280C Progress

Yesterday I put a new fuel pump on my 73 280C. I wonder if I even needed a new one as the old one was not bolted on tightly, and once removed it pumped air just fine. Strange evidence to find on a car purchased non-running. I got the car running great, but it smokes something horrible. Then it quit. I noticed that the fuel tank is dented and that the outlet and return lines had been switched vice versa. I took it all apart and the fuel (about four gallons) trickled out pretty slowly. Could the dent be causing an obstruction of the fuel flow? Are these tanks built with baffles on the bottom to seperate the flow of fuel out and for the return? The dent is smack on the drain plug, so I dont know if it will come free or not. Any advice would be appreciated!

[ctaylor738]

It's more likely that since the car has sat for a while that the fuel tank outlet is partilally plugged. I used a piece of #12 copper wire to clean out the supply and return tubes. If you remove the drain, you will also find a strainer which could be plugged.

You might also try putting a quart of carb cleaner in the tank, let it sit overnight, and then drain it in conjunction with cleaning the lines with the wire.

Good luck

Chuck

[cth350]

Pull the drain plug. Since ALL the fuel flows through the filter in it, there might well be a restriction due to the hit.

As a sidebar, there's a rather "interesting" example of how NOT to clean out a gas tank on the http://www.mbz.org site. It demonstrates an unusual technique for removing dents from a gas tank. I don't recommend it.

-CTH

Just need a longer extension cord! Just kidding. What a corageous post that was. I removed the fuel tank and realized that there is no way that the drain plug/strainer will come out. But with a small flashlight I could see that the fuel goes through the strainer and then into a tube that is the fuel outlet. I squirted it all down through the fuel sender hole in the top with Castrol Cleaner(great stuff) and got water to flow through everything just fine. I think that I will have to be careful not to let the tank get less than about 1/8 full, as the dent in the tank has obstructed the flow into the strainer, but I can live with that. Now to put it all back together...

[cth350]

Now that you have it down, get it boiled out and see if the guy can remove the dent.

-CTH

I'll wait for a good used tank from the boneyard. It looks like this one was already welded. It will do for now. To thimk that I passed up all those 114 tanks a couple of months ago! But there will be more. Not much problem with rusty tanks out here.

in the 280C which is running beautifully after putting the fuel tank and lines back on the car. The only problem is that it smokes! Not only did it smoke, it REALLY SMOKED HUGE BILLOWS OF BLUE. I can still smell the oil in my clothes. I was driving the car (with the license plates off of my truck) down a huge hill and when I got to the bottom it was smoking so bad that the interior filled up with smoke. I haven't gotten to the power windows yet, so I could only open the sunroof which was not much help. Anyway, there was an accident at the intersection there and a cop was directing traffic. I needed to make a left and had to wait an eternity. Finally I went through the intersection and hit the gas and the cop was in a HUMONGOUS cloud of smoke and I just got out of there quick! When I got home I discovered that the diaphragm on the vacuum pump was bad and that the intake was just SUCKING a continuous stream of oil. Sometimes test drives are nerve wracking!

[cth350]

Very funny. I know how you felt.

My very first 108, a 280se 4.5 had two blown cylinders on one side. It was the first time I ever saw 0 compression. I drove it home leaving everybody behind me in a cloud of smoke for 5 miles. Worse, it was a humid day just waiting for rain, so the smoke didn't rise.

I know each intersection I passed was completely obliterated for many seconds after. I felt really bad about that. Thankfully, there were no horror stories in the paper the next day about some poor kid being killed in a freek accident.

It was also the car I did my first v8 valve job on. On my test ride after the engine work (no smoke), a cop pulled me over because I kinda forgot to put the license plates on the car. They were sitting in the windows on that first ride, but they had fallen over. Thankfully, he was a forgiving guy and I just got a dirty look and a "be more careful" kind of warning.

-CTH

Oil is still dripping from the tailpipe. How long will it take to burn the stuff out of there? I would imagine that the mufflers are full of oil like big deep fryers. Is there any way to clean out the exhaust system?

[johan01]

My 280S did the smoke screen trick... ruptured vacuum modulator in the transmission.

After replacing the diaphram, it took about a 15 minute drive for the smoke to go away. An 'italian tune-up' after that helped a bit too... as the plugs were probably soaked in ATF.

I am thinking of changing the oil and adding some Marvel Mystery or something like that to clean out the motor. I haven't even looked at the plugs yet. Funny though, it doesen't run bad like the plugs are fouled.