Time to replace the water pump I guess.

[novadmc]

Last night after leaving dinner with several car buddies during our weekly meetup, my friend (volvo guy) and I were listening to the engine after i fired up the car. we noted 2 things:

1. the water pump is making a fairly loud whirring/rubbing noise (no squeal or anything). there's been a slight leak from the weep hole since i got the car but since i didn't drive it that much over the winter, i never did anything about it yet (also the noise wasn't there yet).

today when i looked at the engine before leaving in my other car to come to work, i snapped some pics:
34468 34469 34470

Yeah id say the water pump's about ready to give up. you all agree?

luckily, in preparation, I already purchased a replacement pump kit, and while i'm at it a major service kit from DMCH. I was hoping i could get through the summer before having to tackle it but given the noise and the pics from this morning, I don't think i want to wait that long.

2. My buddy and I also noticed what sounds like slight pinging coming from Cyl4. happens under any load (but not always) and goes away the second i let off the throttle. i checked around that area and cant find anything loose. With the major service kit (also already in my possession), i'm hoping the replacement of the distributor rotor, cap, spark plugs and tiny spark plug wires currently on the car will solve it.

Else I'm also wondering if i should check how cleanly the fuel injectors are spraying.

maybe time for a valve adjustment?

the car's only got 14,600 miles on it and the engine (to my knowledge) was torn down inspected and rebuilt back in 2000 when D1 was restoring it for the previous owner. its between then and now that the 14k was put on the car.

idle's good at ~700rpm, there's no stumbling/hesitation when under load, cruises fine at highway speeds, etc, etc.

thoughts/comment/help welcomed :)

[krs09]

Id say pump looks a little worse for wear, take it easy on those bolts (2 of the 3 snapped on me and it sucked, had to use time-serts). I had a good tap/knock on mine after a rebuild but after I did the valve adjustment it is 100% better. Although they say its a 30,000 mile service (I think). Just try to do as much "while your in there" work as you can.. once and done

[DMCVegas]

Time to replace the pump indeed. It's the right of passage for every DeLorean owner to go into the Valley Of Death. And while you're in there, you might as well just do the seals on the Y-Pipe and the connector hoses.

As for the pinging, drive the car until you're at least under a quarter tank of gas, then dump a bottle of Techron in the tank and fill it tup. Then give it a good "Italian Tune Up" to burn off any excess carbon deposits. Drive until you burn off most of the fuel again, and then refill it and you're good to go.

[krs09]

+1 on the Techron.. Good stuff.

[novadmc]

guess it means the car is down for a few weeks :( oh well. not planned for but not suprising either. besides the new pump, ive got the major service kit to do, probably will dress up the engine bay as well, new rad fans, DPNW's self bleeding kit, and probably a few other "while you are there" things. and im sure after tearing everything apart this weekend (hopefully) ill have another order or 2 to place with DMC. the writeups all show taking the fuel lines off at the fuel distributor, yet neither the water pump kit or major service kit comes with the replacement crush washers for all of the fuel lines. I guess they just figure on pulling the injectors.

so ill probably be ordering a bunch of copper washers and probably need injector boots (figure ill take them to inspect them when everything's apart). its always the little things that'll bite me in the rear :)

[kings1527]

Try to go easy on the Techron. I've had several sources say that Techron was the cause of ruining my accumulator and causing some hot start problems. The stuff works great but it will kill the diaphragm in the accumulator if you overuse it.

[SS Spoiler]

I've heard only use it in a full tank just before a long trip.

[DMCVegas]

I've used Techron many times before in the DeLorean and never had a problem. My old mechanic was the one who recommended it, and always used it on cars that came into the shop. He was always very leery of "snake oil" additives, but Techron he swore by. And after using it in several vehicles over the years, I do too.

Chemtool however, that's a different story. I wound up with a nasty hot start issue and poor emissions after Chemtool, but that was caused by it rotting out the O-rings in the Primary Pressure Regulator back on the Fuel Distributor. I also had it knock enough crap loose that it seized up a fuel pump in a truck too. It's great as a parts-dip to clean things, but I'll never run it through an engine again. But getting back on track, if you were going to have problems with alcohol or distillates ruining the rubber in the car, the thinner O-Rings downstream are far more likely to be damaged first than just the accumulator.

The thing though too with Techron is that you are supposed to follow the directions on the bottle about how to add it in. You've got to drain the fuel down as far as you can. I'd recommend until at least the low fuel warning light on the car comes on. Then when you fill up, pour the Techron in FIRST, and then fill the car up. That way as the gasoline flows into the tank, it causes the Techron to mix and dilute itself evenly within the fuel. Then keep driving the car until you run the fuel level back down again, and fill it all back up to further dilute the fuel. For bigger tanks, they do sell bigger bottles. But just the regular one is fine for our cars.



I've heard only use it in a full tank just before a long trip.

On an older car like ours that isn't designed for oxygenated fuels that contain Ethanol, it's probably best not to let the tank sit with excess detergent additives in it for a long time. It doesn't have to be an immediate road trip, but give it no longer than a week to burn off that tank of gas.