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Sparks at the fuel tank not exactly what you want to see!!!!
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Project Vulture
- Thread starter DintDobbs
- Start date
DintDobbs
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- 1999 Explorer Sport 4x4
@410Fortune Exactly, but I can't be sure that was absolutely the problem, as firstly, the fuel pump wires were all covered in rubber, and secondarily, I couldn't see the driver's side of the gasket to know for sure whether the wires were trapped or not.
All I saw (and heard) was sparks near the harness behind the transfer case, and then the fuse blew. Happened twice, I opened every thing up and re-closed it (making sure to do so correctly) and the issue did not resurface. It had to have been shorting to ground somewhere on that circuit, and the fuel pump wires themselves were the only wires that had been touched during the entire operation.
All I saw (and heard) was sparks near the harness behind the transfer case, and then the fuse blew. Happened twice, I opened every thing up and re-closed it (making sure to do so correctly) and the issue did not resurface. It had to have been shorting to ground somewhere on that circuit, and the fuel pump wires themselves were the only wires that had been touched during the entire operation.
DintDobbs
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- 1999 Explorer Sport 4x4
Status report time.
Loaded up The Vulture onto a trailer and took 3 of my pals to run her hard out on a sandy stretch near the Currituck County light house. When I say "run her hard", I mean she was loaded down with about 850 pounds of people and well over 100 pounds of equipment. The ride height was lowered significantly from all the weight, but aired down to 18 PSI, she handled the sand well, although we definitely deepened some existing trenches. Smelled some thing burning shortly after shifting into 4WD high, but it stopped after a few minutes... no performance change noted.
After a while of slow driving on sand, the engine temperature is going to run high. As expected, this happened, and the heater was used to prevent the possibility of overheat. Besides being loaded near or past manufacturer-specified limits, lower gears raise cruising RPM's at any speed, and lower speed mean less air flow. I signed up for this.
The pre-'98 roof bars which I had installed a while back (after the tree fell on the truck) were definitely not up to the task of holding that 33" tire to the roof. They didn't fall apart during the trip, but there was breakage, and when replacing them this morning (with the post-'98 design) the rear bar came off in two pieces... fortunately did not experience catastrophic failure on the trip, but I was not pleased to see that upon return from the beach strand, the tire had moved several inches to the passenger side, and the straps had not loosened. Not cool.
Left her overnight before airing back up; she idled fine for the first 3 tires, but stalled several times during the 4th tire. Some times she'd start right back up on the first crank, other times I'd have to hold the gas pedal down. On the times I had to hold the pedal, I noticed the oil pressure gauge acting funny. Might look into that, but that's a job for an other day. (Incidentally, I noticed this same behavior while experiencing difficulty starting during 2023's Uwharrie trip.)
Lastly, ever since replacing the fuel pump and injectors, when idling in any gear with brake applied, and in Neutral with or without brake applied, she will occasionally "hiccup". It almost seems like a misfire, but I haven't seen any associated codes, and I have never actually had it stall because of this. I haven't determined whether it is rhythmic or not; it definitely does not happen on every rotation. Could be a sticky valve or some such. I doubt that the stalling while airing up was related to this idiosyncrasy because, even though I couldn't hear the engine idle over the sound of the air compressor, I was unable to replicate the stalling conditions.
Loaded up The Vulture onto a trailer and took 3 of my pals to run her hard out on a sandy stretch near the Currituck County light house. When I say "run her hard", I mean she was loaded down with about 850 pounds of people and well over 100 pounds of equipment. The ride height was lowered significantly from all the weight, but aired down to 18 PSI, she handled the sand well, although we definitely deepened some existing trenches. Smelled some thing burning shortly after shifting into 4WD high, but it stopped after a few minutes... no performance change noted.
After a while of slow driving on sand, the engine temperature is going to run high. As expected, this happened, and the heater was used to prevent the possibility of overheat. Besides being loaded near or past manufacturer-specified limits, lower gears raise cruising RPM's at any speed, and lower speed mean less air flow. I signed up for this.
The pre-'98 roof bars which I had installed a while back (after the tree fell on the truck) were definitely not up to the task of holding that 33" tire to the roof. They didn't fall apart during the trip, but there was breakage, and when replacing them this morning (with the post-'98 design) the rear bar came off in two pieces... fortunately did not experience catastrophic failure on the trip, but I was not pleased to see that upon return from the beach strand, the tire had moved several inches to the passenger side, and the straps had not loosened. Not cool.
Left her overnight before airing back up; she idled fine for the first 3 tires, but stalled several times during the 4th tire. Some times she'd start right back up on the first crank, other times I'd have to hold the gas pedal down. On the times I had to hold the pedal, I noticed the oil pressure gauge acting funny. Might look into that, but that's a job for an other day. (Incidentally, I noticed this same behavior while experiencing difficulty starting during 2023's Uwharrie trip.)
Lastly, ever since replacing the fuel pump and injectors, when idling in any gear with brake applied, and in Neutral with or without brake applied, she will occasionally "hiccup". It almost seems like a misfire, but I haven't seen any associated codes, and I have never actually had it stall because of this. I haven't determined whether it is rhythmic or not; it definitely does not happen on every rotation. Could be a sticky valve or some such. I doubt that the stalling while airing up was related to this idiosyncrasy because, even though I couldn't hear the engine idle over the sound of the air compressor, I was unable to replicate the stalling conditions.
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