fueling issue

[tbtapper]

Some of you may remember that I have been chasing a fueling issue for sometime now.

Car would run as well as it can for the first half of the race but toward the end of the race it would start to miss and cut out.

This was especially true during hot weather when it would almost be undriveable and definitely not track worthy as my rear bumper clearly shows.

I've done all sorts of things including new fuel pump and assorted fittings . . . . adding up to fairly big $$ at least for me all to no avail.

Towed to Barber a couple of weeks ago thinking the problem was resolved based on some more changes. I wasn't out on the track more than 20 min and there it was again. Damn what a wsazte of time and money.

Anyway long story short packed up and left no point in being an impediment to the rest of you and hauled back through Atlanta at rush hour on a holiday weekend. Makes racing look tame.

Got back to the shop and was starting from the cell forward to look at every single hose line and clamp. When I pulled the inspection plate from the cell and looked at the all the hoses I noticed that the pickup hose from the fitting on the inspection plate felt pretty soft.

I pulled on it a little bit and the rubber just peeled off in my hand. What I suspect was happening and this would be getting increasingly worse over time is that as the race progessed and the fuel got increasingly warm the hose would get even softer it would start to collapse from the fuel pump suction and cause my miss. (AFRs went to 18 to 20).

I should have clued in to this earlier on because when and if I actually finished a race and went to impound I could hear the pump laboring to run and it would take 20/30 seconds to show fuel pressure. (this is why I thought the pump was bad initially)

I have since replaced the line with steel braided hose and hope this fixes the problem. It all fits and makes sense now that I think about it.

My point for this long post is that "jumping to conclusions" at the expense of real investigative diagnostics is a very amaturish and way expensive method of preparing a race car.

I cannot count the number of times I've wasted my entry fee and towing expenses only to have this problem screw the weekend for me. We're talking about a foot and a half of braid and two clamps for crying out loud.

As for me I will NEVER again make fun of someone who is methodical and measered in their approach to racing.

Remember, the tortise won the race. Feeling pretty optimistic about this discovery and the outcome.

Travers
ITS19

[C. Ludwig]

There is hose that is meant for use as pickup hose. Most hose, high dollar braided or not, is not meant to be constantly submerged in the tank and will deteriorate over time.

[joeg]

...like the foam in a cell

[seckerich]

Give me a call Travers. I have some of the proper fuel pickups brand new laying around. Regular braided line will do the same thing (die) as Chris pointed out. Lets get you fixed up right this time.

[mbuskuhl]

If the braided hose isn't meant for in the cell, what is the recommended hose?

[C. Ludwig]

If the braided hose isn't meant for in the cell, what is the recommended hose?

I forget what the rating is. It's actually a little hard to come by. I bought a bunch a while back from Pegasus. It's an Aeroquip hose but not sure what type other than being blue and rubber. I had talked to Earl's before calling Pegasus and they don't have anything. They recommended a Goodyear part number.

[rx7chris]

We've got a company local that probably has that stuff by the roll. Google Amazon Hose company, they literally have every type of hose you can imagine. The blue rubber aeroquip stuff i thought was just the "push-on" version of the steel braid hose.