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Friday, 3 May 1996 Volume 02 : Number 108
In this issue:
Re: Problems already!
Re: DMC Models
engine problems
Re: engine problems
Re: binnacle removal
DeLorean patent
RE: Problems already!
Song about DeLorean's
[none]
DeLorean Models --READ THIS--
Wire Diagram.
DMC model kit
[none]
Resealing the Door Glass
Flushing a Radiator??
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: "Marvin S. Sterling"
Date: Wed, 01 May 1996 02:07:28 -0700
Subject: Re: Problems already!
In addition to the possibility of the radiator leaking your high temp
condition may be caused by the cooling sustem not having been propoerly
bled. The system is a vacuum system and any air in it will prevent the
coolant from circulating. You have to open the little pitcock and
presurrize the system until there is no air in it.
Regards,
Marv Sterling
------------------------------
From: Ryan
Date: Wed, 1 May 1996 02:35:28 -0400
Subject: Re: DMC Models
Put me down for 1 model...
THANKS,
Ryan Hamlin
------------------------------
From: J Ferrara
Date: Wed, 1 May 1996 13:44:17 -0400
Subject: engine problems
My DeLorean has started behaving strangely, and I was
wondering if
anyone has any suggestions on what could be wrong or
how I should go about
diagnosing the problem.
When starting the engine after its been off for at least a
few hours, it
idles very rough (and is sometimes hard to start). Giving
it gas will cause
it to sort of cough and sputter, without an increase in
RPM. After
couple of minutes the engine will start responding to the
throttle, though
with a few protesting coughs. After about another minute
or so things start
to work normally.
For about the first 10 minutes or so of driving, I'll get
brief periods of
power loss when accelerating from idle. Push the gas
pedal, and the car
starts to accelerate, but without its usual vigor. About 3
seconds later
normal power will suddenly kick in. The car is a 5 speed,
and the clutch
isn't slipping, so its definitely the engine doing something
strange, not
the transmission.
In addition, when returning to idle after cruising for a bit,
the RPMs will
sometimes hunt around before settling down to the
correct idle speed. The
engine will sink down to 500 RPMs or so, then rev up to
about 1800,
and then sink back down again, each cycle lasting a couple
of seconds. It
usually does this two or three times before settling down
at 750 RPM,
though once it did this for a full minute or so, at which
point I just
shut the engine off. I did check the idle switch mounted on
the fuel
distributor. It is working correctly.
I assume these problems are all related, but I don't really
know. The car
has 52,000 miles on it. The fuel pump, fuel filter, oxygen
sensor, spark
plug wires, and distributor cap and rotor have all been
recently replaced.
I don't really have a mechanic near me who I can take the
car to, and I
prefer to do all the work myself anyway.
Any help or words of wisdom would be greatly
appreciated.
Thanks.
- -J
------------------------------
From: "Marvin S. Sterling"
Date: Wed, 01 May 1996 14:30:41 -0700
Subject: Re: engine problems
J Ferrara wrote:
>
> My DeLorean has started behaving strangely, and I was
> wondering if
> anyone has any suggestions on what could be wrong or
> how I should go about
> diagnosing the problem.
(snip)
> Any help or words of wisdom would be greatly
> appreciated.
>
> Thanks.
>
> -J
- ----------------message divider
Don't know if this will help but you might try putting
some injector
cleaner in the gas, sounds like clogged injector(s). It's
worth a try.
Could also be the fuel pump itself. Good luck.
Marv
------------------------------
From: Delornut(AT)aol.com
Date: Wed, 1 May 1996 17:57:57 -0400
Subject: Re: binnacle removal
Binnacle Removal:
You don't need much mechanical ability to remove the binnacle but you do
the
the physical capabilities of a contortionist. You have to lay on your back
and look up under the dash. There are six nuts that must be removed along
with unplugging the speedo cable and wire loom connectors. Use a 7mm
shallow
socket to remove the nuts. Tip the binnacle back and, using both hands,
one
pressing the speedo retaining spring towards the back of the speedometer
and
the other pulling the cable loose. Then unplug the electrical connection.
With the binnacle out you can remove the gauges from the back side of the
binnacle. I've found that positioning some type of support, at the door
sill
level, along side the car will really save your back during this
operation. I
have a plastic box just the right size that works great. Also don't
forget to
raise the steering wheel to the max and slide the seat all the way back.
As I
said, the technical part of the job is pretty straight forward. It's the
physical part that's a bit tough
DeLornut
------------------------------
From: hookr(AT)atcgate2.faa.ibm.com
Date: Wed, 01 May 96 12:37:57 -0400
Subject: DeLorean patent
I was looking at my printout of the patent on the
ornamental design of the
DeLorean (#D283,882) held by Giorgetto Giurgiaro. It
states that the patent
was filed on June 12,1981 and granted on May 20,1986
(kinda ironic). It also
states that the patent term is 14 years. I don't know
whether the patent
expires based on the filing date or the grant date. So the
patent either
expired in June of 1995 or will expire in May of 2000.
Either way, it's not
too far off. I wonder if there will be any clones once the
royalty and patent
rights run out... Would be interesting.
- --Rob Hook
(mail06754(AT)pop.net)
------------------------------
From: "MR. DeLorean Man!"
Date: Wed, 1 May 1996 20:04:33 -0700
Subject: RE: Problems already!
In regards to the clutch.
This is a prolem with the clutch line being a plasticise resin...when it
gets warm, it stretches. This is the reason they placed it near the
coolant
line
Replacement is (Semi)-simple and you can find steel braded clutch
lines...
In regards to overheating.
The radiator overflowed?...From the front?...Let's get this perfectly
clear before I continue...hehehe
If the car overheated (always glance at your gauges from time to time in
any car) and coolant overflowed from the tube leading from the header
bottle, my
first question would be wether or not recalls had been performed (or
satisfatorilly performed) Did the cooling fan come on or at least
attempt
to?...
If it attempted to come on you would have heard the fans cycling,
perhaps some electrical clicking as power was being drawn off and on in
an
attempt to cool the car (sounds of the car will be obvious with time and
familiarity)
If so, then you will probably have air in the engine where their should
be coolant in the engine...It's not wholly uncommon for air to be
trapped, as
mine recently did (though only for the second time in it's life I might
add, it
doesn't happen often)
If your throttle cable upgrade/recall was performed, then you will have
to remove the black plate from the engine. This will give you access to
a
little valvue (it will be plainly obvious when you see it) Open this
valvue
just enough and run the car...leave the valvue open until air/steam stops
and
you get a constant flow of coolant and close the valvue. This should
solve that
problem. (Assuming the radiator wasn't gushing coolant from the front of
the
vehicle...hehehe...I'm sure you can guess the obvious solution to THAT
possibility)
Wolfie!
------------------------------
From: dmcnews-approval
Date: Wed, 01 May 96 15:03:23 -0400
Subject: Song about DeLorean's
Did you know there's a song about a DeLorean? It's called
"In A DeLorean" by a
group called Game Theory and it's on their Two Steps
>From the Middle Ages CD.
The lyrics are:
I watch the mood get sober and I'm not so sure I'm over
All the times I didn't know and I didn't used to know
When my heart was breaking nightly
Was I taking things too lightly
That would never come again, that would stay awhile
And end?
Bring us in under budget, lord
We want out of the wrong
Playing safe too long
Though we're miles clear of the firefight
We can't light our pipes with hindsight
I'll re-start this life somehow, I could live it better now
Give us grace under pressure, lord
And help us watch our tongues
And make our mistakes young
In a Delorean we're all going make our mistakes young
I'd apologize the ears off
But the gloom here never clears off
I can't sit through one more day of deserving some O.K.
It's a scandal just to mention
But I don't mind the attention
It's a failing by design, Betty Ford's world and not mine
Give us some final option, lord
We mean well every one
Let us make our mistakes young
In a Delorean
I have no idea what kind of music it is but the lyrics look
like something Pink
Floydish. Just thought that was an interesting bit of info
for those here who
eat, drink, breath and now even hear DeLorean.
- --Rob Hook
------------------------------
From: HAYES ALEXANDER CRAIG
Date: Wed, 1 May 1996 14:02:19 -0600 (MDT)
Subject: [none]
To: dmcnews-digest(AT)world.std.com
Subject: Overheating, DMC for sale soon
Sender: dmcnews-approval(AT)world.std.com
Precedence: bulk
Reply-To: dmcnews(AT)world.std.com
I guess I've been lurking for several months, so hello
to
everyone out there. My name is Alex Hayes and I'm in
school in Colorado
right now. My DeLorean is at home in Atlanta, and I can't
wait to get
home and drive it in a couple of weeks. I have a few
projects to work on
when I get home, so I thought I'd ask for any tips. Over
Thanksgiving
and Christmas while I was home, I had some problems
with the car
overheating. I put a metal overflow bottle from Swedish
on it last
summer, so there's no problem there. I suspect that there
is a bit of
air in the system, so I'm planning to bleed it when I get
home. I'm also
going to try to flush out my radiator, but I've never done
this before,
so can I do it myself? Also, do i need to take it off in
order to do
this? My other main project is a non-start problem which
I've had for a
while. It was pretty good after I got a new battery last
summer, and I
never had a problem with it, but it failed to start once
when my dad was
driving it while I was gone. I plan to clean off the ground
cable at the
battery and where it attaches to the frame. Any other
suggestions? I'm
also planning to sell my car this summer, possibly as
early as June.
It's red with grey interior, VIN #10336. I use it for
everyday
transportation when I'm home and I have my dad drive it
occasionally when
I'm not to avoid fuel troubles and to generally keep it in
shape. The
exterior looks great and the interior is nice, but is
beginning to show
signs of wear. I'm not sure what the mileage is, because
the angle drive
broke around 13,000. It has been estimated to be around
60,000. I'll
probably ask $14,000 and see what happens. If you're
interested, email
at this address before May 15 or feel free to call me at
home after that.
The number is 404-262-1160. If you're thinking of buying
this car and
stripping the paint off, don't. That's what I thought when
I bought it,
and it's not a good idea. Thanks,
-Alex
------------------------------
From: dmcnews-approval
Date: Wed, 01 May 96 14:44:19 -0400
Subject: DeLorean Models --READ THIS--
I just talked to Andy Anderson of All American Motors
concerning the DeLorean
conversion kits. Here are some more details: The models
do NOT have openning
doors, bonnette or engine cover. These models are what
are referred to as
curb-side models meaning they represent what you'd see
if you saw the car
sitting somewhere at the curb. The exterior of the model
is meant to be
painted with Testor's Model Master paint Stainless Steel
metalizer. This does
NOT give the brushed affect of the DeLorean's SS304 but
he says the models look
pretty good anyway. It is entirely possible that the
metalizer could be
brushed with steel wool pads or something giving the
model the brushed
appearance. I'm going to call around and try to get ahold
of some stainless
steel metalizer tonight and experiment with this. From
what Art said, it
shouldn't be too hard. The kits consist of the outer shell,
dashboard, engine
cover and rear slats which ARE USED ON A BTTF MODEL KIT
WHICH YOU BUY
SEPERATELY. I don't want anyone to buy these thinking
they are a complete kit.
THEY ARE NOT. These parts are made to fit on the BTTF I
and BTTF II models
only. They may or may not fit on the BTTF IIIA or IIIB
models but the wheels
will definately be wrong (50's style wheels or train
wheels). I'll see if I
can find a source for the wheels or some which are close
so that BTTF III
models can be used as well. What other wheels (on real
cars) are similar to
the DMC wheels? The early to mid 80s Camaro jumps
immediately to mind. What
others?
Anyway, it looks like this is going to become a reality. He
did say that with
his current work load it would probably take him until the
middle or end of
June to finish re-mastering the rear slats. The old
master was broken on the
last production run (which is probably why it was the last
production run :).
I told him that the end of June wouldn't be too much of a
problem.
FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO PLACE ORDERS: Please send me
your name, address and HOME
PHONE NUMBER and how many kits you want. I will then
pass your information on
to Art once I get 20 orders. He'll call you and get the
information on
billing, produce the kits and send them out. If I don't get
20 orders by the
end of May I'll send out an e-mail or call each of you
collect to tell you we
have to cancel our orders. Please note that I am not a
middle-man and I'm
making no money from this. Therefore, I'm not liable for
anything that might
come of this. I'm simply passing your information on to
Art as someone who'd
be interested in a model. I'm not an agent for his company
(All American
Models). The price will probably be $40.00. I'm going to
leave it to the
buyer to ask the price information of Art when he calls.
Please e-mail your
order info to me at mail06754(AT)pop.net.
I certainly don't expect anything to go wrong with this but
I want to make
those things clear just in case.
My entire interest in this is to be able to buy a DeLorean
model. As you can
see, I tend to go to great lengths to get what I want. :)
I would have everyone call Art directly but then none of
us would know if we
had enough total orders without calling Art constantly.
This makes it more of
a definate process.
- --Rob Hook
(mail06754(AT)pop.net)
------------------------------
From: dmcnews-approval
Date: Thu, 02 May 1996 14:30:12 -0400
Subject: Wire Diagram.
Hey,
Does anyone have a complete, readable wire diagram for
the DeLorean?
I have a one page copy of it that is REAL small, and hard
to read. I also have
the set of service manuals, and they do not have the
diagram.
Thanks,
Marc
Marc.A.Levy(AT)lucent.com
------------------------------
From: DRAVEN
Date: Thu, 02 May 1996 15:59:36 EDT
Subject: DMC model kit
hey count me in if your still taking names to purchase
that
delorean model!
email me if you need anything form me, k?
cool
c2mxwool(AT)fre.fsu.umd.edu
------------------------------
From: Knut S Grimsrud
Date: Thu, 02 May 96 13:35:00 PDT
Subject: [none]
Message-Id:
To: dmcnews(AT)world.std.com
Subject: Re: Problems already!
Sender: dmcnews-approval(AT)world.std.com
Precedence: bulk
Reply-To: dmcnews(AT)world.std.com
mpeak(AT)ucla.edu (Magnum) writes:
> First, even though the clutch had plenty of clutch fluid, sometimes it
> was hard to get it into gear, especially reverse. The problem
> was lessened, though, once the clutch was pumped up and down several
> times.
This sounds like the notorious plastic clutch line problem.
When you
depress the clutch, the line balloons and results in the
clutch not
detting proper displacement to disengage completely. Any
car with the
plastic clutch line in it still should have it replaced with
a braided
steel one.
Although this problem affects how well the clutch
DISengages, it wil
ENgage fine and will not severely wear your clutch.
Realistic life
estimates for the DeLorean clutch is about 40K miles.
> It was 90+ degrees today in Los Angeles and when we pulled up to a
> stoplight for about three minutes, the coolant in the front radiator
> began to seriously overflow on to the street. When I looked down at the
> thermostat, it was maxed out. Is this the notorious plastic coolant
> overflow bottle problem?
This is a combination of a couple problems. First,
regardless of how hot the car
gets, there should never be any fluid coming from the
front of the car since
there is no pressure relief in the front. Coolant leaking
from the front usually
comes from a leaking radiator which most oftem stems
from the poor design of the
original radiator (it has plastic end caps crimped to a
metal core -- the caps
tend to come un-crimped or become brittle and break). The
proper repair method
involves replacing the radiator with an all-metal unit.
The plastic overflow bottle problem is quite different and
it's failure mode is
quite easy to recognize -- when it fails it explodes. For
the sake of safety, it
is recommended that you replace the plastic bottle (which
becomes brittle with
age) with a metal one. Although the car may have a plastic
bottle in it, this is
not related to the problems you were experiencing.
The second problem you were having (overheating) was
likely a vapor-locked water
pump (or a failed one altogether). The water pump is
located very high in the
coolant circuit, and air bubbles tend to collect in the
pump. Your water pump is
no good at pumping air, and when a sufficiently large
bubble forms, it is
free-wheeling in air and not pumping any water. The root
of such problems is
often a poorly sealed cooling system that allows air to
enter the system (since
you were leaking, I would say this is a safe bet on the car
you were
inspecting). The water pump also vapor locks easily if the
car has not been
driven for extended periods -- combined with a leaky
system, it is almost
guaranteed that you have enough air in the system to
prevent proper circulation.
Provided that the rest of the car is in good shape, I do not
see that the issues
with your car represent a real problem. You would want to
change the plastic
radiator/overflow bottle in any case.
Please keep in mind that free advice is sometimes woth
what you pay for it.
Knut Grimsrud
DOA Chapter 41
------------------------------
From: stormrider(AT)socketis.net (Chase Clark)
Date: Thu, 2 May 1996 17:27:21 -0600
Subject: Resealing the Door Glass
I found the source of the water leaks on the passenger
side. It was fairly
obvious and should have been noticed long before now. The
non-moving part
of the glass window in the passenger door has come
unglued from the
moulding and the door most of the way around. This
eplains why the whole
section of glass moves up a quarter of an inch every time
the window is
closed. DUHHHH!
I took the glass out last night (which is a very easy
process due to lack
of any mouting brackets or clips) and tried to seal it with
a
weatherstipping cement. I don't like the way it looks and
am going to
remove it and redo it with Somaca Power Bond urethane
auto glass sealant
that was recommended by a professional glass outfit.
They said this stuff
is basically permanent after it cures (24 hours) and is
used by American
automakers nowadays.
For those, like myself, that have doubted it the windows
are really tinted
like the dealer sticker states, Yes they are, but it is a
very slight,
all-over tempering that is not easily seen unless the
glass is removed.
Also, if anyone else tries to do reseal their door windows
in the
future...Seal the moulding to the door frame FIRST, then
once it dries,
seal the window to the moulding. Otherwise, you will not
get a quality
result and the moulding will match the contours of the
door and likely will
leak.
Boy, working on these cars is actually kind of fun (when
nothing catches
fire in the process)!!
~ Chase
------------------------------
From: stormrider(AT)socketis.net (Chase Clark)
Date: Thu, 2 May 1996 22:12:34 -0600
Subject: Flushing a Radiator??
>summer, so there's no problem there. I suspect that there
>is a bit of air in the system, so I'm planning to bleed it
>when I get home. I'm also going to flush out my radiator
Everyone correct me if I am wrong here, but isn't the
entire cooling system
on the DeLorean comprised of aluminum, plastic or rubber
pieces? And if the
engine also is made of an aluminum alloy, then the
possibility of corrosion
within the cooling system would be practically nil.
Therefore meaning there
should never be any need to flush the cooling system.
Which would be a good thing considering how hard it would be to back-flush a system with more than 40 feet of hoses and pipes running the length of the car.
As I said, correct me if I am mistaken in any of this as I am still
learning about each of the components that make up the
DeLorean.
~ Chase
------------------------------
End of dmcnews-digest V2 #108
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