I noticed even driving back over to my garage from the shop that the trans (C6) was shifting waaaay late and a bit harsh. I had the driveshaft out for cleaning and painting and had added a quart and a half or so to make up for what leaked out but figured it was still low. Checked it once at home and topped off; the issue was still there.
Other than the initial programming and opening the idle stop on the butterflies a bit more to get the IAC motor stepper counts down a bit the FiTech tune was un-touched when we hit the road and had about a mile on it. I figured it's self-tuning, let it tune on the way!
Threw the rented cherry picker in the back of my Supercrew and returned it, stopped by the shop to torque the leaf spring bolts and throw the bumper back on and we hit the road.
Initial impressions are, man it’s running good! Noticed on my engine parameter display that engine vacuum is a good 3-4” lower than it was with the carb, hmmm. Air/fuel ratio is spot on though so we’ll dig into that when I get back. Immediately I wished I had time to get the wing window seals done. Had to keep the main windows cracked to keep the whistling/howling to a minimum.
Also noticed the engine running cooler, around 165* even blasting down the interstate on an 89* day. Hmm. I did put in a cooler thermostat when I built the motor, may need to swap that out.
Here’s the first fuel stop in Eddie’s corner.
I didn’t even have time to wash the thick layer of dust off the truck before we hit the road, I hit the glass with cleaner and called it good. Don’t know if any of you watch Roadkill but this trip fit the bill.
Second or third fuel stop, Valier, MT. Truck running amazing still.
Arrived, very late, at the KOA in West Glacier (500-ish miles). My apologies to anyone who was camping there if I woke you up. Pic is from the next morning.
A few pictures from the Going to The Sun Rd. Truck ran flawless despite 6,000 or so feet worth of elevation change on the drive. First pic is from the end (St. Mary’s Visitor’s center). Taken with my phone; I’m thinking this one might get blown up and put on the wall, I really like it.
I only made minimal changes to the tune; tip-in was a bit lean and the decal fuel cut off was abrupt and harsh, made some changes to smooth it a bit. Trans still shifting like it’s at WOT all the time; I checked for vacuum leaks and made sure the modulator was getting vacuum, still need to get to the bottom of that lower vacuum deal.
And so the four day trip went famously until we were about halfway home…
Just east of Helena with almost a full tank truck started acting like it was running out of gas. No power, only running at like ¼ throttle and surging badly. It would keep going though. Pulled over a few times trying to figure it out. I had just filled up about 50 miles prior, bad gas? Limped it to the next town after a bit, swapped out the coil for new, everything else is new!
Limped it to the next town and drained some gas out with the help of a very friendly Tow business owner. A little dirty crud came out at first (that’s not good), but the gas was clean and smelled fresh. Noticed when turning the key on fuel pump sounds very unhealthy. Sounds like someone shot a dolphin in there.
Limped it to the next town about 10 miles at a time (truck would die, I beat on the bottom of the gas tank, get it started again and go). Got a hotel there for the night. Dad came to the rescue the next morning with a flatbed, I’m thinking that with less than 900 miles on the fuel pump it is DONE!
It did sound odd from the beginning. Nothing alarming just not the usual whine I’m used to with OEM electric in tank pumps. More like a groan. Got home, stuffed Bruce in the shop and left him there. Headed over this morning for the autopsy. If it’s defective I hope they stand behind it. I’ll take plenty of pics to document the teardown. We wanted Roadkill, we got it.
