Remove fuel pump; foam, smoke under control
Larry McReynolds / CREWCHIEFCLUB.COM
Posted: 1 hour ago
Pump it out
Mike from Hooks, Texas: All I have been hearing is how good the Waterman fuel pump is, and I wonder if Kevin Harvick, Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin and possibly others still think so. It sounds like an under tested package to me.
Larry McReynolds: Just to clear it up, Denny Hamlin did not have a Waterman fuel pump or fuel pump cable problem at Bristol. That was actually a fuel pickup problem in the fuel cell, which has nothing to do with the fuel pump. At Bristol, Tony Stewart didn't have a problem with the pump itself. The pump seems to be pretty bulletproof in the fuel cell area. The problem is this cable. It's not been consistent. Some of the problems may have been self-inflicted, and some may have been a production problem.
After Bristol, Sid Waterman and I discussed the crimping process on the cable that goes to the back of the oil pump. When you call Waterman, you tell him how long you want it, and they build the cable. It's a judgment call for the teams on how much to crimp it. But after the No. 20 car's problem at Bristol, they built a jig on which you, I or my son Brandon could go in there and crimp these cables. At Martinsville, Richard Childress Racing's head engine builder, Danny Lawrence, talked about two cables on Kevin Harvick's car. It sounds like it was an additional problem that we hadn't heard of.
Do I like the Waterman system? Heck yeah. At the end of the day, it's much safer. How many times — especially on GM cars — have we seen them hit the wall with the right front and knock off the fuel pump as a big fire erupts because fuel was just pouring out over that area? I love the Waterman system, but if I were a crew chief today, I would say, "Guys, we're pulling it off until we know all of the problems have been solved." I wouldn't care how much we had invested in it and how much we had done with it.
Last year, Tony Stewart didn't use the Waterman system in the first 26 races. When his team missed the Chase for the Nextel Cup, they ran the Waterman system without any issues, but they've already had two problems so far this season. The minute the track opened for the first Daytona 500 practice, they had a problem, and another failure played a role in Stewart failing to win Bristol. It's a great system, but there are some unknowns about it.
One unknown is the system has been run mostly in USAC, World of Outlaws and NHRA cars with a much shorter wheelbase and cable than Cup cars, which probably use the longest cable of any of their systems. I would pull it off until I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that all of these issues had been resolved because it's potentially cost two guys wins this year.
Larry McReynolds / CREWCHIEFCLUB.COM
Posted: 1 hour ago
Pump it out
Mike from Hooks, Texas: All I have been hearing is how good the Waterman fuel pump is, and I wonder if Kevin Harvick, Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin and possibly others still think so. It sounds like an under tested package to me.
Larry McReynolds: Just to clear it up, Denny Hamlin did not have a Waterman fuel pump or fuel pump cable problem at Bristol. That was actually a fuel pickup problem in the fuel cell, which has nothing to do with the fuel pump. At Bristol, Tony Stewart didn't have a problem with the pump itself. The pump seems to be pretty bulletproof in the fuel cell area. The problem is this cable. It's not been consistent. Some of the problems may have been self-inflicted, and some may have been a production problem.
After Bristol, Sid Waterman and I discussed the crimping process on the cable that goes to the back of the oil pump. When you call Waterman, you tell him how long you want it, and they build the cable. It's a judgment call for the teams on how much to crimp it. But after the No. 20 car's problem at Bristol, they built a jig on which you, I or my son Brandon could go in there and crimp these cables. At Martinsville, Richard Childress Racing's head engine builder, Danny Lawrence, talked about two cables on Kevin Harvick's car. It sounds like it was an additional problem that we hadn't heard of.
Do I like the Waterman system? Heck yeah. At the end of the day, it's much safer. How many times — especially on GM cars — have we seen them hit the wall with the right front and knock off the fuel pump as a big fire erupts because fuel was just pouring out over that area? I love the Waterman system, but if I were a crew chief today, I would say, "Guys, we're pulling it off until we know all of the problems have been solved." I wouldn't care how much we had invested in it and how much we had done with it.
Last year, Tony Stewart didn't use the Waterman system in the first 26 races. When his team missed the Chase for the Nextel Cup, they ran the Waterman system without any issues, but they've already had two problems so far this season. The minute the track opened for the first Daytona 500 practice, they had a problem, and another failure played a role in Stewart failing to win Bristol. It's a great system, but there are some unknowns about it.
One unknown is the system has been run mostly in USAC, World of Outlaws and NHRA cars with a much shorter wheelbase and cable than Cup cars, which probably use the longest cable of any of their systems. I would pull it off until I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that all of these issues had been resolved because it's potentially cost two guys wins this year.
