The door key illumination has not worked on my car since I got it.  The illumination of the ignition has worked so I figured it was something with the bulb itself and not the switch.  I pulled the driver’s side door panel to inspect the system.  Removing the panel is fairly straightforward.

To remove the door panel, you have 6 screws and clips around the edge. Two of the screws are larger and behind covers. One at the top of pull and one under the arm rest. A screw in the door pull bucket and one in the door handle bucket.  You also have two color matched screws. One screw just above the pocket and one in the bottom corner towards the back of the car.

Once I had the panel off, I was able to look over the illumination system.  It turned out the wires coming out the back of the bulb were sheared. I took the bulb to RadioShack to find a matching bulb. I found one that worked. Mini Lamp 272-1141 12 Volts and 25mA.  The bulb was actually an exact match to the original and I was even able to use the original green cover.  I soldered the wires right to the original and reinstalled.

After testing it I fount it still wasn’t working.  It turns out the bulb was installed on the wrong side.  I pulled the bulb and clip back out and installed it on the opposite side. If you look at the lock real close, you can see a small slit to let the light through. Now all is back together and working great.

While I had the door panel pulled, I installed new window channels.  The channel on the driver’s side was torn at the front edge causing the window to pop out of the channel now and again.  I lubed the entire track and regulator.  I also pulled the passenger side to replace and lube the window channel and lube the regulator.

While talking with one of the local GSL-SE owners , I found that he is also have the vapor lock problem.  He contacted Pineapple Racing about the problem.  They said that it happens on GSL-SE’s now and again when you have a combination of high altitude and high temperatures.  Their only suggestion was to add some kind of fan to blow under the intake and get some air flow.  That isn’t really a viable option in my opinion.

I picked up a roll of DEI Cool Tape to use to insulate the lines instead.  It seems to be a good quality product and it sticks well but it does seem to be a little on the thin side.  If I was to do it again, I may consider buying Thermo-Tec tape instead.

I wrapped the tape around the rubber lines that are inder the intake two times.  I covered the top of the fuel rail with a layer of tape.  There is a section of hard line that is welded to the upper intake support.  The hard line may be part of the problem since it is bolted directly to the motor.  Three layers of tape was added to the underside of the support between the support and motor.  Two layers of tape was also added around the part of the hard lines that aren’t visible.  There was some extra tape since 15 feet was in the package. I used some of the extra to insulate the underside of the upper intake for added cooling.

When the intake was pulled we say that a few of the vacuum lines were not sealing as well as they should so they were replaced.  The vacuum line goes to the fuel pressure regulator wasn’t sealing all that well so it was replaced and vip ties were used for added sealing.

The car needed to be tuned again after everything was reinstalled. I will need to tweek the tune a little to get it just right.

Thanks to Nash for help.

We took the car on its first real trip over 4th of July weekend, about 1000 miles of total driving. We drove it to Grand Junction, CO and back down I70. The car drove fine most of the way, I never had any problems with the car overheating. I did haveproblems withthe car vapor locking both directions. The first time was in Georgetown heading over because the traffic was really bad. I also had problems on the way back going up Vail Pass because it was a parking lot (cars were stuck everywhere).

The first time it happened, the gas tank built so much pressure that when I opened the gas cap it sprayed gas out. I disconnected the hose for the gas tank vent just after the tank so I wouldn’t have any more pressure building.  I also checked the fuel filter to see if it was clogged and it looked fine.  We let the car sit for a while and it made the rest of the drive without a problem.

Once we got into Grand Juntion, we blew out the vent lines and inspected the check and cut valve. The valve seemed to be working fine when I tested it. There was a small amount of dust that came out of the hard line between the valve and the charcoal canister but not much.  I took the car on a drive and it was still building a small amount of pressure. I decided to leave the line disconnected for the trip back.

On the way back home it happened on Vail Pass.  Vail pass goes from Vail (8022 feet) to the summit (10617 feet). And this was in really bad traffic, it was basically a parking lot. There were cars overheating and vapor locking everywhere. I got stuck in a spot with 2 other cars with the same problem. I would say there were over 100 cars that overheated that I saw. I’m really happy my car wasn’t overheating, it actually stayed right where it should. The intake got really hot, I couldn’t even touch it. I made it to a mountain stream so I cooled the intake down and that really helped. I also drove the rest of the way over the pass with the hood popped open so I could get more airflow.

Possible causes for the car stalling that I found:
-bad temp sensor (already replaced)
-weak pump (less than 6 months old)
-clogged fuel filter (replaced about 3 weeks or so ago)
-bad pressure regulator (haven’t looked into)
-fuel line getting way too hot

I’m going to replace the pump since it is still under warranty.  I’m not getting a much power over 5k rpm still so I’m thinking the problem could be related to the pump or pressure regulator. I’m also going to swap out the check and cut valve since I have one that I know is good and it’s a quick change.