Well, she is FIXED! And guess who ended up fixing it????
Forget about that pulser coil non-sense.....I've known this mechanic for almost 30 years and I guess his head is no longer in the game. Here is how it all played out.....
I wanted to get down there on Friday before he left so I could talk to him.
I knew right away he wasn't sure what the problem was. I told him "Did you check the vst screen"? He said yes. Then he starts mentioning some computer problem which could run $1200-1400. He said that he put a pressure guage on it and it is starving for fuel for some reason. (I said that to him last week, and he said it sounded electrical to him). I said, "Let me look at it for a day or two..." This was late Fri afternoon. So I took all the good info you guys gave me and went to work.
Well, I had with me 3 new low pressure fuel pumps, a new vst screen and the equipment to service the O2 (none of which had ever been serviced since new in 1999 (my fault, but every time I looked under that cowling, I was intimidated).....no longer. I popped the cowling and found about a 1/4" of gas floating around in the bottom of the block area.....(yo buddy, no rag or bowl to catch the gas?) Good thing I didnt try starting it, huh?
The top low press pump was easy to get to, an easy swap to a new one for $35+-...the middle pump is almost behind the vst tank so I had to remove that. I figured, let me check that screen ......Well, the screen he checked wasnt loooking to good to me AND it was disconnected from the fuel pump.....bouncing around in the bottom of the vst tank. In addition, the o-ring that seals the bottom of the tank to the top apparently was pinched and a piece of it broke off and was also floating around the bottom of the vst tank. I also noticed the new screen Yammie sent me looks different than the original, a photo is attached. It looks like the new one could filter more debris before she clogs. I get the new one on and replace the vst tank and low pressure fuel pump behind it....One more low pressure fuel pump at the bottom and set for a test ride.....
BINGO.....ran like a champ!
Also, she has smoked excessively (I thought) for a few years and had a rough low rpm idle (in gear and out) ..Saturday I cleaned the O2 and also replaced the exhaust tube with a new one (which was HEAVILY carbed up). The repair manual said to throw out the old exhaust tube because the new part has been redesigned...looked the same to me but I did it anyway. The sensor had some carbon, but I thought it looked ok, before and after I cleaned it....
Well, she runs just as good as the day I bought her almost 9 seasons ago.
THANK YOU to all CP'ers who helped and saved me from a trouble shooting mechanic!
