Redwing

Site... That is one thing on my agenda. Fire scares me, especially if in close proximity with fuel. Uggggg..... Steve... Thank you again for your commitment to RB, getting her safe for me. Hope for you, that your work schedule gets more realistic in the future. ☺ Jai

rossiz... Good idea about checking the gas cap for whoosh, after checking the fuel pressure. I will for sure do that. As to the match lighting the gravel. I live on 6 1/2 acres, and for sure was planning to go wayyyy away from RB and the carport if I tried that. Please not to worry about that, I'm savvy there! Thank you for your comments. Jai

Well, that puts me out of pulling the tach. No way can I contort myself to do that. Fooey... Thanks...

Hmmm, thanks for that info. Guess I will make sure I can replace the back connection Before unplugging it. Just in case. Jai

Wonderful Steve!!! Thank you for your fine offer. Let me know when it is good for me to drive to your place. I am so pleased. Hooray!!! Jai

Regarding the tach. I have been snooping around about it. I had decided that removing it by loosening the screw near the face was something I could do. Just to see if the back connection is ok, or if connected at all. If the back connection is indeed attached, I would see if I could manage unplugging it. No great loss if I cannot get the back connection reattached. Since it is not working, and it probably is beyond anything I can do to repair it myself. Then I would just close it back with the front screw, and wait to see where I could buy another to replace it. I realize the extent that it has on the diagnostics of RB, sure would like to have a working tach. Anyone think this is a bad idea? What could go wrong if I do this? Thanks bunches, Jai

No problem ever with shifting into first gear after warming the engine. And, no, she never tries to move at all before releasing the clutch. Lifting the clutch pedal, it starts to engage about 1/2 the way up as I remember. I've never really paid much attention to it, going by muscle memory. Thanks...

The whoosh was in. Again, that was new since she has been running good. I will look at the little vent on the inside of the gas cap and will report. My Normal routine is to apply the foot brake, remove the E. brake, push in clutch, put it into gear and Then give a few revs before releasing the clutch to pull forward. That is what I did. But she did not stay alive once I put it into gear, after pushing in clutch. Poof she died. No opportunity to give any gas, no time at all. Instantly she died. I could have revved the engine before doing anything after getting in. But I did not, I was not thinking/aware that I should do that. Using your information you just sent I will do that in the future. I will have to reply on the tach information later as I need to quit for now. Thank you for sharing all the above info with me.

I FORGOT... When opening the tank cap to put in fuel, there was a huge whoosh of air. Like what I was experiencing during those months of trials while RB was being worked on by the members. That is definitely different from the last 3 times I filled up, when she had a very mild pooh of air.. This is after she finally restarted, on the first try, after the 3+ hours of resting this morning. Mark... No there was no vibration or sounds at all when I pushed in the clutch just prior to her dying. I am going to see if my son can help me track the gas leak like you suggest. Nope, he is not available, I will have to think further on that, pulling the wheel off safely. Hmmm.....

Seems like there's a clue in these statements. Engine is cold, driver gets in and starts engine, starts up normally(?), engine is running at normal AAR-controlled high idle RPM, (tachometer still broken so sound-based), driver gets out, engine runs for a certain amount of time (how long?), maybe to a certain engine temperature (how hot?), door is opened, driver gets back in, [undefined things happen (clutch pedal pressed (?), transmission put in to gear (?), clutch released (?)], engine dies. Engine is restarted and runs fine ? (not clear). Add some detail to "before I could press the gas to go" and what happens after it died. Might be something there. Sorry to be so pedantic, just wanted to detail my point. You are right Zed Head, I did omit those points. Sorry, will try to cover every step now, and in the future. Everything you said above is correct until "certain amount of time warming up". RB was warmed up for 13 to 17 to 20 minutes. That is about the time I have been warming her up recently. How hot? I have no way of knowing really, but as you say there is a change in her sound that I have been going by. NOTE: Not mentioned. Her left window is open, because she locks me out, a malfunction of lock. So have to do that to avoid scrambling for 2nd key. All is correct as to: door opened, driver gets back in. Then I: Collect seat belt, put on arm, close door, move seat forward, hook seat belt. Note: RB had been sitting out of gear, with emergency brake on while warming up. Now I: Engage clutch, put trans into gear, and that is when she died. Clutch not released, engaging motor to go, and gas pedal not touched. At that time she refused to restart, and not thinking as I needed to hurry on to church, I attempted to restart her. Blah! Bad bad me. And no matter the length of time waiting in between times of trying to restart, would not start her. The last time I waited at least or more than 20 min. During which the driver door window was open. No start. Left for 3 1/2 hours, and then she started. Gremlins??? They love to torment me. That is all the detail I can think of. Hope this is what you were looking for Zed Head. Thank you for asking for this complete information.

More information... No Mark, this is the first RB has been close to mid tank. I have been keeping her full or nearly, since I started thinking that might be part of her starting problem. She has run SUPER until this morning. So much so, I had not even thought of a possibility of her stumbling. Yes, this is the first time I actually have found stones with fuel on them. It makes them dark, and in a small circumference area. Just a little over an inch and a quarter wide. Easy to miss. Two things to say about earlier. First, about the gravel I got out from under, at the right side inner wheel, I had my son sniff it just now. He said definitely they are permeated with fuel. I was going to see if they would flare up with a paper leading to them, on fire. Son thought better when I asked if he had matches. So apparently there is a leak there of some amount. Second, three and a half hours after she would not restart, she started. I looked at the fuel gauge, and it had risen to where it was yesterday. Very strange. While she was running, I let her warm up properly, and then took off to the gas station. She made that trip just fine, it is about 20 miles there. No hiccups. While there, I had brought my gas can and put 4 gallons in, to have here should an instance happen again like today. Yes, I will not let it get old. Snicker..... That is all that the gremlins tortured me with today. Phew, that was enough. I got very nervous about my trip to Chattanooga next Thurs. I do so much love to drive her, it is the easiest and most enjoyable part of my days. I grin and RB just hums along! We are a great team! Jai

Yesterday when I drove to the mailbox, after warming RB up, I noted the gas gauge was over half a tank easily. Today, warmed her up, got in and before I could press the gas to go, she died. Looked at the gas gauge and it was exactly on half a tank. I have previously noted, that there is a heavy gas odor when starting. Today I opened the hood, and no odor there. But it waifs in the open window when starting. Also, I checked under RB for signs of leaking fuel, since there was quite a drop in the gauge overnight. On the right side, inside the right tire, I found several gravel that I think have gas on them. So, maybe a leak there? Alas, go ahead and smite me, when she died I immediately tried to restart her, messing up the fuel gauge in the engine. Had I been on the road, that wouldn't have happened. I wasn't prepared for this in the carport. Blah! So, questioning all of you, what do you think? I have listed all the particulars I remember. If I am able to start her, do you think I have a problem with a leak? Could it cause me a worse problem, like a fire under certain circumstances? What is my next step? I need to be able to drive RB to Chattanooga on Thursday, probably near 150 mile round trip. My Deanna has a free treatment from an acupuncture vet there, that I have used before. It can only happen on that day, so I have to get her there. Deanna at this time is having good days and bad days. I guess this is typical of kidney disease. I thank each of you for the information you share with me. This is such a special group of helpful folks, I am so grateful to be among you.

So, does no one wonder how in the world that Z managed to have rust in the frame and body In 6 YEARS? Parked at night in the ocean perhaps??? Hmmm......

Thank you site, my feelings too!

My friends, It was never my intent to cause any conflict here. Please excuse me if you were offended by my research and desire to help. I'll refrain in the future. Note: When I am researching something, I use Google to go to get the correct information on a subject. Google..."what is the best dog food to feed?...why?" Many options show up. Which I did a few hours of, before posting about pet foods. Then go to that source and check as to truthfulness of that result, not taking one answer to be conclusive. Saying, check up on the source too. I want to know exactly what I am saying/sharing. I venture this next statement with extreme cautiousness, not wanting to further upset anyone. Please understand. Check all sources, that includes Snopes. Google... is snopes always correct? Please do not bombard me with hard comments. I am only trying to help, and I'm so very sorry I've upset some of you. Do your own homework, just saying... I am laying this conversation to rest for me. I don't want upset to reign here, not because of me. BTW Deanna is not well today, high fever, shivering, low demeanor. Most medications she can not take, they affect her kidneys adversely. Not much can be done for her at this point. I hate to watch this, afraid it won't be long now. All I can do is snuggle with her to let her know how much she is loved. Before the final car ride. Jai

Both of you are so right.Please read on the URL I sent. I am so amazed with what I read. I chose Diamond Natural, incidentally before reading the list, turns out my intuition was right. It is a 4 star food. Equal to some of the known best food names. It is $33 for 40#'s too. Which is not bad at all. Some of the other 4 star ones are a lot more expensive. I saw one that is $79 for 40 #'s, way above me. Yes, sadly you get what you pay for, and there are circumstances that only allow cheap a$$ food, like when one is broke. Another reason I hate money. Think too, the big companies ONLY WANT TO MAKE MONEY, they could care less if half the pets die from their toxic food. Read my lips...GREED!!! God bless these super friends with 4 legs, they make life livable when often times it isn't. Take care my friends... Jai 😇 🚘 (Thank you Cliff.)

Sorry this is not about cars, but for our beloved pets, which I made the decision to post. Thinking that most would approve, and this being the easiest way to reach many people. 😇 I was given this site to go look up pet foods when I found out that Beneful, that she had been eating, gives dogs kidney failure. I did not know. She has been diagnosed with kidney failure, which there is no recovery from. She will die from it. It is: dogfoodadvisor-.-c-o-m You will go to the home page, where near the top there is a red line that includes "review". It will take you to the longest list of dog foods that I have ever seen, giving information on each as to their purity, and rating it with stars. Beneful has a mere 1 star. The next to lowest of all. I am now feeding Diamond Natural that has 4 stars. The 5 star ones are very expensive. Hope this helps someone else to keep their dog from becoming a statistic, like my Deanna. Blessings Jai 🐶

Ok, I see. I'll for sure coast to the side and check it before trying to restart. I'm planning to use the gas down and see if I can force it to happen again. Thanks both of you, Jai 😇 🚘 BY THE WAY, MY SCREEN CHARGED TO BLUE AND WHITE WITH A DIFFERENT LAYOUT. ANY ONE ELSE? IF NOT CAN I GET THE OLD LOOK BACK? HOW? FORGET THE SCREEN PROBLEM, I FIXED IT. 😃

There has been very few miles in RB since the new filters have been put on. But I know, that doesn't mean diddlysquat, they could have gunked up easily. I'm not sure my physical limitations will allow me to crawl under and have a look, I will try tho. And yes, there is a clear filter on her, near the fuel pump. That is the one I really need to see, I think. Thank you for sharing this information. Jai

Yes! The hood is backwards to American cars. Ha! Those Japanese who made the Z cars, really figured everything out. No chance of it blowing up and blinding the drivers vision. In answer to your comment Patcon, both times she died we were out in the road. Checking the gauge was out of the question, I just wanted to get us out of the road. Say it happened again and I try to restart her, how much time is available to get a correct reading of the gauge? Or, if in the trying to restart her, has that ruined the correct gauge reading for the stalling? We were in Dalton, a much bigger town than my little berg of 900, and the afternoon traffic had started already. I will not forget in the future, if not out in traffic. Thank you, Jai 😇 🚘

Great! I usually top off the tank every 8 - 10 days. So I will report if and when. Thank you for answering! Jai

I had driven RedBird to Dalton yesterday to run a few errands. On the way home, I had 2 more stops. She died at each of them, and was not anxious to re start again. But within a few minutes she did. Then I was thinking, she has driven so perfectly since the change of the AFM plus the timing light used on her, what was the difference? Then, it came to me, she had less than a half tank of gas in her on the way home yesterday. Plus, incidentally, during all the time she was being worked on, she never had more than 5 gallons in her. I'm wondering if that could be a part of her stalling problems? Hmmm... So, onward, I needed to go back to town today, for a similar run of errands, 7 to be exact. The first being to fill up with gas. After that fill up, she was a perfect little lady, with no hint of stalling. Today was a carbon copy of yesterday. Same outside temp, same warm up before leaving, same stopping and starting without warm ups. And, she ran beautifully. I'm sure it will take more times of repeating the low gas to see if this incident will happen again. I don't know, but it seems like the coincidence (?) of the tank half empty, vs full may be of some bearing with her. I guess all I can say is "we will see". Sharing this with you all, to see if you have any thoughts about it. I would like your opinion, maybe there is something mechanical to cause this instance. Jai 😇 🚘