Sunday, August 25, 2013
The Story Continues
I fulfilled a dream of mine a few days ago and bought a 1966 Ford Mustang. Naturally I'll be writing a blog about it too. It can be found from mustang66project.blogspot.fi.
Sunday, August 11, 2013
The End
Well, I'm a bit sad to say that I sold the Corvette today. I had it since fall of 2009 and had put a lot of hours into it but it was time to find something different for a change. But the "Speedy Banana" did not let go easily. Here's how my last days with the car went so I can laugh/cry to them later ;)
I got a few phone calls after putting the Corvette for sale and some visitors too. One in particular seemed interested but wished that I have the car inspected because it was due in a few months. "Sure", I said, knowing that nothing should be wrong with the car. Confident, I drove to the inspection office the same day. Everything went smooth until I was asked why the windshield wipers were not working. WTF!? I had tested them the previous day.
I immediately checked the fuse, connectors and other obvious places but could not get the wipers to work. I drove home with a failed result. Can't remember the last time I was so mad... Back home I removed the wiper motor and tried testing it straight from a battery. The damn thing just did not work. I had to inform the buyer that I'll try to find a new wiper motor as soon as possible.
Unfortunately, I was also going for a small trip right at that time but after it, I did manage to find a new motor from US-Parts. It was the last one they had so I drove there immediately to get it. After installing it, the wipers worked again. Then it was time to go for another holiday trip for a few days and then have the car inspected again.
I drove to the office, showed that the wipers work and got the accepted stamp. Phew! But the troubles were not over yet. On my way home, I noticed that the engine temperature rose when stopping for traffic lights and dropped again while driving. Soon I had to stop in a parking lot to check the engine. Immediately I noticed that the fan was not working. What now!?
After letting the engine cool for two hours, I got back home and started another investigation after letting the car sit for the night. And again I informed the buyer that I need to do some tweaking. The fan worked when I fed it from the battery so I turned my gaze to the Hayden 3647 controller. Its relay worked fine, the unit got power correctly but, as I found out, the unit itself just never activated the fan. I started reading some reviews for it from Amazon.com and seems that the dozens of 1-star ratings were correct. The Made In China piece of crap could not handle the heat in the engine bay and melted after a few days or month of use.
I could not get a new controller during weekend nor did I want to afflict the new owner with such crap, so I had to think a new plan and soon. I had bought a temperature sensor earlier that was installed in the water hose with a small fitting. It was my original plan for controlling the fan but had abandoned it because the instructions said that it should be in the lower hose. I had not found a fitting large enough for it but the one I had was perfect for the upper hose. I did some investigation and finally decided that I would just buy a sensor for slightly higher temperatures and use it.
I drained some coolant, cut the upper hose and installed the fitting and sensor. Then it was time to refill the system and test it. Unfortunately the fan still did not run after the engine had warmed up. Time to dig up the multimeter again. Luckily I found the problem immediately. The fan control relay got correct signals but did not activate the fan. It had stuck after being in the car unused for two years. I had an extra relay and with it, everything worked!
So finally, today I took my last drive with the Corvette as I delivered it to the buyer. We chatted for a long time and went through the parts I sold with the car. When everything seemed to be in order, we made the paperwork and the Speedy Banana was not mine anymore.
I guess it's time to start searching for a new project now...
I got a few phone calls after putting the Corvette for sale and some visitors too. One in particular seemed interested but wished that I have the car inspected because it was due in a few months. "Sure", I said, knowing that nothing should be wrong with the car. Confident, I drove to the inspection office the same day. Everything went smooth until I was asked why the windshield wipers were not working. WTF!? I had tested them the previous day.
Broken Wiper
I immediately checked the fuse, connectors and other obvious places but could not get the wipers to work. I drove home with a failed result. Can't remember the last time I was so mad... Back home I removed the wiper motor and tried testing it straight from a battery. The damn thing just did not work. I had to inform the buyer that I'll try to find a new wiper motor as soon as possible.
Unfortunately, I was also going for a small trip right at that time but after it, I did manage to find a new motor from US-Parts. It was the last one they had so I drove there immediately to get it. After installing it, the wipers worked again. Then it was time to go for another holiday trip for a few days and then have the car inspected again.
I drove to the office, showed that the wipers work and got the accepted stamp. Phew! But the troubles were not over yet. On my way home, I noticed that the engine temperature rose when stopping for traffic lights and dropped again while driving. Soon I had to stop in a parking lot to check the engine. Immediately I noticed that the fan was not working. What now!?
Broken Fan
After letting the engine cool for two hours, I got back home and started another investigation after letting the car sit for the night. And again I informed the buyer that I need to do some tweaking. The fan worked when I fed it from the battery so I turned my gaze to the Hayden 3647 controller. Its relay worked fine, the unit got power correctly but, as I found out, the unit itself just never activated the fan. I started reading some reviews for it from Amazon.com and seems that the dozens of 1-star ratings were correct. The Made In China piece of crap could not handle the heat in the engine bay and melted after a few days or month of use.
I could not get a new controller during weekend nor did I want to afflict the new owner with such crap, so I had to think a new plan and soon. I had bought a temperature sensor earlier that was installed in the water hose with a small fitting. It was my original plan for controlling the fan but had abandoned it because the instructions said that it should be in the lower hose. I had not found a fitting large enough for it but the one I had was perfect for the upper hose. I did some investigation and finally decided that I would just buy a sensor for slightly higher temperatures and use it.
I drained some coolant, cut the upper hose and installed the fitting and sensor. Then it was time to refill the system and test it. Unfortunately the fan still did not run after the engine had warmed up. Time to dig up the multimeter again. Luckily I found the problem immediately. The fan control relay got correct signals but did not activate the fan. It had stuck after being in the car unused for two years. I had an extra relay and with it, everything worked!
So finally, today I took my last drive with the Corvette as I delivered it to the buyer. We chatted for a long time and went through the parts I sold with the car. When everything seemed to be in order, we made the paperwork and the Speedy Banana was not mine anymore.
I guess it's time to start searching for a new project now...
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