embarrassing moment for C4orce2

[C4orce2]

Well as is the case with most engine swaps, nothing is perfect, at least not right away. Yesterday I went on a poker run sponsored by NAPA and organized by Nancy Perry. We went from one NAPA store to another all over the valley. Probably 60 cars involved, with only three corvettes that I could see; a C1; a C6; and mine. The rest of the cars were T-buckets, mustangs and a wide variety of hot rods. Of course they mostly thought my car was too new to be in the group. I think the C6 was the only newer car. Our final stop was at the NAPA store just west of I-17 on Thomas. I ran with the top down until then. I was one of the first to leave. Before leaving I put my top up and turned on the AC as I was pulling out of the lot and heading east to catch the I-17 northbound. Then the "Vette" god did her thing. As I was waiting to get on the freeway I saw my temp soar to 220 quickly and realized again that my fans were probably not on. I discussed this problem last week in my update on Project C4orce and C4orce2. So as I was sitting there waiting to get on the freeway there was a big bang and blue smoke shot out from under the hood in all directions. I shut it off, opened the hood and saw that one of the hoses between the AC compressor and the radiator came off. It sprayed that crap all over, chipped some of the paint on the underside of the hood (not the air brushed pics though), ripped some of my wiring loose, etc. All I could do was sit there with my hood up and wait an hour for the tow truck. Of course during that hour all the participants that headed east drove by me. Many of them stopped to see if I needed help, but I'm sure all of them thought "my car is much older than this newer vette and look who broke down". Some suggested I go back to NAPA and try to fix it myself (they obviously did not know me). What could I say!! So its off to my guy at Sun Devil to fix the AC hose and hot wire my fans to always run. Wes and I had already decided to hot wire them this next week anyway. Then off to Loud Pedal to get the clicking noise in the rear fixed by replacing my teflon rear axle washers. A week from now all will be well, at least for the moment.

[TheCMSH]

Ouch-ka-bibble! Major suckage Larry

[Grayeagle]

We Hates Breakdowns! Glad it wasn't somethin serious, ie: ventilating a block. -Frank

[3D87C4]

Yikes! I hope there was no permanent damage. I'm going to have to mention this to my builder while we're planning out my EROD swap. My '87 had the heavy duty radiator & dual fan RPO but I'm not sure what my mechanic put in when the radiator was replaced a few months ago.

[a66bbvet]

It sounds like the "AUTO" control for your heat/air is not working. When you have the "AUTO" button on then the computer controls the cooling fans. If you turn it Off, then both fans will come on when the engine gets warm. The computer no longer controls turning the fans on, but rather the engine temperature will turn the fans on. Been there and done that.

[C4orce2]

Yikes! I hope there was no permanent damage.

I'm going to have to mention this to my builder while we're planning out my EROD swap. My '87 had the heavy duty radiator & dual fan RPO but I'm not sure what my mechanic put in when the radiator was replaced a few months ago.

You probably will not run into the same problems. The AC/radiator hose simply came loose at the compressor and will be easily fixed. Not sure what the issue is with the fans. Right now the computer interface that Wes Burch designed for me controls when the AC compressor gets turned on and at the same time turns on the fans. There is also a device connected to my radiator that turns on the fans once the censor that is shoved into the radiator reads over 190 degrees. Since we cannot figure out why the fans are sometimes not turning on when the temp gets high or when the AC is turned on, the easy fix is just to hot-wire them so they are always on when the engine is running. This has only happened 3 times to me in the last 11 months. However, having the fans always on is not a bad idea in Arizona anyway. Since your builder is not going to use the same interface and most likely not the same unit on the radiator, you should be OK. Also you new computer may not be the E67 that comes in the kit with the LS3 hot cam. If your computer is different, it may control the fans instead.

In any event, no real damage to the car, just another tow job, a little repair expense and a whole lot of cleaning before the next show.

[Marco]

That sucks and blows Larry. breaking down at rush hour in this heat totally blows big chunks! Sorry to hear the that. We just flooded the East wing overflowin the tub if that makes you feel better

[C4orce2]

It sounds like the "AUTO" control for your heat/air is not working. When you have the "AUTO" button on then the computer controls the cooling fans. If you turn it Off, then both fans will come on when the engine gets warm. The computer no longer controls turning the fans on, but rather the engine temperature will turn the fans on. Been there and done that.

What you described is correct in a stock C4, but that is not the case in my car now. When we installed the LS3 hot cam the kit it came with had an E67 GM computer with it. Once installed, neither the new computer or the old computer controlled the AC compressor or the fans so Wes Burch built the AC compressor control into the computer interface that ties both computers together. When I hit "Auto" it is the interface that now turns on the compressor and turns on the fans. When I hit "Off" the fans continue to be controlled by the new device we installed that turns them on and off based upon the heat censor that is stuck in the radiator coils. Once just before the PIR NASCAR driver introduction parade laps last February the car started heating up and the fans would not come on. It got to 245. Finally after starting and re-starting the car several times the fans kicked in and everything was fine. The other two times I had the "Auto" turned on and the fans either did not start or turned off on their own.

Wes and I cannot figure out what is wrong so we decided the best solution is to simply hot-wire the fans so they are always on when the ignition is on. The computer interface will still turn on the compressor when I hit "Auto" but it will not have anything to do with the fans. Before the final computer interface was complete I ran the car that way for two months last July and August and all was well so we decided to go back and run it that way again.

[P51tj]

Damn to bad timing...hope all is well and you'll have her back to normal quickly!

[Guest badbobs95]

That really sucks the big one Larry but at least it wasn't anything TOO expensive. It's happened to most of us at one time or another.

[C4orce2]

Got the repair work done on the AC hose. When the fans aren't on and the AC is on pressure builds up in the AC compressor since little air is going thru the system. That's why the hose blew on Saturday when I had the AC on and the fans did not turn on. In the next few days its going to Loud Pedal to have the fans hot-wired and to install the teflon rear axle washers that are apparently causing the clicking noise in my left rear. Biggest problem was the mess under the hood and the painting I had to do today to sort-of repair the chips caused by the hose when it blew.

[C4orce2]

I've just got to share this story with you ACEholes. Since one of the techs at Corvette Restoration AZ had originally hot wired my fans a year ago while we were waiting for the final computer interface to be installed, I decided to let the same tech hot wire the fans again instead of bothering Mike and Steve with the task. So last Wed I took C4orce2 to CRAZ for the hot wire. We discussed it and decided not to hot wire them, but instead install an override on them. It would be controlled by a switch under the hood. Instead of the normal ground needed to override the fans, the device Wes Burch installed required a positive hook up. So as completed the fans will still be controlled by the device that turns them on at 190 degrees and the computer interface that turns them on when I turn on the AC. If either system fails I can hit the switch and manually turn them on. All is well so I drive it home. I get home and turn the ignition switch off and take the key out--the car is still running. I wish my wife could have filmed the surprised look on my face--I cannot turn the car off. I immediately call CRAZ and tell them what is going on and then race back to their shop. The tech simply installed a diode switch that solved the problem. Apparently, if I have the override switch on and either of the other two devices are also turning the fans on at the same time, current will go backwards throught the override switch and into the ingnition and keep the car running AT ALLS TIMES. Once the diode was installed that prevented the problem. What an experience. However, all is well now and I will never have an overheating problem again (I hope). Now its off to LPM to have my new teflon rear axle washers installed on Tues.