[DML] Car won't go over 1500 RPMs (and radio won't work)

[Joe Angell <jangell@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi all.  First off, thanks to everyone for the help in the past.  I 
really appreciate it.  Unfortunately, things have gone bad on me again.

I just drove from northern Vermont to Connecticut for Thanksgiving.  
Besides a couple minor mishaps (headlight relay socket getting loose, 
high beam fuse blowing out and MELTING in the fuse box), things went 
well.

The next day I went out and filled up with gas, putting about 11.5 
gallons of 93 octane in.  Almost immediately after that (like, within 
500 feet), the car started to run rough.  If I tried to push the gas 
down to get the care over 1500-2000 RPMs, it would start stuttering and 
threaten to stall out.  I managed to limp most of the way to my 
parent's, but finally had to get towed the last few miles on a steep 
hill.


Back at the house, I let the car sit for a while, then removed the hose 
that feeds the fuel regulator.  The fuel dripping out was milky white.  
I've had this happen once before in VT, again soon after I had filled 
the car.  The best guess is that water somehow got into the tank, 
although I'm not sure how.  The solution then was to drain the fuel out 
and refill it with clean stuff.  So I ran the fuel pump using the 
shorted RPM relay trick until the car was nearly empty, then got it to 
a gas station and poured four cans of dry gas and half a tank of fuel 
into the car.  Last time, this fixed the problem, but this time, no go 
-- although the car ran better than it did the previous day, I still 
couldn't get it over 1500-2000 RPMs (but I could make it up that hill, 
albeit slowly...)


Anyway, I'm stumped.  The fuel regulator itself is new (2 months old).  
There are new fuel injectors (3 months old).  New-ish plugs and wires 
(early February).

Anyone know what this might be?


Another question:  When I tried to start the car after draining the 
tank (ie: shorting the RPM relay), the car wouldn't turn over (the 
battery was fully charged).  The starter made a loud first clunk like 
it WANTED to turn over, but it wouldn't go beyond that.  After a lot of 
coaxing (ie: I kept trying to start it for 10 minutes), it finally 
started slowly turning over, and after a few more attempts finally did 
that familiar starter sound and came alive.  I've never experienced 
this before; has anyone else?


A second, probably unrelated problem I'm having is that the radio now 
doesn't work, nor the cigarette lighter.  The fuse is fine, but neither 
appear to operate -- not even in clock mode.  Speaking of which, the 
clock doesn't work, either.  I'm wondering if the now-melted high beam 
fuse socket is somehow affecting this.  This is an aftermarket Sony 
radio, not the stock Craig radio.

I've been screwing around in the relay compartment, but I went through 
and checked all my wiring and everything appears to be sound.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.  Hopefully I'll be able to 
get back to VT in time for work on Monday. :)

Thanks!

-- Joe






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