Still working out the bugs...
Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2015 3:45 am
Last Saturday we took the M37 out to get dinner and to exercise it a bit. Rolling toward the restaurant was uneventful until the M suddenly died while moving toward a double left-turn lane. Once stopped I first checked the vented gas cap, releasing it with a "whoosh" sound, so I thought the vent was closed-it was not, so I left it loose and continued troubleshooting, all while the Saturday evening traffic continued buzzing by.
Next, I grabbed a flat-tip screwdriver to ensure I had fuel at the carb, since the engine would crank but not run. Checked out ok; plenty of fuel (remember I just fixed the gas gauge, too), and the electric pump was humming.
As I was tightening up the fuel line clamp I spotted the ballast resistor on the opposite inner fender panel with one of the spade terminal ends disconnected-apparently we rambled over enough bumps in the road to unplug it. Reconnecting it, I buttoned up the hood, hopped in, crossed my fingers, cranked the starter, and the M started right up. Woo, my heart started beating again too, and Veronica asked (after patiently waiting while I was troubleshooting) why such things happen when we're out and around in the M? I explained that we've got to drive all the bugs out in order to make it a reliable vehicle since it hasn't been on the road in so many years. That's also why we only use secondary roads-slower speeds and room to pull over.
We had a nice dinner, also picked up some furniture (since the M is the only pickup truck I now have), and made it home w/o further incident. Once home I secured the fuel cap, and instead of using pliers on the spade connectors, will add some shrink tubing over each terminal connection to lock them in place.
Glad it was a minor issue-thanks for letting me ramble,
Gary
Next, I grabbed a flat-tip screwdriver to ensure I had fuel at the carb, since the engine would crank but not run. Checked out ok; plenty of fuel (remember I just fixed the gas gauge, too), and the electric pump was humming.
As I was tightening up the fuel line clamp I spotted the ballast resistor on the opposite inner fender panel with one of the spade terminal ends disconnected-apparently we rambled over enough bumps in the road to unplug it. Reconnecting it, I buttoned up the hood, hopped in, crossed my fingers, cranked the starter, and the M started right up. Woo, my heart started beating again too, and Veronica asked (after patiently waiting while I was troubleshooting) why such things happen when we're out and around in the M? I explained that we've got to drive all the bugs out in order to make it a reliable vehicle since it hasn't been on the road in so many years. That's also why we only use secondary roads-slower speeds and room to pull over.
We had a nice dinner, also picked up some furniture (since the M is the only pickup truck I now have), and made it home w/o further incident. Once home I secured the fuel cap, and instead of using pliers on the spade connectors, will add some shrink tubing over each terminal connection to lock them in place.
Glad it was a minor issue-thanks for letting me ramble,
Gary
