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Car Forum / Antique and Collectibles / Studebaker / August 2005Vapor Lock?
My '57 Golden Hawk experienced what I feel is vapor lock on a recent trip up to Reno from the Bay Area Thursday afternoon, a pretty hot day in the Sacramento Valley and up at Reno. This condition was exacerbated by the coolant temp going off the scale, but the temp gauge is a little suspect, but still a higher than normal condition. The PO had installed an auxiliary electric pump but it's right before the mechanical one in that hot engine compartment, so I believe it couldn't help the situation either. I will address the core problem of overheating but I wonder if anyone has placed an electric, auxiliary or primary pump, at the rear of the car, near the tank. Wouldn't this location resolve any tendency of vapor lock? Where did you mount it? IWith my T cab that had a bad case of the vapor locks I installed dual electric pumps in the engine compartment..The stock pump a.llowed the fuel to get to warm. I also made a fuel return system so the fuel continually circulates to keep it cool. One of the issues with T-Cabs (and maybe with other trucks) is that the gas cap must be vented. I even cut a notch in the filler cap rubber making sure that it is on the bottom when the cap is locked in place. JT > IWith my T cab that had a bad case of the vapor locks I installed dual > electric pumps in the engine compartment..The stock pump a.llowed the > fuel to get to warm. I also made a fuel return system so the fuel > continually circulates to keep it cool. To overcome the vapor lock blues........You gotta push liquid gas through the vaporized gas lock that is preventing the stock fuel pump from working as designed. Issue: today's gas is more volatile that that of 50 years age. Mandatory step 1 - make sure the gas cap is a vented gas cap- if the pump is creating a partial vacuum in the fuel tank, guess what is going to vaporize more quickly? Yep - the gas. Some optional steps to take to prevent vapor lock: - Mix less-volaitle fuel in with normal pump gas. Diesel fuel works pretty good- 1 gal per fill-up. - Insulate the fuel line against heat. this helps sometimes. - Add an electric pump near the gas tank to push the gas. WARNING: having an uncontrolled flow of fuel to the engine is a BAD thing! if the carb is not functioning correctly (float not shutting off the gas flow) you WILL have BAD THINGS happen. If the engine stalls and the gas keeps flowing - watch out for fire! 2 Studebaker fires in the last 6 months we know of should raise awareness of this peril to all of us. An oil pressure switch that interrupts the flow of electricity to teh electric fuel pump is probably a smart thing to install. You can wire a momentary bypass switch (use a high current starter switch) to defeat this safety for situations when you want to fill the carb with gas before cranking the ignition. - Finally, a return line back to the tank will allow the gas to circulate and stay cool (liquid) Mark (your milage may vary - these are not engineering recommendations - do sue me or I will hunt you down - Anybody that follows advice found on the internet without THINKING ABOUT IT CLEARLY is an idiot - there is no substitute for logical thinking) Dunning And throw in a quart of diesel fuel every fill up. Jeff "markshere2" wrote... > To overcome the vapor lock blues........You gotta push liquid gas through > the vaporized gas lock that is preventing the stock fuel pump from working [quoted text clipped - 31 lines] > the internet without THINKING ABOUT IT CLEARLY is an idiot - there is no > substitute for logical thinking) Dunning > My '57 Golden Hawk experienced what I feel is vapor lock on a recent trip > up to Reno from the Bay Area Thursday afternoon, a pretty hot day in the [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > the car, near the tank. Wouldn't this location resolve any tendency of > vapor lock? Where did you mount it? Electric pumps are pushers, not pullers. IMHO they should ALWAYS be mounted back by the tank. I have done so on three cars. I drilled necessary mounting holes in the frame where it kicks up over the axle, mounted the pump there, took off the soft fuel line from the tank to the steel line and ran new soft line from the tank to the pump and from the pump to the steel line. I ran one wire from the front to the pump (mount to the frame grounds it). Paul Johnson Or you could put clothes pins on the lines... Matthew (of course it works!) Burnette > > My '57 Golden Hawk experienced what I feel is vapor lock on a recent trip > > up to Reno from the Bay Area Thursday afternoon, a pretty hot day in the [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > it). > Paul Johnson >Or you could put clothes pins on the lines... Of course ya put clothes pins on the lines. How else ya gonna hang up those CLOTHES? ;-) (Is this now OT?) John And if you do install an electric pump, either put it on a momentary-contact switch like a push-button or spring-loaded toggle switch, for use as a starting aid or to overcome vapor lock, or go all-out and install the oil pressure switch and interlock. It's all too easy to hook it up to a toggle switch, turn it on, and then forget it... Gord Richmond Gord, Good suggestion, the momentary, think I'll go that direction. Thx Jerry P.S. Don't I owe you for shipping on that Hawk dash last year? > And if you do install an electric pump, either put it on a > momentary-contact switch like a push-button or spring-loaded toggle > switch That is the simplest, best answer I've heard yet! I really like that idea! ................................................ > And if you do install an electric pump, either put it on a > momentary-contact switch like a push-button or spring-loaded toggle [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > Gord Richmond |
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