Our WC53, “Franklin”
Our WC53, “Franklin”
Keep on or go home?
Things kept bubbling around in my head that night. Why did the truck run so well on the morning run to Ellensburg? What caused the electric fuel pump to completely fail? Why does it seem like the fuel issues are getting worse? Maybe its related to fuel tank level? Maybe when the tank is full there’s more pressure available at the engine for the pump to use to prime itself? Maybe there’s a leak in the fuel line? I know the line from the tank to the firewall is old and made of soft copper. I also know that the fitting between the pump and the line to the firewall tended to leak in the past. Maybe we’re sucking air when the tank gets less than half full?
Checking the fuel line in the truck, the pump fitting did show signs of leaking. So we went to the local auto parts store and bought a bunch of rubber fuel line and I replaced the line from the pump to the firewall. Hooked everything up, powered up the system and.. Nothing. The electric pump couldn’t pull the fuel from the tank. It just sat there and rattled.
Is the line from the tank plugged? Is the line in the tank plugged? I’m seeing crud in the glass fuel traps. I blew down the line to the tank, I could get it to bubble, but I had to blow really hard. Fine, I’ll just replace the entire line and be done with it! So we went to the local auto parts store and bought a bunch more rubber fuel line and I replaced the line from the tank to the new line at the firewall. All the fuel line is now new. And, when I pulled the old line from the tank, gas gushed out. So I guess the tank is ok.
Now, when the electric pump looses prime its done. There is nothing you can do. When the original pump looses prime, you can dump gas down the carb, get the engine spinning and get it working again. So I ripped out the electric pump and re-plumbed in the original fuel pump. Then, seeing that the trouble wasn’t the coil, I swapped the original coil back in as well.
Also, by 10 AM it was so hot out I couldn’t touch the front fenders on the truck. Its been hot like this for the entire trip.
Dumped some gas down the carb and the truck came to life. Back in business again!
And the truck ran great all the way to the Bridge of the Gods. Right before pulling off the highway we started having some of the same old issues.
I forget how many times we stopped to cool off the machine. It was on and off all day.
The day ended at Packwood. We’d actually completed section one of the WABDR. I was amazed we were able to finish a section.
We got in and set up camp late. I had to cook dinner in the dark. Julie brought a “headlamp”. That worked really well for midnight cooking!
We were bushed!
Sunday, July 15, 2018