GM engineer figures out common flathead problem
 

A Pontiac hated vanilla ice cream.

https://www.facebook.com/DailySocial...4241734298566/

Sometimes it takes a lot of creative thinking and brilliant "deductions", as Sherlock Holmes called them, to figure out a problem.

Re: GM engineer figures out common flathead problem
 

If you believe that cockamamie story, I should be able to interest you in a bridge I have for sale.........quite cheap! DD

Re: GM engineer figures out common flathead problem
 

Thanks, Henry. Interesting story.

Re: GM engineer figures out common flathead problem
 

Hope no one believed this urban myth! It's totally bogus! "Constantly starting and stopping" does not cause vapor lock. A long drive on a hot day, which allows time for everything under the hood to heat soak, will. Besides, why is the guy "constantly starting and stopping" on his ice cream run?? And the engine didn't have time to cool down and so vapor locked?! Cooling down is what cures vapor lock.
And what is a picture of a '65 LTD and a '65 Mustang doing in a tall tale involving a Pontiac?!
I guess it's an amusing story, but some believe (and worse, repeat) these tales and thus another urban legend is born.

Re: GM engineer figures out common flathead problem
 

Snopes on the subject: http://www.snopes.com/autos/techno/icecream.asp

Whether true or not, I've had as crazy problems to solve that had as ridiculous causes. Gotta tune up your thinking cap sometimes to get to the bottom of the mystery.

Re: GM engineer figures out common flathead problem
 

Actually, if he would have bought an Extra vanilla ice cream, and dumped it
on the fuel pump, it might have solved his vapor lock problem. :D:D








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Re: GM engineer figures out common flathead problem
 

That's got to be one of the lamest stories I've ever heard.

Re: GM engineer figures out common flathead problem
 

That happens to me too. All the time, only when I buy a Hot Fudge Sundae

Re: GM engineer figures out common flathead problem
 

Yep, and if you believe that story, why, I have a nice beach front property in Northern Arizona to go along with the bridge you bought...

Re: GM engineer figures out common flathead problem
 

Must have been a really smart engineer (not) to seem like he was investigating an act of God, instead of checking under the hood during the no start condition for fuel in the carb, vapor in the line , hot spots etc.

Sal

Re: GM engineer figures out common flathead problem
 

OK, The theory that the Pontiac was experiencing vapor lock is actually not that far fetched.
My 39 Plym conv coupe has a 2001 GM 5.7 Vortec engine with a 700R4 trans. The entire car has been totally rebuilt. We got the car running in 2009 following eight years of work.
We had two problems that many people tried to correct, hard starting after the engine warmed up and very hard, erratic shifting of the trans. The trans was torn down twice by two different shops, trying to find the problem. The first tear down revealed that the shop had not completely rebuilt the trans, as they were supposed to. A combination of used parts were found in a newly repainted case.
The recession had taken the shop put so I had no recourse. I won't belabor the trans problem, it went on for over three years, the final chapter being the purchase of a newly rebuilt trans, which almost solved the shifting problem.
The starting problem was a big aggravation, to say the least. Every body that looked at the car had a different theory. At one point it was found that the ignition I had specified, a GM HEI was actually a China knock off.
In March of this year I took the car to a tuneup shop here in town that still works on non computer controlled vehicles. Had a problem with the distributor working loose causing the engine to go out of time. The owner of the shop," Bill", took one look at the engine, making the comment that the problem was a non GM distributor hold down, a fancy polished aluminum affair in lieu of the normal GM heavy "bent wire" hold down that really bites into the distributor housing. I made mention to "Bill" that the engine was very hard starting when it had warmed up, fine when cold. Within a couple of minutes of Bill looking the engine over, he stated.. The problem is that you don't have a "Phenolic" spacer under the carb between the carb and the intake, this causes the fuel to boil in the carb and thereby evaporate, ergo hard starting.
Bill sent me to the local Hot Rod Shop to pick up a Edlebrock Phenolic spacer block.
By the time I got back to Bills shop the Chevy dealer had delivered the hold down, both items were installed at the same time, the timing set and I was on my way.
When I drove away from Bills shop it did not dawn on me at first that the trans was shifting as smooth as silk. I drove the car around town and out onto the highway, the car was like it had never been before. I went back to Bills shop, I told him what had happened, his comment, the spacer block re-positioned the carb which corrected the angle of the trans shift cable in relationship to the trans..

Re: GM engineer figures out common flathead problem
 

Interesting chain of events here, but it does not add any credence to the original ice cream story. That alleged Pontiac was a new car, with factory engineered and installed parts. This Plymouth is a hodge-podge of miscellaneous parts bolted to it.
Too often we try to out-think the factory. "Who needs that spacer? It's not chrome. Throw it out." "So what if the shift cable is all kattywumpus! It still moves." We've all been there; done that. I think it's a matter of simply overlooking the obvious when diagnosing.

Re: GM engineer figures out common flathead problem
 

I know it's possible to happen, it's just that the story makes it sound like something magical, instead of investigating the problem.

Sal

Re: GM engineer figures out common flathead problem
 

OK, I'll throw out another "far fetched" engine problem I encountered.
In 1963 I had a new '63 Chevy C10, with a 230 CID 6 cylinder. It ran very good for about 5,K miles then it started falling all over it's self on acceleration. Took the truck to the local Chivy garage, was told it needed a tune up. OK..
Picked the truck up in the afternoon and headed home. the engine still stumbled on acceleration. Went back tohttps://www.redtube.com/1423734
the agency, they were closed, had to go back the next day.
The service writer said they would get right on it. Waited a couple hours until they said the truck was ready, left the agency, upon acceleration the engine stumbled, backfired. Back to agency, I left the truck with them. I got the truck back two days later, reputedly it was fixed.. Wrong! I took the truck home.
Side Bar: I use to make it a habit to buy the factor repair manuals when I purchased a new vehicle.
Upon my arrival home I got out my 1963 Chevy repair manual. Read up on all the tuneup spec's. There was a section in the tuneup spec's that covered the emission control devise... Positive Crankcase Ventilator (PCV).. The spec's called for the PCV to be removed and washed with solvent as part of a tune up. Before the PCV was reinstalled the valve had to be checked to make sure it was functioning correctly. If the valve did not function correctly it would not close off the vacuum which would not allow the vacuum advance in the distributor to work. Ergo, late timing..
I checked the PCV in the Chevy, it was not working, I washed the valve in solvent, lightly blew air through it, checking to see if the valve was functioning. Reinstalled the valve, the truck ran perfectly.
I went by the Chevy agency the next day, told the service manager what I had found, he did not want to believe me.. I gave him a piece of my mind, telling him I would not be back, there were other agency's in the area. To this day I have never stepped foot into the Ventura Chevy dealership.

Re: GM engineer figures out common flathead problem
 

The whole video is a crock! "Took MUCH longer" to get anything but vanilla? They always keep the strawberry and chocolate AND vanilla together! Makes it much easier to make those delicious banana splits!! YUMMMMM!!

Re: GM engineer figures out common flathead problem
 

This......
I worked for GM once upon a time, as a District Manager for AC-Delco, one
of their parts divisions. I received a call at home one Friday, my presence was requested in Redlands CA, as there was something interesting going on
in one of our independent installer shops. I arrived and there was a car on the rack, surrounded by a GM engineer and several other mechanics who worked at that shop.
The car had arrived for an oil change, was driven onto the rack and the oil change was completed. When the rack came back down, oil was added and the car was started...... presto, no oil pressure. When I arrived, supervised by the GM engineer, the mechanics were busily dropping the oil pan and changing the oil pump (for the second time).
I asked to look at the oil filter; they had a whole case of that part number.
(it was a spin-on style)
Close inspection of the base plate of the oil filter showed that every single one of the 5/16" holes was blocked by the "star" washer directly underneath..... so basically an improperly assembled filter. All the filters in that case were from the same production run.
I had them slap a Fram oil filter on there just for grins. Viola, instant oil pressure.

I never wanted to know what that little fiasco cost. (Engineering - 0,
Sales - 1)

I worked for GM for 5 years, we would be here all week with all the various stories.....

Re: GM engineer figures out common flathead problem
 

Sounds like Bill Hahn's Automotive......

Re: GM engineer figures out common flathead problem
 

It was not "Bill Hahn's"... Name of the company begins with a P, followed by a C... :)