on the knob but my lousy eyesight and bifocals made it difficult for me to see. Luckily I can use the new master on my current project and I learned a bunch in the process. Hard learned lessons are usually the best ones in my experience.

Don

Your story reminded me of a couple months ago my buddy asks if I'd help bleed his brakes - I have a "one man" air driven brake bleeder which is pretty handy... He hasn't liked his 6 piston Wilwoods... and I had talked him into ditching the power booster and just going with a Wilwood manual master. So when I get my face down by the front brakes I notice that the rotor is brand spanking new - as in - no pad has ever touched this thing... and NO he says he didn't put new rotors on.... So for over a year he's been tooling around with ZERO front brake action... Bleeding them went a long way to helping his "issue".... :rofl: :rofl: :wow::faint:

[dhutton]

:lol: Your story reminded me of a couple months ago my buddy asks if I'd help bleed his brakes - I have a "one man" air driven brake bleeder which is pretty handy... He hasn't liked his 6 piston Wilwoods... and I had talked him into ditching the power booster and just going with a Wilwood manual master. So when I get my face down by the front brakes I notice that the rotor is brand spanking new - as in - no pad has ever touched this thing... and NO he says he didn't put new rotors on.... So for over a year he's been tooling around with ZERO front brake action... Bleeding them went a long way to helping his "issue".... :rofl: :rofl: :wow::faint:

That is a good one. In my case there was enough contact to shine them up and make them hot to the touch. I forgot to mention that I also installed some HP Plus brake pads along the way too... :lol:

Don

[Josh69]

Your story reminded me of a couple months ago my buddy asks if I'd help bleed his brakes - I have a "one man" air driven brake bleeder which is pretty handy... He hasn't liked his 6 piston Wilwoods... and I had talked him into ditching the power booster and just going with a Wilwood manual master. So when I get my face down by the front brakes I notice that the rotor is brand spanking new - as in - no pad has ever touched this thing... and NO he says he didn't put new rotors on.... So for over a year he's been tooling around with ZERO front brake action... Bleeding them went a long way to helping his "issue".... :rofl: :rofl: :wow::faint:

Dang, I imagine that helped! :lol:

I've spent 3 years building my car...so I guess I'll just call a spade a spade and say I've been chasing my tail the entire time. :willy:

Right now I'm dialing in the stereo crossover/gain/slope, etc. with every little to show for it and I've spent most of the summer trying to figure out my pinging engine...which seemed to go away after I futzed with my windshield trim. Doh.

[Fluid Power]

Crap don't get me started....My boy races motocross and it seems it is an every weekend occurrence. I swear the bike just likes the attention! The same issue can never be fixed the same way twice!

I had a Porsche that went through several mechanics (at 2 different dealerships and finally wound up at a "guru." He worked on and off for about 9-10 weeks before he told me to come and get it. When I asked about being fixed he just smiled patted me on the back and said "don't bring it back!"

It ran like a scalded dog but I drove it straight to the detailers and sold it!

Darren

[FreddieCougar]

I can not imagine a scenario where a car gets built without serious time being wasted on tail-chasing....even the best of the best can't be right all the time. I am certainly not putting myself in that category, but I just spent a couple of days figuring out that the reason my car wouldn't start with the key was the freaking wiring on the solenoid....Powermaster instructions leave a lot to be desired.
Tim