Captain Obvious

I removed my water **** from my car and took a good look at the design. Based on that investigation, I'm going to change my guess a little... I now theorize that it is an over-temperature prevention device. The reason I say that is because it appears that the device can only reduce the amount of water flowing through the valve, not increase it. I'm guessing that it operates like the thermostat on the cooling system... The material inside the tube expands when it gets hot and pushes on a lever inside the valve which closes the valve. The hotter it gets, the more it presses down on the lever, and the more the valve closes. All that said, I tried to test it by heating the capillary and valve with a hair dryer, and it didn't do anything at all. So, either I'm completely wrong, didn't get it hot enough to hit the threshold temp, or mine is simply broken. Sure seems like an unnecessary piece of over-engineering...

10000 slaves with ropes? :bulb:

It's more of an "access panel" than a door. It's screwed into place and doesn't move once installed. They coil the capillary up and run it to a little access panel screwed to the heater box downstream of the heater core. In other words, the coiled portion of the capillary sits in the air stream after the air has gone through the heater core. Best pic I could find is from http://www.zparts.com/zptech.html: They are clearly sensing the temperature of the air after it has been heated, but the question is... Why? Are they adjusting the opening and closing of the valve with the pressure from the capillary? And here's some pics of the water **** and it's associated capillary tube as installed from old threads: http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/thread11152.html http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/thread17858.html http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/thread40835.html

What is the purpose of the capillary tube on the water **** valve for the heater system? The car in question is a 77 without air conditioning. They reference the capillary on page BE-51 (Body Electrical) section of the 77 FSM. They talk about being careful not to damage it, but I cannot find any description of why it exists in the first place. Some kind of attempt at feedback to stabilize the output air temp in the face of changing heater core temperatures?

Nope. Soldering isn't an option. The brass colored original pivot is actually a plated steel (cad or chromate), and the casting is either aluminum or zinc. Out of curiosity... Why? Is yours loose too?

I've fixed two of them in recent past. First was easy... I just lubed the detent balls with some light oil and cleaned out the accumulated gunk out of the corners where the balls are supposed to snap. Went from mushy to crisp. Here's a few pics: Second one was NOT easy... I tried lubing it first and that didn't to anything. Figured out that the problem was that the pivot point for the assy was loose. It is knurled and then pressed into the casting and it's never supposed to move again, but mine had started to squirm around and once it starts to move it just keeps getting worse. I pulled the old pivot point out, bored and threaded the hole and made a new insert to thread into place. Works better than new. Very crisp now and has very little slop in every direction. Since I was making new insert, I was able to control the geometry and sizing in other areas as well. Made a new tighter fitting pin for the handle while I was in there... I love it now! Not worth the time I put into it, but it turned out better than just using epoxy to glue the original pivot into place. I just hope yours isn't that serious. Haha!!! And here I thought it was just ME!!

Yeah, I had been through that section, but it's vague. I know what is supposed to connect to what, but the real question is... It it the same piece of wire, unadulterated, with unbroken insulation from one end to the other, and it's too vague for that. I was just looking through the EF section again, and on page EF-18 (of the 1977 year), there's a paragraph just above "Trouble Diagnosis" that reads: So, we've got documentation that confirms bullet connectors on the injectors is fiction, and I'm gonna assume they didn't do anything strange like bury spliced connections inside any wiring harnesses (like GM does sometimes).

Thanks guys. My previous owner already replaced the injector connectors with new aftermarket. He twisted, soldered and shrink tubed them into place. It seems like decent workmanship, but I was thinking that I could replace the stub of wire from the injector all the way to the bullet and get rid of one connection. That is, of course, if there were actually bullets upstream. So, since there aren't bullets upstream... Where does the wire from a fuel injector end at the non-injector end? High side runs (non-stop direct) to the dropping resistor, and low side runs (non-stop direct) to the ECU?

I've heard some people mention that there are bullet connectors on the wires leading to each fuel injector... Can anyone confirm or deny this rumor? I've peeled back my wiring harness a few inches and found nada. I've also felt and squeezed upstream from there and have found nothing that seems like it would be a connector. Has anyone actually seen these beasties with their own two eyes, or is this wishful thinking?

Couple of problems running with the cam cover off... First... Yes, if your oil pressure is healthy, you'll have oil flying everywhere. It won't shoot twenty feet out of the holes in the lobes, but it will definately leave the engine. Second, since you've got EFI, it will confuse the ECU because of the way the PCV system works. You'll have to plug the tube that normally connects to the cam cover, and you'll have to pull the tube off the PCV valve and cap off the PCV valve as well. If I were you, I'd pull the cam cover off, pull the plugs out (so the engine spins faster) and pull the coil wire off and then crank the engine to see what happens. With the plugs out, it should spin fast enough to get a good idea of how far stuff shoots. In fact, even at that speed, it may shoot far enough to leave the engine. :laugh:

Haha! I think you purposely positioned that cam so that none of them show in your photos. So as for the rust... If your oil pressure is healthy, then I'd clean it up and run it for a while and see how it goes. From what I've read, being able to hear the valve train on these engines is pretty much expected.

Uhhh... Are there oil holes in the cam lobes? I'm not seeing any in the pictures. It may just be the way the lobes are situated in your pics, but if not... that's a problem.

If it's that clogged, I doubt you would be able to blow the clog out simply with compressed air. I think the idea of snaking it with a piece of wire first is the best idea. As for what type of wire, you're on your own. Just keep trying until you find something that works. Other ideas? Long spring of narrow diameter? Something intended to clean out small plumbing pipes? Something intended to fish electrical wires? Tapping on the outside of the line to maybe help break up the blockage? Take it to someone with a large industrial sized ultrasonic cleaner? Buy a replacement used fuel rail?

Haha!! I was thinking the exact same thing! I was so distracted by reflections off the floor that I didn't even read the text. Is there something wrong with his car? Seriously though... Are you sure that it was bent before it went on the press?

No, you don't have to completely disassemble the carbs to check the filters, but you do have to take off the fitting where the fuel line connects to the bowl. It's easy to do with the carbs in the car. If it turns out that the filter screens are clean and the problem is elsewhere, you might want to pull the carbs off the car to check the float bowl levels. Not necessary, but easier and probably more accurate. Checking the filter and the float bowl levels are both well covered in the factory service manual. You'll need an earlier (70, 72, or 72) manual to get info on the round tops, so if the only manual you have is for 73, then you'll need to grab an earlier one to get the correct carb info.

Sounds like you aren't getting any fuel to the carbs. I would back up and start simple. Here's what I would do to start: 1) First, pull the filters out of the carbs and make sure they aren't plugged with crap. 2) If the filters were clean and not plugged, then pull the carbs off the car and verify that your needle valves are working and the float bowl levels are set correctly. 3) Then once you are convinced your float bowl levels are correct, put the carbs back on and fill them up (prime them) with fuel with a funnel and a short piece of tubing and then reconnect the fuel lines. The engine should run for a decent length of time (thirty seconds) off the fuel in the bowls, and during that time, you can look for other issues. When you switched from the original flat top carbs to the round tops, did you keep your original intake manifolds or did you swap for older?

Sent you PM.

Isn't it great when stuff happens the way it's supposed to?? I find it even more satisfying that you made it a little richer and the HC went down. Thanks for the numbers for one turn. I know each car could be different, but it's a benchmark!

Haha! So you must have felt all weak and light-headed while you were working on your pump? I doubt that you want to pull it apart again, but in case you're energetic... I found the procedure in the FSM to be finicky, so I resorted to trying different thickness shims until I could calculate my endplay. I've got .002 when cold, and if I were doing it again (with a cast iron bodied pump), I would reduce that a little. My oil pressure is now great while cruising, but I could do with a little more pressure at idle. Your pump spins with a screwdriver, so that means you don't have too little end play, but you might have too much. So is this a new pump you're putting in, or are you just giving your old one a once over? Also, here's some interesting threads I turned up while doing my oil pump research: http://www.zcar.com/70-83_tech_discussion_forum/cast_iron_oil_pump_689487.msg1279920.html http://forums.hybridz.org/index.php/topic/88729-truth-on-l6-oil-pumps http://forums.hybridz.org/index.php/topic/61680-kameari-high-performance-oil-pump-worth-it

I don't know how sensitive the idle mixture adjustment screw is. I also don't know how much throttle opening you needed to maintain that 15 and 25 mph on the dyno, but remember that since the bypass screw is in parallel with the throttle butterfly plate, it will have more impact the less the butterfly is open. In other words, if you close that screw down some, it will make you richer across the entire operating range, but the change towards richer will be greater at idle than at WOT. I'd be interested in hearing how much of an effect that screw has for say one turn or so.

Congrats! Maybe drive it for a little bit and then pull the plugs to make sure that your aren't too lean?

You're talking about the gasket that sets the rotor end play? So what happened with your original gasket? Did it split down the middle and leave half on each side, or is it a clean break with some kind of unusual material applied independently to each side? I wonder if this is a way for them to control the thickness? When I replaced my oil pump both the original OEM and replacement gaskets were traditional style. I measured the new (Melling) gasket at .006 and the original Datsun gasket from my failed pump at .004 thick.

No, I think you got it. I've not used such a device so all I can do is picture it in use. Last time I did this I used washers and a nut directly on the spindle tip, so I was wrenching maybe a half inch away from the A-arm. Was just thinking that the farther the wrench from the A-arm, the longer your moment arm will be in a direction you don't want it. But in any event, cool... Sounds like a non-issue.

Actually, you can't say 240 or 260. Don't forget... They put flat tops on 73 240's. Hehe. So I believe the more accurate answer is that the thinner one is for the flat tops (73 and 74), and the thicker one is for the round tops (anything up to and including 72).

I was picturing the use of this tool earlier today and thinking that it might be nice to have some kind of feature that you could use to steady the device with one hand while you were turning the big nut with the other? So you aren't side loading the spindle tip as you tightened the nut? I guess you could just push on the spacer tube with one hand while you pull on the wrench with the other, but I'm not sure how effective this would be. I'm just thinking that cranking on that big nut with one hand out in space a foot away from the spindle tip pictures a little off. Might be better if you could translate all of that side load directly into rotation and tension while you were tightening the nut? I'm having a hard time putting this into words, so I'll offer up an analogy... Kinda the same reason it feels fine using a ratchet with just one hand if you've got no extension on it, but if you put a foot long extension on it you feel the need to grab the back of the ratchet head with one hand while you crank the handle with the other. Does that make sense?