The drive home was going good, if a bit smelly due to the fuel smell. I didn't really care though, I was too busy enjoying the car. I wouldn't say it was fast, or even quick, but it was still fun. It was very much like a big go-cart. The seats were original and not terribly comfortable, but everything else was great. The car seemed to enjoy being on the highway and seemed to be getting great gas mileage.
Once the tank got low, we stopped for gas and snacks. I checked fluids and all was looking good. So, we got back on the road. The gas fumes were getting to me a bit, but I was still enjoying the drive. It really wasn't too bad not having cruise control. We happily zipped along, headed for home.
It was late afternoon, the sun was getting low in the sky. We were somewhere between Clarksville and Russellville. I noticed I was getting low on fuel, and decided to stop at the next gas station. As I was about to pick up my phone to let Amy know of my plan, the car began to stutter, then lost power. Great! I ran out of gas!
So, I sat with the car while Amy went to the next exit (couple of miles away) to get some gas. She came back with a gas tank and I poured it into the tank. I cranked the engine, but no luck. We were sitting on the side of the road on a steep angle, so I thought maybe we didn't put enough in to cover the fuel pick-up. So, Amy went to fill the tank again. Unfortunately, even that second tank didn't do it. By now, the battery was also getting tired. So, while I checked everything on the car Amy went to pick up a set of jumper cables.
I found no obvious issues, so I waited for her to return. A state trooper stopped to check on me and I told him I was waiting for my wife to return with fuel/jumper cables. He left to go back to his hiding spot. Amy returned with the cables and we connected them to the Yukon. We cranked and cranked, tried everything we could think of, but no luck. So, I called my friend Eric, who lives in Conway. He and his brother agreed to come rescue us with their tow dolly.
The following weekend I arrived with the Yukon to trailer the car to my house for further diagnosis. Eric's brother is pretty familiar with these older ignition systems, so we looked it over before I left. We discovered that the problem was that the contact came off the points in the distributor. Eric had a Crane electronic ignition module that he had no plans to use, so he gave it to me and we set off for home.
It took some time and a lot of fiddling with the adjustments, but I finally got it going using the Crane ignition. After a lot more tuning and adjustment I had it running pretty good, at least as good as before. I was excited to have it back on the road at last!
No comments:
Post a Comment