Re: Accumulator Problems

["Robert Rooney" <dmcvegas@xxxx>]

In the summer heat of no less than 105 degrees during the day, with 
lows around 82-85 degrees at night is the enviornment that my 
DeLorean is in. While in traffic the cooling system on the car works 
just fine. But it's when the car is parked that the fuel really heats 
up. When I'm driving there's at least air flow going across the fuel 
tank, but when I'm parked the air flow stops and the heat goes 
straight into the tank. Remember, it gets heat from all sides: 
radiator, coolant hoses, pavement, and from the trunk compartment. 
About 3-4 hours of driving a day is all that the D can stand. After 
about 40 minutes to an hour is when the fuel pump starts to buzz. But 
if I park for a long time and then come back, the pump then buzzes 
almost as loud as the engine. At this point I've had the car stall 
and a couple of times even die on me in traffic. I once even had to 
park out in the middle of the desert for about an hour or so just to 
let it cool off so I could get home.

About 2 weeks ago I started to have a "hot start" problem with the 
car. If the D has sat overnight, then she starts up with a little 
hesitation. But the engine will act like it's flooding untill it's 
heated up. Once turned off, I have about 15 or so minutes to restart 
the engine with minimal hesitation. After that I then have to 
manually fire the cold start valve to get everything started again. 
Thus far I've done the following things to the ignition system: new 
wires, spark plugs, rotor, distributor cap, cleaned the ground 
connection for the starter & fuel pump. The ballast resistors show 
only 2 ohms resistance, and the LAMBDA unit shows a steady 1.5 volts. 
NO fluctuation going to the frequency valve what so ever no matter 
what the temperature of the engine is. The oxygen sensor is new, and 
I know that according to the workshop manual the wire isn't connected 
to it properly, but I haven't gotten to inspecting it yet. With all 
of this in mind, does anyone here have any ideas on what is causing 
this problem? With the new platinum sparkplugs and the high 
performance wires the engine runs stronger then it did before, but 
the hard starting & the pick up hose have really put a damper on 
things.

Now, what do these 2 things have to do with each other? If things 
such as the accumlator and other fuel system components are not 
affected by higher, more constant temperatures, then all I need to 
worry about is replacing the pick up hose. But if heat can damage 
certain fuel system components, then I need to also keep the fuel 
tank cool. Suggestions? I'm pretty much open to any theories that 
anyone may have right now!

-Robert
vin 6585