A letter of thanks and a little more

[Michael Pike <iqintermedia@xxxx>]

Let me start by thanking Dave S. and the other
moderators of this group (not sure who you are), for
making it available.

Secondly, I'd like to thank each and every one of you
on here.. i've never seen so much support for anything
in my life as I get on here for the DeLorean.... if we
all lost our jobs, we could open up a customer service
consulting business, because i have seen no other
place in the world, cars, computers, or otherwise that
take the time and care, and understanding the folks on
this mailing list do to help others out...

Remember a few weeks ago i had posted the message
aboutgas leaking out of my car... got tons of
replies... i am NO mechanic trust me... i cant change
a tire... well, i ordered the tankzilla from pj grady
(who spent about 45 min of his busy schedule on the
phone with me, even though 40 phones were ringing in
the background)... he told me to order a few things,
but the wife vetoed the spending and i just got the
tankzilla...

Scared as hell, i removed the tire, tire case, and
waaalaa, there it was... the old sending unit... i was
thinking "no way can it be this easy!"... since i had
everything up, i felt all the hoses and they all seem
to be ok.. they are not gushy.. although they are
hard, and they dont leak.. well, i put the silicone on
the zilla-brain, popped in the new floaty thing, and
hooked her up.....

I warned my family to get a couple hundred feet from
the garage cuz I was gonna crank it... and there it
was, the moment of truth... for the first time in 15
years the fuel gauge moved!!! it was no longer
pointing straight up, it was showing just under a full
tank!!!! I almost cried for joy!!!

Ok there is where the hapiness ends...

The car runs great..... however, next to the sending
unit is a thing that had a rubber/plastic seal on it
which was no longer sealing anything, with two hoses
coming out of it (its pictured in the tankzilla
instructions).. it had some liquid in it above the
electrical contacts under the boot, so i decided to
see what it was... stuck my hand in it.. and it seems
to be water, as it didnt stink like gas.... what is
this thing, and should i replace it???

PJ Grady's talked about a fuel kit... would this
resolve this thing's problem with the boot and such?

Secondly.... after starting the car and backing it out
for a nice 200 mile drive (now that i can see how much
gas i have), i happened to glance over at my battery
meter.. it was almost to 0.... like the alternator
wasnt working..... it was fine before... i am
wondering if maybe i screwed something up putting the
tankzilla in???? When the needle goes down to the
bottom like that, does it mean the battery, or, worse,
i need to get an alternator???? I am going to
disconnect the tanzilla tommorow and see if that
helps.. if it does maybe its grounding somewhere, if
not... i guess i'll buy the battery and if that doesnt
work, head for the alternator...

Now my big worry... as i said, car started, running
great... no probs... my wife said "oh my God! there is
smoke coming out of the front of the car!!!"

I didn't see any, but she wouldnt lie.. then she
complained of a stink.. that I did smell... it was a
metal rubbing metal type of stink....

I had antifreeze leaking out of the front of the car
badly three weeks ago.. i am thinking maybe it was
empty and the front of the car was getting hot because
there was no fluid or something???

Any ideas??? I was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO proud of myself
getting the tankzilla in all by myself.... but these
two other problems (battery), and the stinky smell of
metal rubbing, scare me.... the oil gauge when i hit
the gas goes all the way to the top.. strong pressure,
but when it idles its jumpy, and kinda on the low
side.... i am wondering if maybe something is wrong
there too....

car has 4K miles on it... and the tank was drained
when it was stored so it looks like my fuel system
will be in fairly good shape other than that boot
thingy.... cooling system, battery, and smoke stink
are probs now... any ideas appreciated! thanks again
for all of your help!

Mike


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