Road Trips are what define college life

[originel]

I just got back from College Station where we went to the Texas Tech v Texas A&M Football game and i can already tell i will remember it for a LONG time!

First, the game: It was one of the best games i've been to in a long time. First off, a little background info. A&M is known for their defense. in fact their defense is called teh wrecking crew, and they have been able to hold back some of the best offenses in the nation. last year they beat the University of Texas because of their defense. Well we beat them last year and rubbed it in their face a little (i won't really go into that). So basically both teams were really looking forward to this game. Also it was our first division game, as well as theirs (Big 12). So a very big and important game to both schools. They started out doing really well and well...we didn't. By the end of the third quarter it was 35-17. But we managed to rally and tie it up by the end of the fourth quarter at 41-41. OT only lasted one round where A&M scored a TD but MISSED the fiald goal! We then scored a TD but made our extra point.. So we won the game 48-47 in OT. I have never seen a stadium so quiet before. It was awesome. In the end we had 544 net offensive yards and A&M had 517 net offensive yards. the stats were very close for both schools across the board, we just played that much harder IMO!

The drive back: So this great weekend has come to a close and it's time to drive back. But it seemed like something didn't want us to get back to Lubbock. I counted somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 cops in between houston and dallas (a 3 hour stretch), and while i don't necessarily speed excexxivley, i do speed enough to get ticketed. luckily i am apparently good at spotting cops as my friends in teh car informed me. When we hit Dallas we ran into a rain storm. a very LARGE rainstorm, like lots of red on teh radar type storm. and it was at least 200 miles wide (that's how long we were in it)! it was raining so hard that there was standing water on the interstate, sometimes an inch or two deep. and of course the car in front of me somehow got the notion that they should BRAKE when they started to hydroplane! But we got through it (finally). we're an hour away from Tech, things are going great, no cops, no rain, little traffic, no stupid drivers, and my car dies. and won't start again. we call a tow truck, and in the hour and a half it took to get out to my car, i looked around the engine, seeing if it was anything i could fix on the road. I'm still not totally sure, but i'm pretty sure my fuel pump is dead. gonna have to work on it tomorrow and try and find out for sure.

Despit a few hitches, it was a blast and i will remember it for a long time. College life is definitely one of a kind!

Sounds like a good time man!! I'm not into football, but I do the road trip for various reasons (mostly concerts) quite a bit. Nothing like traffic, weather, and car troubles to make things interesting. At least I beat the last one for a while by buying a new car. Heh. What kind of car is it? Maybe you'll be lucky and the fuel pump will be in the engine compartment instead of the gas tank.

[Brainchild]

road trips define life PERIOD

A lot of the memories I have involve a road trip, gettin lost,out of gas,lost,broke down ,lost,ya know. The good ol days.

Sounds like a time Originel

9 take the fuel line off, put the end in a plastic bottle,and try to start it. If it's shooting gas in t he bottle it's prolly not the pump.
Check fuel filters, cold be one in front of the gas tank depending on what kind of car ya have.And look for a fuse to the fuel pump, it may be electric.
Also check all the fuses, may have blown one to the ECM, or something. Blew a fuse in my daughters car, and it wouldn't shift stupid Eclipse
Good luck
BC

[Heavy_Equipment]

a very LARGE rainstorm, like lots of red on teh radar type storm. and it was at least 200 miles wide (that's how long we were in it)! it was raining so hard that there was standing water on the interstate, sometimes an inch or two deep.

You suspect fuel pump, so you might have already checked for spark, but maybe ignition got soaked in all that rain, but the problem took a bit to show?

Ignition as in coil, distributor, and wires. Maybe you are lucky.

[originel]

yeah i also thought the ignition system. I totally forgot the type of car. It's a 95 Ford Escort (yeah yeah i know i know F****** Over Remade Dodges). I also thought it might be the coil or the housing (it's distributorless). There is ddefinitely a real possibility i'm lucky here, considering the behavior. That's a good idea BC, hadn't thought of that. I'll try it when i get a chance. I've got an Exam tomorrow, so i'm going to be studying all day today. I'd thought about that too HEavy_Equipment. I only did a light once over on the road (didn't have a flashlight and it was at night), so tomorrow i'll definitely check for that too. Thanx all for the advice.

EDIT: btw it has the ford 1.9 instead of the mazda 1.8 engine

[originel]

well, as it turns out the fuel pump is electronically controlled, so the engine needs to be running (or at least turning over) in order to operate. there is still a way to check it (basically applying power to one of the terminals on the pump). but it's going to take a while, and i have an exam tomorrow morning at 8:00 (our professor is evil), so i'm going to put it off till tomorrow.

Awesome avatar, Originel.