1990 Plymouth Laser - increasing FE

[Project84]

Want to sell me your used Palm?! No, not Jill, or Rosey... the gadget used to view the data.

[pgfpro]

Originally Posted by Project84

Want to sell me your used Palm?! No, not Jill, or Rosey... the gadget used to view the data.

LMAO I would of just gave it to ya but I got rid of it about two years ago.

I also ran it off my laptop for about a year also. It worked great just was a pain packing the laptop around.

[Project84]

Replaced lower radiator hose last night. Old one was bulging after a test drive. Went ahead and did a thermostat while I was at it. Coolant was sort of murky green, but not brown, and had little sediment so I reused it.

Also used rear view mirror glue and reattached the mirror button and mounted the mirror. Hopefully when I leave work it's not laying in the floor like I found it last week.

Changed oil, filter, and drain plug. Plug needed a new seal anyway.

Cleaned the engine! Not detailed, just cleaned.

Drove it to work today. Registering it after work then filling the gas tank and adding a bottle of SeaFoam although I'm not sure that stuff does much.

Still need to repair the PS! ARGH! I bought the compression unions I'll need but haven't cut the line yet to match it up w/ a new piece of the correct size.

Once the PS is fixed and I test that for leaks for a week or so I'll finally get to start on the belly pan.

[theholycow]

AFAIK, Sea Foam is more useful sucked into a vacuum line than dumped in the gas tank.

[add|ct]

Yeah, if I'd trying anything for the gas tank I'd go with Lucas "The Complete Fuel Treatment", or that P.i. product Amsoil has.

SeaFoam is a 'decent' alternative option for the gas tank before doing a tune up, as well as to the crankcase for just a few miles of drive time(no more than 100 tops, but less than 30 or so on a high mileage engine) before making an oil change, but beyond that there are better products for one specific area instead of having SeaFoam thrown at those. And, to use SeaFoam through the crankcase really demands you to drop the oil pan and clean it. Personally, I like the Amsoil Power Foam now, even more thank the Mopar CCC stuff, for cleaning the top end. If you have more than 100k miles, I'd just run 2 cans straight through like the product suggests for higher mileage vehicles. Clean your throttle body/plate, intake manifold, and cylinder heads at least some(the hardest part).

[Project84]

I just did a fresh oil change so I'm not adding the SeaFoam to the crankcase.

I'll add what's left of my can, which is about 3/4 to the fuel tank after my fill up and if I get the itch, I'll put my other can into the vacuum system. I just didn't want to (and probably wont...) fog my neighborhood being that I live on a corner lot and it's a busy street. That was pretty embarassing last time I did the Saturn.

[Project84]

PS repair was a complete failure BOTH times I tried. The replacement hard lines are $130 from OEM which is the only supplier. CRAP! I might bite this bullet and I might not. The g/f refuses to drive w/o PS though so...

I filled the car up last night and added the Seafoam to the fuel. I've been riding the bike to/from work most times so the gas in the Laser might last a long long time at this rate. Plus the gas in my Saturn has been in there since 8/9/10 (haha) so I might just run it to empty first.

This is my baseline tank after a tune up and oil change and NO MODS so far. I did run 70-75 on the highway for those first 90 miles though which is 3200 rpm or so.

I've taken your guy's advice and been using heavy throttle and shifting at 2,500 in each gear when in the city.

[Project84]

Last night I had to replace a headlight and to my surprise I found the OEM connectors for the sealed beam 3 prong type bulb were gone and in their place were soldered on wires. Fun fun.

So the prongs on the bulbs are too large for typical spade connectors and I had to heat the wires up to remove them anyway I went ahead and did the same thing to my new bulb. lol

Aimed the lights too since they were way out of alignment.

Next I removed the shifter and made a custom brass insert for the "pivot" and also cut about 1/2" off the shifter length to make a ghetto short shifter. I also shimmed it and now there's ZERO slack in the shifter assembly. In gear you can't budge the shifter even 1/4" in any direction. It's almost too solid but far better than guessing which gear you were in.

(these aren't related to FE just keeping this as a type of build diary or solution file)

[Project84]

Now that I've put 200 miles on the new shifter setup I'm VERY pleased. It makes driving the car so much easier and enjoyable.

Newest problem is that the battery is overcharging and boiling out of the fill caps. After 30 minutes of drive time you start to smell it in the car, that sulfur smell. When I popped the hood last night I could hear gas/fluid bubbling or escaping out of the caps and see wet spots around them.

I'm not sure what to make of this, all connections on the alternator/starter are OEM and in place. Looks like it's been doing this for a while after closer inspection. There's paint missing on the strut tower next to the battery. Kinda worried about this.

On a FE related note, I'm hoping to hit at least 400 miles on this tank. Even if I fill it with another 13 gallons of fuel that'll be 30mpg. I'm a bit past the 1/2 mark on the gauge though and only have 180 miles on it so far... wish me luck! I'm mostly driving this on the highway when I go spend the night w/ the g/f. Speeds have varied greatly depending on if I'm following her down (72 mpg usually) or if I'm driving alone at 64-66. Sometimes I hit 80 and cruise... so it'll be a good average highway tank.

[pgfpro]

Originally Posted by Project84

Now that I've put 200 miles on the new shifter setup I'm VERY pleased. It makes driving the car so much easier and enjoyable.

Newest problem is that the battery is overcharging and boiling out of the fill caps. After 30 minutes of drive time you start to smell it in the car, that sulfur smell. When I popped the hood last night I could hear gas/fluid bubbling or escaping out of the caps and see wet spots around them.

I'm not sure what to make of this, all connections on the alternator/starter are OEM and in place. Looks like it's been doing this for a while after closer inspection. There's paint missing on the strut tower next to the battery. Kinda worried about this.

On a FE related note, I'm hoping to hit at least 400 miles on this tank. Even if I fill it with another 13 gallons of fuel that'll be 30mpg. I'm a bit past the 1/2 mark on the gauge though and only have 180 miles on it so far... wish me luck! I'm mostly driving this on the highway when I go spend the night w/ the g/f. Speeds have varied greatly depending on if I'm following her down (72 mpg usually) or if I'm driving alone at 64-66. Sometimes I hit 80 and cruise... so it'll be a good average highway tank.

I can't remember but are the DSM's internal voltage regulated alternator or do they have an outside regulator?