Lost oil drain plug on highway. Now what?

[CROSSBOLT]

No. You have a bad connection at or between the battery and starter plus the line voltage drops to near zero when you push the start button and the start relay/ "solenoid" closes. Check battery connections first. If clean and tight then load test battery.

[Dk]

Thanks!  That got it running (only for a healthy sounding 20 seconds). I didn't realize a finger tight torque on the battery terminals wouldn't have been good enough.

What is the hose terminating at each side of the fuel tank at filter-looking things, with a Y split in the middle, and where does that Y split connect?  My instruction manual does not seem to account for that hose or the "filters."  I should have taken photos before dissasembling and not relied on my manual.

Here's a photo of my probably-wrong setup uploaded.

[CROSSBOLT]

Not familiar with the plumbing on that model. Looks like a pulse operated fuel pump to the right, there should be a hose to the fuel tank, and a hose to the carb and then a hose to the valve cover or crankcase for the pulse. The Y should route vacuum to the fuel tank vent valve and the evaporative system.

[Dk]

Thanks.  Since that y hose goes to the evaporative system, it narrowed it down enough for me to get it going.  It's running well now.  I put 50 miles on it ranging from around 25-65 mph. 

It makes a rattling/ticking noise only while idling and with any throttling the sound goes away.  I don't think that noise was there when I test ran it with no exhaust/panels installed. 

I wasn't expecting a knock - I adjusted the valve clearance to the manual specs, and checked oil level.  The crankshaft bearing seemed solid, without any play.  I wonder above all, can it be serious if the noise is only there when idling?   

[Stig / Major Tom]

We will see.....
Stig

[Viper254]

Just keep it with good oil, ride it and see what happens. You can chase a tick or rattle forever. My other half's car sounds like gnomes are trying to get out of the engine with pickaxes, but it's sounded like that for 40K miles now... 

[Stig / Major Tom]

Just keep it with good oil, ride it and see what happens. You can chase a tick or rattle forever. My other half's car sounds like gnomes are trying to get out of the engine with pickaxes, but it's sounded like that for 40K miles now... 

My late brother used to say, "just turn up the radio..."
I miss his sangfroid.

Stig