ZR-1 Net Registry Forums - View Single Post - Update on my hi-miler Z project

VetteMed · 01-26-2011

Update, 1 month later:

Had the motor all buttoned up, and found that my coolant outlet tubes were leaking at the gaskets (I had assembled them without sealant, obviously that didn't work). ALso had a pinhole leak in upper radiator hose. Fixed all of that, got it all back together again, cobbled together the exhaust well enough to get to a shop for welding, and fixed a persistent oil leak at the junction of the cooler and the cooler lines.

I've been doing some interior work, got a new shift boot and console cover from redlinegoods.com, got the visors and trim back in place, little odds and ends.

Today, I fired it up, backed out of the garage so I could do some work in the sun, seemed to run fine though had a little skip at idle after a few minutes of running. Didn't think much of it since it's been sitting. However, upon attempting a hot restart about 20 minutes later, I had to crank for 3 instances of about 5 seconds each, before it caught, and even then it was sputtering badly and barely holding an idle.

Immediately, the fuel pressure regulator came to mind, since I know a hot restart failure is usually due to excess fuel in the cylinders, since I have new injectors, and the regulator was the only part of the fuel system I didn't update, naturally ol' man Murphy came knocking. I pulled the vacuum line off the regulator, and there's fuel leaking out.

At least the diagnosis is made. However, now I think I have another plenum pull to do before I can get the exhaust and alignment done.

Guess this serves me right for being cheap and not replacing the regulator when everything was apart.

I'm starting to see a pattern developing here, and I fear that it ends with bottom end problems soon after getting this thing back on the road. Trying to stay optimistic though.

01-26-2011	#35
VetteMed Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Orlando, FL Posts: 1,816	Re: Update on my hi-miler Z project Update, 1 month later: Had the motor all buttoned up, and found that my coolant outlet tubes were leaking at the gaskets (I had assembled them without sealant, obviously that didn't work). ALso had a pinhole leak in upper radiator hose. Fixed all of that, got it all back together again, cobbled together the exhaust well enough to get to a shop for welding, and fixed a persistent oil leak at the junction of the cooler and the cooler lines. I've been doing some interior work, got a new shift boot and console cover from redlinegoods.com, got the visors and trim back in place, little odds and ends. Today, I fired it up, backed out of the garage so I could do some work in the sun, seemed to run fine though had a little skip at idle after a few minutes of running. Didn't think much of it since it's been sitting. However, upon attempting a hot restart about 20 minutes later, I had to crank for 3 instances of about 5 seconds each, before it caught, and even then it was sputtering badly and barely holding an idle. Immediately, the fuel pressure regulator came to mind, since I know a hot restart failure is usually due to excess fuel in the cylinders, since I have new injectors, and the regulator was the only part of the fuel system I didn't update, naturally ol' man Murphy came knocking. I pulled the vacuum line off the regulator, and there's fuel leaking out. At least the diagnosis is made. However, now I think I have another plenum pull to do before I can get the exhaust and alignment done. Guess this serves me right for being cheap and not replacing the regulator when everything was apart. I'm starting to see a pattern developing here, and I fear that it ends with bottom end problems soon after getting this thing back on the road. Trying to stay optimistic though.