Ok, the little cap on my (86') pulsation dampener has a little crack on the edge and doesn't want to seal or stay on very good anymore.

Soo..... for the time being (not actually driving the car, still working out problems), I just put some RTV around the edge and stuck it back on. So far it hasn't leaked at all.

So my question is, am I going to die in a fireball?

 

We could only be so lucky....

Keep a close eye on it, if it's not pissing yet, we may have to put up with you just a bit longer...

The cap itself doesn't seal the liquid chamber per se...

 

Maybe I'm just really smart and did something no one else thought of? Lol, right...

Yeah, it's just a temporary thing.

Btw Wayne, I actually got to ride in my car this weekend (didn't drive because I'm still learning a 5 speed and didn't wanna mess anything up). I <3 you Wayne .

 

Do you have any idea how old the PD is? Probably a good idea to change that bad boy anyway, if it looks all old & yellow. Well, the "yellowed" part is missing now, but you get the idea...

RTV is not going to stop the fuel, should it decide to crap out on you...

Dude, drive the car, if she's got the OEM-style clutch in her, she's very forgiving for learning

 

I still have the yellow cap, it's just "glued" on with RTV.

The previous owner SAID he replaced the PD, but it was with another used one with lower mileage. I'm just going to get a banjo bolt for now until I can afford a new PD.

Yeah, it's a OEM replacement clutch. I was torn between driving and letting my dad drive. I let him just because I didn't want ANYTHING to go wrong. Heh, bad decision on my part. He wasn't very good with a manual, been a while since he drove one. Didn't help the clutch pedal wouldn't come back up (I pulled it back up by hand when we got back, worked fine after that). I had just put some fluid in the clutch resorvoir, kinda curious as to why it needed 1 clutch pump to work... oh well.

Regardless, thanks for all the help everyone, especially Wayne. It's nice seeing the tail end of my car when I come up the driveway as opposed to the front up on ramps.

 

Ahhh... I think everyone is missing something in this thread.

The plastic cap has absolutly nothing to do with the sealing of the PD. It is simply a guard for the screw, so that nothing bumps into the screw and to keep dust out of the membrain and screw hole.

You could drive for 20 years without the cap and nothing would leak (well other than dust would build up and probably jamm up the screw eventually).

Again... the cap has nothing to do with sealing of the PD

 

Hmm, interesting. When the cap wasn't on my PD was leaking, but with the cap on it doesn't. Weird...

 

If it is leaking, then the Screw has come out and the membrain has ripped. You will need to replace the whole PD ASAP!

 

The screw is still in there though... It's not leaking now that the cap is securely on. Don't get me wrong, I'm not doubting you, just wondering what's really going on with my car.

 

Dude, come on. Use common sense. You dont think that plastic cap is anything other than a dirt shield, do you now? How would a rigid plastic cap effectively seal against 50+psi of fuel pressure? It wouldn't. It has nothing to do with it.

Now, filling the cap with rtv is a temporary bandaid until you can get the thing replaced...it may, in some cases, help deter fuel leaks from a bad PD. You need to either get the bolt in place of that thing, or get a new PD.

www.rotaryresurrection.com ---> tech ---> 84-88 pulsation dampner repalcement

 

Yeah, I never thought it was permanent. Just wanted something very temporary to let me start my car and get it warmed up and such. I have a fire extinguisher close and always keep a close eye on it. Don't worry, I don't plan on going more than 2 miles or something with it like that.

 

I was thinking of doing something else as a PERMANENT safeguard. I was talking with Kevin one day and we got on the subject of the PD. He said, if I could find someone capable of doing it, just to weld a metal "cap" where the plastic one is. No worries about it popping off or breaking. At least, I think that's what he meant and it sounds like a good idea.

 

Braze/weld the screwhole shut. easy to cut through though.

 

Won't that disable the PD function?

 

Brazing it shut will to some degree disable, the added air pressure will reduce the effectivness.

I would use the banjo bolt as a temporary fix if you can't afford to spend $100 on a new PD right now.

 

Yeah, that's what I'm going to do once I get some money.

- Clean Injectors
- New Spark Plugs
- Pulsation Dampener (or Banjo)

 

 

The banjo bolt should be only a temporary fix until you can afford the $100 a new PD would cost.

As proven in a couple threads over the last week, you do not want to leave the banjo bolt in as a replacement

 

Proven? eh? links? I'm very interested. I've been running these cars for years now with the bolt in place, not a problem so far.

 

Whoa, why not? Sorry, I searched around a bit (for "banjo bolt") and couldn't come up with the threads you were talking about...

 

Lol, sorry. I'll just stop asking questions .

 

So the answer is : yes, I'm going to die in a fireball if I keep this "fix" for long.

 

The answer isn't yes unless that screw comes out and it starts leaking. The plastic thing is just a dirt cover, as people have said. So if the only thing wrong with yours is broken plastic cap then you don't have a problem. But like everyone else with these cars the possibility is always there and you should keep an eye on it and a nose out for the smell of gas under your hood.

Or take rotary resurrection's advice and get rid of the PD altogether. I've done this and everything still works perfectly.

 

And another thing - if you have to save up for spark plugs, then you do not want to be spending your money on something as stupid as a PD. Do the banjo replacement and save that money for something worthwhile like an exhaust.

 

The only thing I've found when searching for these threads, (advanced search, search 2gen forums, threads 1 month and newer, search for "banjo") was a thread about a guy running a highly modded haltech controlled turbo engine that was getting pulsation in his system. HE had all SS braided lines (read: stiff, no flex), higher than stock fuel pressure, and both primaries firing at once (versus alternating, which would double any pulsation present). I would bet that in his case fuel pulsation was causing running problems...on the average streetcar with stock or replaced rubber fuel lines, stock filter, stock pump and pressure, and stock injector firing order, you'll have no problems. Just my 2 cents.