Here is a challenging problem to ponder since we had rain and snow today.
My son claims that whenever it rains or is wet outside, his car dies
occasionally and sometimes takes 5 minutes or so to start again. Its kind
of like a lot of problems we deal with on this list - we only know from the
description given and not first hand experience. I don't get to drive his
car so I don't know for sure what the problem is.
His theory is its the fuel pump. He is only 17 and only knows what little
I have taught him about cars. But he tends to be on the right track when it
comes to troubleshooting the problem. The fuel pump is a constantly pumping
Purolator pump so I figure if its pumping, its working. If it was silent,
then I would know its the pump. My son's description does not give me
enough detail to discern whether his problem is fuel or electric - I
believe the car sputters before it dies and then it won't fire up (it turns
over okay).
I did an under car inspection and saw no problems. Besides the fuel pump,
my other point of suspicion was the electrical connections on the starter.
But this is a 65B (with a later 18V engine) so its just one main lead to
the solenoid on the starter plus a small wire jumper from the starter
solenoid post to a terminal on the side of the solenoid. So there is not
much there to get wet. An interesting setup though since its a 65 - must be
a fire wall solenoid to solenoid to starter connection.
I have an extra set of HS4 carbs (just needs jets) that I may put on his
car to replace the HIF4 setup - that way its easy to take the lid off the
float bowl to see how the gas level looks. I've also thought about getting
him one of the under the hood push button solenoids so he can easily test
the car for spark.
In the meantime, any one of you have some interesting similar experiences
with wet weather problems that might give me something else to look for?
Otherwise, I'll probably have to fix it the old fashioned way - by
personally taking his car for a wet drive. If he'll part with it. I only
got to drive it once this month but it was in the 50s (F), a nice early
spring top down drive.
David
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