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Shoddybanger maintains bangers - Much has happened... fleet changes


shoddybanger

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I hope you will all forgive me for deciding to create a topic for maintenance of my bangers - I am doing so in the hopes that it will cause a butterfly effect of sorts, wherein said bangers suddenly start working perfectly without any further troubles, leaving me looking a fool without any new material to post in this topic. So, this is essentially an attempt at some form of cosmic reverse-psychology, if you will. Though currently it looks like I shall not run out of material any time soon.

 

But on to the point. The family bangers are a 2003 2.0 pez Hyundai Trajet automatic and a 2004 1.8 pez Daewoo Nubira manual. Both cars have been needy in the brakes department as of late. I've done pretty much everything on the Nubira rear brakes during the last few months (new rotors, pads and an overhaul of both calipers with new pistons and gaskets), after which the brake fluid starts disappearing somewhere... so I assume I messed up with one of the calipers.

 

Up with the rear end and start looking for wet bits.

 

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I soon spot this...

 

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So the Nubira is now suspended from use while I get this fixed. I've ordered a small flaring tool that can be used on the car and will swap a 5-inch portion of the pipe. I wonder if Daewoo uses DIN or SAE flares.. although I guess it won't matter as I will just be replacing part of the pipe instead of redoing it completely. Below is the flaring tool I ordered. Anyone have any experience with these?

 

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Then on to the Trajet. The left rear brake seems to bind now and then, so I decided to take a peek.

 

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Both slide pins were moving nice and free, but the pads were barely moving in the caliper, and the other pad is pretty much gone. New pads are on order.

 

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After I'd taken care of the cars I moved on to the kids' ATV. It's never ran quite right when warm. I've swapped the plugs, overhauled and adjusted the carb, swapped CDI and swapped the coil. Next thing on the list was valve clearances, so here we go.

 

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It has a generic Honda-type 110cc engine. First I tried to find it's TDC.

 

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Then I did some valve adjusting. Both intake and exhaust valves had zero clearance.

 

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This still didn't seem to cure the bad running, though. I also checked the cam chain for looseness, but it appeared reasonably tight, so I'm starting to run out of ideas. I guess I'm going to slap in a new stator next, as it's the one thing I still haven't touched. Tips are more than welcome!

 

 

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The more I wrestle with brakes, the more I start to believe that a proper cleaning of all caliper parts and changing the brake fluid every couple of years is really needed to make them actually function well and to last. Take the Hyundai - we've had it for 4,5 years now, and I had the rear brake discs & pads done by a tame mechanic maybe two years ago. I guess he did a good job in that this is the first time I've touched the rear brakes myself and the slide pins are still free.

 

I should think that pads should have a longer life than that, though, so I'm going to change the fluid and make sure that the piston is free to move in the caliper when I change the pads. Otherwise it's just going to eat through the new pads in a couple of months, which is what the Nubira did before I was forced to accept that the pistons are binding and need replacing. In the Nubira this was caused by prolonged sitting - the rear brakes were absolutely gone. I wonder how it had passed inspection before I bought it.

 

The shop is at the family farm, and it's a godsend really. I did pick up a used 2-post lift last autumn for some next level chod wrenching capacity. Haven't had time to get around to installing it yet. Maybe next summer.

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Indeed, I'm going to need some pipe and connectors, too. Thinking about getting a lifetime supply of pipe along with the proper connectors for this task. Then I'd just need to get connectors when and as needed.

 

I read up on various flaring tools before ordering, and this style was liked by many. The tool arrived today along with some pipe bending pliers.

 

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New rear pads for the Trajet have likewise arrived. Garage shenanigans about to commence in the upcoming days!

 

 

 

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Today was brake line day. The flaring tool turned out to be an excellent bit of kit, and I really cannot recommend it higly enough. It fits into very awkward places and grabs hold the pipe like a mother. Makes nice and even flares to boot.

 

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End result

 

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I also did some fettling on the Trajet. I spotted a loose banjo on the ATF lines...

 

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...so I gave it a tightening.

 

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It's not all sunshine and prancing unicorns with the Trajet, though. Wife was shuttling the kids to their weekend activities and the Trajet just died on her on a downhill slope. It started up uneventfully right after, though, so no harm done. I've been meaning to change the fuel filter, and had ordered one in.

 

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Unfortunately the new filter was incompatible in every way possible, despite claimed compatibility, so I need to hunt down the correct one.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I thought I'd update with some fleet news. With the impulse-bought Volvo in the fleet, the Nubira had been rendered redundant, so I went to put it up for sale, and upon doing so, realised that we had totally forgot the mandatory inspection for last year(!). So I took the car for inspection post haste, and it was awarded a fail for a worn lower ball joint and zero parking brake effort on the left side.

 

Fixing commenced. The ball joints on this car are riveted from the factory, and I decided to grind and press the rivets off. While I was able to complete the task, I spent way too much time fooling around with grinders, chisels and punches, removing the A-arm from the car and all that. It turns out that you are just supposed to drill through the rivets and smack the remains off with a cold chisel. Oh well, I'll know better next time.

 

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The brake job was easier, despite the old brakes looking like they'd been pulled from the bottom of the ocean and me being forced to use the old brake shoe hardware due to the local parts store not stocking new hardware for this model. I usually plan my car repairs better, but I was in a hurry to get the car inspected, as a potential buyer was coming to look at it the following day... (excuses!)

 

The brake shoe lever for the parking brake cable was completely rusted in place, and one of the brake shoe holding pins -- the one you insert through from the backside of the brake hub and secure in place with much aggravation using the spring and locking cup -- would pass through the hole in the backside of the brake hub.

 

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I found a suitable washer that prevented the pin from coming through, freed up and lubricated the adjustment screw, and assembled and adjusted the parking brakes.

 

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I took the car for inspection the next day, and was awarded with a pass this time. The car sold a couple of days later.

 

The crusty Trajet is also a bit worse for the wear. It has always puffed a bit of blue on cold starts, but lately it has developed a growing appetite for oil, and it seems to have started smoking a bit practically all the time. Most likely the valve stem seals need replacing, and I'm pondering whether to just scrap the whole car or find another one and keep this one for spares. It also needs a new CV boot on the left side, as I found out while swapping on summer tires and having a general look-around at the brakes etc.

 

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I have a stash of new CV joints and boots, so I guess I'll just slap on a new joint and boot and see if I can get it to pass inspection one more year, as I really like the car and it has served our family well. The A/C still works, too!

 

Meanwhile, the new to us Volvo is also showing an appetite for oil, so I have to see what's up with that. I'm guessing stuck piston rings, as the previous owner seems like a person who had been very easy on it. I think I'm going to do an engine flush and treat it to some high-mileage oil.

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Today I did some brake-related odds and ends on the Trajet.

 

A couple of months ago the parking brake handle decided it had had enough.

 

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The rod that protrudes from the handle and attaches to a bowden cable is made from a soft alloy of sorts, and it had let go. It looked like the only viable way to fix it (apart from sourcing a cable/handle from a junked car) was to drill a small hole in the truncated end of the rod on the car, thread in a screw or hook, and attach a loop to it. Meanwhile, the parking brake could still be released by pulling down on the actual bowden cable directly behind the firewall, but it required some acrobatics, the wife complained, and I suspect that it wouldn't pass inspection in this state either.

 

So I set about trying to fix it and pulled off the lower dashboard cover.

 

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I drilled a hole, broke a hook into the hole, broke a drill bit into the hole, did some cutting and tried again. I also managed to cut my index finger in the sharp edges of the dashboard metal brackets, but persevered.

 

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End result: function over form.

 

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Afterwards I treated the Trajet to a set of new rear brake pads and myself to a cup of coffee.

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

We've been putting the new-to-us 1997 Volvo V70 through its paces, and it has proved to be in better condition than I expected. At first things looked a bit grim, as the oil level went down very quick during the first two weeks of use. I topped up and continued to follow the situation, and the level stopped dropping. I've since changed the oil (this was about two weeks ago), and the level hasn't dropped at all after doing 1 000 km, so it's looking good. It passed our MOT equivalent with flying colours, though the inspector found a bit of play in the inner tie rod on the left side, so I'm going to do that at some point. The exhaust note is also a bit louder than I like, so I'm probably going to do the rear silencer in the future, too.

But the point of this post are the motor mounts. They were shot, and it was apparent from the first drive, as there was lots of vibration, driveline slack and so on, so I ordered new mounts and finally found time to swap them in yesterday.

Here's a pic of the setup. I bought an exhaust stand some time ago in anticipation of this job, and it turned out to be an excellent tool. This job would have been lots harder without it.

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And here's our sheltie Lissu. She sometimes joins me for work in the shop.

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The mount nuts are a bit of a pain to reach, especially the front mount upper nut, which is nigh-on impossible to unscrew without a universal 15 mm socket due to the awkward angle and surrounding bits, so I bought a set of universal sockets in advance.

Here's a pic of the rear mount upper nut.

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Extensions are useful here. You can see the upper rear mount in this image right next to the knurling on the extension. I plan to change that one too, but I can do it at home in the driveway, so I left it for later.

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I took the rear mount off...

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...and put a new one in.

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The front mount is in a tighter spot, and took some wiggling to get off and out of its lair. I didn't bother taking the radiator fan off, although some sources suggested doing so for easier access.

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I also changed the transmission torsion mount.

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I compared the old mounts to the new ones before putting them on, and it looks like the 15 EUR Febi front mount I got from Amazon is pretty much the exact same part as the original Volvo one.

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The rear mounts were from a different factory, but looked to be quite similar.

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I still have to do the upper mount and the lower right mount next to the crank pulley, but those are quick and easy to do on the driveway, and not so crucial as these main mounts.

The new mounts removed the vibrations and much of the driveline slack, too, so I consider this mission accomplished, and the Volvo is now as smooth as it should be.

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  • 3 weeks later...

The Volvo has been providing sterling service for a couple of thousand km's now, so I thought I'd treat it to some new front speakers, and, with summer fast approaching, an A/C service.

The original front door speakers were replaced at some point, but whoever installed the replacements had just screwed them on the door card instead of doing a proper job and using the correct adapter rings. The speakers were also torn and tired, and the right one was cutting out, so I got that sorted.

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I still need to do the back speakers at some point, as they aren't sounding too healthy either.

 

The A/C on this car was still working, but not very well, so I took it to a local garage for a refill. They evacuated 235 grams and refilled with 790 grams along with 5 grams of oil and 5 grams of dye, so the Volvo is now refreshingly cool and ready for the hot summer. The mechanic was somewhat impressed with the working AC on the Volvo and remarked that they're seeing 10 year newer VW's with their AC's completely wrecked.

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Next order of business is to replace the lower right engine mount and sway bar bushings when I get a chance.

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  • 2 months later...

I can haz update.

Soo, the Trajet failed its MOT/inspection. This did not surprise me that much, but the reason for the fail was slightly unexpected: rot in left rear control arm and buggered CV boot. I was expecting a fail due to the CV boot and emissions (she smokes like an old freight train upon startup.. valve guides most likely gone) and rear right wheel arch (nice texture bubbling beneath the paint). Incidentally, our legislation was changed some time during the last year, and it's now illegal to fix suspension parts by welding up any corrosion/holes, so I had to order a new rear control arm.

I was contemplating whether it was worth saving the whole car anymore, and even test drove a C8, but it turned out to be not so good, and there were no suitable options nearby, so here I am, trying to make the Trajet die another day.

I changed the whole CV instead of just doing the boot. It was clicking already, anyways, and I had a spare joint. I would have changed the inner joint as well, but it was stuck in the transmission, so I left the old one on.

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The rear control arm is turning out to be a bit more involved. I got to this point when I realized that I forgot to take the spring compressors with me to the shop. Bugger. It also looks like I have to completely remove that small bit of brake line just left of the shock absorber. I'm betting that the pipe will crumble into pieces once I touch it, so I'm going to have to take my brake pipe tools with me tomorrow, when I continue.

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I decided to loosen all of the arm connecting bolts in advance, and I'm glad I did. I had a nice long breaker bar, but still had to use a cheater pipe to get those nuts and bolts to move at all. They were on there toight!

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I guess the inspector was right in failing the part... those holes aren't supposed to be there! Above the holes is a patch I welded on last year, when it was still legal to fix chassis parts by welding them up.

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15 hours ago, spartacus said:

Good job on saving it. I don't know what the rest of it's like but I guess they're a pretty useful thing, 8 seats or as much room as a van.

It has been a great car as far as flexibility and space, but rust is starting to get the better of it. And the rear arm job is turning out to be a pain... I got as far as removing the brakes from the old arm today, but as I went to take off the brake backing plate, I made the mistake of using a 12 point wrench on the crusty and seized bolts, and the head of the first bolt got rounded off.

Yeah. I had options. I forgot my long 6 point ratcheting wrenches at home. They might have removed the backing plate bolts neatly. I could have also pulled off the hub assembly with a slide hammer and have room for using sockets - or just cut the bolt heads off completely, but that would have meant committing to the repair, because after pulling the hub I wouldn't have been able to install a wheel on it anymore in case things went sour further on in the repair. That backing plate certainly needs replacing, and I was also on a bit of a tight schedule, so after rounding off that one bolt I made the decision to backtrack and put everything back together, as I can't have the car taking up room in the shop until I have a chance to continue working on it.

So, next order of business is to order a new brake backing plate with bolts, as the old ones have rusted into oblivion. I also need a new lower bolt for the shock absorber: I noticed that it's missing a head, and it looks like someone has welded a small plate or washer on it to keep it from coming through.

As if this wasn't enough, my jack stand punctured a hole into the sill. Gnhhh! Can only blame myself, though.. I shouldn't have placed the jack stand below an unwelded part of the sill.

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14 hours ago, TooManyPeopleMovers said:

I do like some old people mover bangers!

What's a Hyundai Trajet like to drive? I always thought they looked like a Honda Odyssey Mk1 (RA1 series) with funny proportions. ...But that's not a bad thing - very likeable. 

Is yours the "big" 2.7l v6?

Craig

I agree that crusty old MPV's have a certain charm. They're forgettable when new, and even more forgettable when long in the tooth - despite being so utilitarian!

The Trajet is a reasonably nice drive. Very forgettable in that sense, too, as it just goes about its business and doesn't really stand out in any way. We have the small 2.0l four pot coupled with the autobox, so it's certainly not the fastest, but gets us where we need to be. The best driveability-related aspect is definitely the transmission: it's a 4-speed with overdrive, and it always seems to be on the right gear. It shifts very early in light driving, but isn't afraid to use the revs when more power is needed.

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  • 1 month later...

Right, time for a small update.

Nothing has happened with the Trajet. I've ordered a new rear brake backing plate, as it just isn't viable to use the rusty remains of the old plate. Now if I could only find the time and motivation to continue tackling the job.

In the meantime, the Volvo has been covering main car duties, and it has performed admirably until a couple weeks ago, when it.. how do you say it... FTP'd on us. Wife went to pick up the daughter from hobbies, and called me up promptly saying that the Volvo won't start. Wonderful. I went to check it out, and indeed it would happily crank away, but no promise of starting. I poked around checking for the obvious, such as blown fuses, loose connectors etc. but nothing stuck out. I cycled the ignition a couple of times and all of a sudden the car fired up and idled like nothing had happened. Great, so now our only car has suddenly developed an attitude to start only when it feels like it.

I changed the fuel filter, as it can't hurt. It was a quick and easy job (and I discovered that Volvo fuel filters are hilariously huge), but it didn't cure the intermittent starting difficulties. I googled a bit and came to the conclusion that the cam position sensor has probably gone, despite no MIL light or any other blinkenlights. I ordered a new one in and changed it today. Compared to the Daewoo Nubira cam sensor job (where you need to support the engine from below, remove engine mount, remove cam belt cover, remove engine top cover etc. to get to the sensor) it was a doddle on the Volvo: remove two torx screws, disconnect the sensor wire and remove/install sensor on the top left side of the motor.

And the new sensor has indeed cured the problem! Oh happy day.

There's the placement of the sensor. New Delphi part looks like it should fit.

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And indeed it did.

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7 hours ago, Noel Tidybeard said:

"YOU WILL OBEY ME HOOMAN, YOU ARE POWERLESS TO RESIST"!

This was more a case of "dang... it looks quite dark and dangerous down there in the pit... won't you come up and outtathere already.. please?"

The "OBEY ME HOOMAN" part comes whenever she would have a skritch behind the ear, or a piece of what you're having. You will then receive a gentle but determined pawing along with a quiet but powerful sheltie stare.

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An update, yet again.

I went and bought an Astra today. I wasn't planning to get an Astra, but this popped up for sale yesterday at a local car dealership with an asking price of 490 euro, so I thought I'd go and take a look. It runs and drives, 250k km (155k miles) on the clock, has valid test until next June, comes with two good sets of tires and a towbar, so it ticks a few boxes, despite not being an estate. There was no mention of the last cam belt change, there's rust, the engine has an oil leak and we couldn't get the boot to open, so I offered 400, which was accepted. We have to wait until next week to pick it up, as the dealership had just got it as a trade-in and they were still waiting for the papers.

The salesman called me up an hour later and told me he had managed to get the boot lock working again with a spritz of WD40, which was nice. What a helpful dealership.

So, here's Fehita, the new fleet member. With rust spots and all. She shall perform Trajet duties while Trajet is out of order.

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In other news, it appears that the intermittent starting problems of the Volvo haven't been cured after all. Bollocks.

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  • 2 weeks later...

We've picked up Fehita, and she has easily slipped into the daily conveyance routines of the shoddybanger family. Some notes:

- I much like the old OHC, single point FI engine in all its slowness. It's everything but a vivacious, happy rev machine. More an old codger of an engine that likes to lay low. It pulls from idle and would really like the next gear at 2.5 k rpms, please. It's very phlegmatic but gets there without fuss. My BIL had an identical Astra estate complete with the same engine, and he drove it through 2000 to 2018, putting on over 200k km. He liked it a lot. Not much went wrong with it through those years either.

- The interior is in very nice condition. You wouldn't really believe it's 20 years old and done 1/4 million km. It still has the typical Astra smell, too.

- The chassis and driveline have held up very well. Everything still feels tight and composed. Gears slip on easily and car goes straight. There is a bit of clunking coming from the back, though. I am suspecting that either the rear shock bushings or rear subframe bushes have gone. Hoping it's the shocks.. they're much easier to replace.

And now for the most aggravating design feature ever: the shoddy adjustment rod on the seat back rests. The adjustment rod pulls out very easily with the knob, it's a pain to insert back into place, and everything goes wonky thereafter. I noticed this after carting the kids from point A to B. When they had climbed out from the back seat, both seat back adjustment knobs plus a length of rod were protruding from either side, and they wouldn't go back in.

The rod is held in place with a stupid plastic plug that pulls off when you so much as look at it, and the rod is now free to pull out from the gearwheel. I bodged a fix by drilling a perpendicular hole on the end of the rod and putting a split pin through it to prevent it from pulling out. No more shonky back rests and telling everyone to stay away from the knob, lest it be pulled off. This probably isn't that much of a problem in the 5 door and estate models, but I'm certain I'm not the first one to experience this on a 3 door model.

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Right, I've been lazily trying to get the Volvo to behave with its starting inconsistencies, and my meandering, stab-in-the-dark diagnostics have led me to the conclusion that I am losing fuel pressure somewhere. I hooked up a fuel pressure gauge on the end of the fuel rail, and when I stop the engine, fuel pressure drops to zero in 30 seconds or less. I don't think it's supposed to do that.

So I checked the injectors visually for any signs of leaks, and couldn't see anything suspicious. I then unhooked the vacuum pipe from the fuel regulator, and it was dry, so any fuel isn't getting past the regulator diaphragm at least.

Hum. What next... Could the fuel pump letting fuel flow back into the tank and losing the pressure? I wonder how I should go about testing that..

Halp...?

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