Help! Stranded in Evanston, WY - P300
Update from Jackson, WY
After all of your great advice, on Friday I found a source for NGK BPR7ES plugs (NAPA in Evanston), pulled the existing plugs, inspected them (they were fine – verified by Eddie at NAPA), checked the gap (.026), and re-installed them. Eddie gave me instructions about how to order plug wires while on road that would be waiting for me the next day in Jackson if the problem wasn’t solved.
Again, I was very impressed with the helpfulness of the parts suppliers in that town!
On the road again (imagine the music); no change. The problem was as solid as before. I drove on, fretting about what to do next.
About half-way to Jackson, I remembered a foggy idea from the night before. Coming into a small town at about 45 mph, I abruptly jerked the steering wheel from side-to-side a couple of times, much to the dismay of my wife, who I failed to inform of the impending maneuver.
Ah-ha! I am not willing to say “problem solved”, but the dramatic loss of power appears to have abated. The motorboat sound is not occurring. I felt underlying roughness around 3,000 RPM in 5th.
My suspicions about the bad gas from Page are stronger than ever. I am speculating that the station premium tank was near empty and that the last part of my fill was crud from the bottom.
I’m back on the track of opening up the Evo gas tank and inspecting it for debris. My guess is that the side-to-side motion moved whatever was clogging something temporarily out of the way.
But hopefully, that can wait until home. In the meantime, the gas tank will not get below ¼ before a fill!
Today (Saturday) I drove over a pass near Jackson, which has a 10% grade on each side, to run in a 10K trail foot race. Paved State highways (not the race, the road to it); tight 25mph corners, at about 75% of the car’s potential (i.e., faster than anything else on the road).
No new problems! If anything, the roughness is gone (for now).
Again, my sincere thanks to everyone who contributed their ideas, thoughts, experiences, and remote diagnosis skills to my problem. I hope we all learned something.
Regards,
Steve
Again, I was very impressed with the helpfulness of the parts suppliers in that town!
On the road again (imagine the music); no change. The problem was as solid as before. I drove on, fretting about what to do next.
About half-way to Jackson, I remembered a foggy idea from the night before. Coming into a small town at about 45 mph, I abruptly jerked the steering wheel from side-to-side a couple of times, much to the dismay of my wife, who I failed to inform of the impending maneuver.
Ah-ha! I am not willing to say “problem solved”, but the dramatic loss of power appears to have abated. The motorboat sound is not occurring. I felt underlying roughness around 3,000 RPM in 5th.
My suspicions about the bad gas from Page are stronger than ever. I am speculating that the station premium tank was near empty and that the last part of my fill was crud from the bottom.
I’m back on the track of opening up the Evo gas tank and inspecting it for debris. My guess is that the side-to-side motion moved whatever was clogging something temporarily out of the way.
But hopefully, that can wait until home. In the meantime, the gas tank will not get below ¼ before a fill!
Today (Saturday) I drove over a pass near Jackson, which has a 10% grade on each side, to run in a 10K trail foot race. Paved State highways (not the race, the road to it); tight 25mph corners, at about 75% of the car’s potential (i.e., faster than anything else on the road).
No new problems! If anything, the roughness is gone (for now).
Again, my sincere thanks to everyone who contributed their ideas, thoughts, experiences, and remote diagnosis skills to my problem. I hope we all learned something.
Regards,
Steve
Post-mortem
During the rest of the trip, the symptom, while muted, continued. The "Check Engine" light was on solid.
Returning home, I pulled the fuel pump and inspected the tank, which contained a few floating specks of material, but of pinpoint size. The filter screen on the bottom of the pump was essentially clear.
Regardless, I replaced the stock pump with a Walbro HP. I pulled the right side pickup and (with a very low fuel gauge reading), that side of the tank was dry and the screen on the pickup was clear.
A comment about the fuel pump supplier, Walbrofuelpumps.com/ Expressfuelpumps.com:
I pushed them to ship the pump on the day of my order, 2-day delivery. They did that. Unfortunately, the pump that arrived was the wrong model. I realized that after comparing it to the Evo pump assembly/old pump and discovering that the intake/output castings on the new pump were different than the stock pump. I called; they sent a new pump overnight at their expense.
The second pump fit just fine. But, the installation kit (which was shipped with the original order) was wrong, causing additional fitment problems. I called; they shipped me a replacement kit overnight.
So, it took four days instead of two. But, the important point is that everyone can make a mistake. The question is, when you screw up, how do you react? These people did the best they could to fix the problems. Their overnight charges, plus the return authorization (including shipping) wiped out profit from my order plus a few other sales.
With the new pump, the symptom gradually became a suspicion rather than a readily recognizable condition. Today, I started the Evo, and no Check Engine light!
A month+ of consternation resolved. But, with no clearly identifiable solution. If I had left everything alone, would it have gone away on its own?
Now, if I can fix the transfer case whine...
Steve
Returning home, I pulled the fuel pump and inspected the tank, which contained a few floating specks of material, but of pinpoint size. The filter screen on the bottom of the pump was essentially clear.
Regardless, I replaced the stock pump with a Walbro HP. I pulled the right side pickup and (with a very low fuel gauge reading), that side of the tank was dry and the screen on the pickup was clear.
A comment about the fuel pump supplier, Walbrofuelpumps.com/ Expressfuelpumps.com:
I pushed them to ship the pump on the day of my order, 2-day delivery. They did that. Unfortunately, the pump that arrived was the wrong model. I realized that after comparing it to the Evo pump assembly/old pump and discovering that the intake/output castings on the new pump were different than the stock pump. I called; they sent a new pump overnight at their expense.
The second pump fit just fine. But, the installation kit (which was shipped with the original order) was wrong, causing additional fitment problems. I called; they shipped me a replacement kit overnight.
So, it took four days instead of two. But, the important point is that everyone can make a mistake. The question is, when you screw up, how do you react? These people did the best they could to fix the problems. Their overnight charges, plus the return authorization (including shipping) wiped out profit from my order plus a few other sales.
With the new pump, the symptom gradually became a suspicion rather than a readily recognizable condition. Today, I started the Evo, and no Check Engine light!
A month+ of consternation resolved. But, with no clearly identifiable solution. If I had left everything alone, would it have gone away on its own?
Now, if I can fix the transfer case whine...
Steve
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