Good morning all,
Unfortunately, I am here again looking for some additional advice. I had mentioned about a week ago that I had the Burb back together and would take it for a test drive to make sure the crossover steering worked as I hoped it would. After a scary start-up (making an awful noise), I learned that the air was bleeding out of the steering system. I got it to bleed properly and hit the road. The good news is that the crossover, new steering box, and steering shaft work perfectly.
WITH THAT SAID, on the first short around-the-neighborhood trip, I stalled twice (which was weird, but I thought maybe I was just sloppy with the clutch). Looking back on it, the odd part is that it didn’t restart immediately, but I didn’t think much more of it. I dropped my wife off and told her I would take the old boy out on the highway and test the steering at a higher speed. Not to give too much detail, but when I was making my way to the highway, actually on the on ramp, this boy let out an “Uncle Buck Style” backfire. It sounded like a gunshot. I thought it was weird as it had never done that before, but at this point, I was on the highway and had it up to about 50 to 55 mph, and I am happy to say the steering appeared to be rock solid. However, I thought better of continuing on the highway and pulled off onto the access road. It drove for another 1/4 mile and then cut off. Stalled and coasted to a stop, and that was that.
I tried to start it again, but “No Go” would not start. The starter sounded right, no leaking from anything, but it would not start. Full transparency, this is where I am lost on this stuff. I have figured out how to fix things on this Burb, but candidly, I cannot diagnose these issues. I called AAA and had it towed to the shop. I wasn’t sure what happened or what needed to be done. When I talked to him, he said not to panic; it has a mechanical fuel pump and might just need a new one. As you can imagine, this is good and frustrating news all at once. Good because it was not me blowing up the engine, but bad because I am sure I can figure out how to replace the fuel pump, and the part is relatively cheap.
That brings me to where we are currently. After chasing the guy for a week to get an update on the truck, they finally called me yesterday and said they could not recreate the problem! He said that the truck starts and runs normally. I plan to pick it up, drive it home, and replace the fuel pump anyway, simply because I would like to try to figure it out, and it doesn’t seem too hard, it is not a very expensive part, and who knows how old it is.
My larger question for the group is, can anyone on here with way more knowledge and experience think of what the issue might be other than the fuel pump?
As always, any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated.
