Fuel Mileage & Starter Woes

Tom's been reminding Ariel to record her gas purchases so that they could calculate what kind of fuel mileage I'm getting. The other night she calculated that I was only getting about 14 MPG. Far less than I should. Last night Tom started looking for gas leaks. He found dampness on a gas line where it entered a gas hose, so he tightened the clamp. He also replaced my fuel pump with a used one he had on a garage shelf. Corvair fuel pumps can adversely affect gas mileage because they can actually allow some gas to get into the engine's crankcase. Not good. If the fuel pump is bad, that would explain why my oil level's been acting strange the last few weeks.

The other problem that just cropped up was my starter not engaging properly. Ariel would turn the key and after a very short time of cranking, the starter would disengage before my engine starts. Tom removed the starter and noticed that the teeth on its drive gear were rather worn. Another garage shelf spare installed and I'm good-to-go.

Finally, he manually closed my heater door so that Ariel and her sister don't get roasted. He had to use a pair of pliers to close it because the cable broke. He got a replacement from the Corvair Ranch, but installing it is going to be a significant project.