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I took the week off from work, went down to Florida to catch some vitamin D and watch a few old people drive like maniacs - How do you guys survive down there?
Got back Thursday, and immediately got to work at buttoning this bitch up. Let me take you back a bit first.
When I was cleaning up the steering rack, one fo the boots was in rough shape. Luckily, I had one on had and replaced it before I installed the rack in the car. Then about a week or two ago I notice the other side was also bad. Not horrible, but bad enough to warrant replacement. The replacement came while I was in FL, so first order of business was to replace that guy.
About 10 minutes into working... I was trying to get that boot slipped into place. I was using some flat pliers that I thought would be gentle on the boot. Well... it was a little too gentle and as I pulled on the boot, it slipped off and smacked me right above my left eye. Put about a 2cm gash.
A quick trip to the ER and 5 stitches later, I was back in business. This time I use some of those interior panel pry bars, and hoooked the booth and pulled it into place. WOrked like a charm!
Then I spent the rest of the day getting the oil cooler cleaned up and re-installed. Front harness, then the power steering and alternator after that. Doesn't sound like much, but all these things take time.
Yesterday, I got the rest of the front end together and filled it up with fluids. I'm using Rotella T 15-40 for break-in oil. It has high ZDDP and should be fine for initial wear-in. After the first few hundred miles, I'll change over to Mobil 1.
Finally at about 9PM last night I was ready to turn it over to circulate the oil. I left the injectors unplugged so it would not fire. This also allowed me to check for fuel leaks before going crazy.
I turned the key and nothing... WTF? Then I realized I had forgotten the engine ground strap. After I got that installed, I also gave the car a jump with my old honda, so I wouldn't wear down my battery so much. I cranked it for about 30 seconds until I started seeing some oil pressure.
BUt I could smell fuel.
The main feed line where it transitions to rubber, was dripping a little, but also at the first (front) damper where it comes in from the bottom was leaking too. I remember this was the one I had forgotten to snug up when I set Tim Murphy's car on fire - that's a long story.
I snugged them up, tried it again, saw oil pressure much sooner this time (1bar) and no fuel leaks. SO now it was time to light the candle. But it was 10:30 and the wife was already in bed. Meh.... whatever.
I plugged the injectors back in and double checked everything that I could think of. I turned the key and RRRRrrrrRRRRrrrrRRRRrrrr bap bap ba ba bbbbvrrrrrrrr... BAP! Hmmmm... one more time.
RRRRrrrrRRRRrrrrrRRRRrrr ... it fired up but was not running smoothly. Then it went into 4-cyl mode with the green light on the IMS relay. I figured, I must have mis-wired a couple plugs or something.
I double checked all the wire, and they seem to be right. I checked the coils and they seem good too. So I tried it again, and still only 4 cyl.
So that's where I'm at. It runs, just not well. I'm about to go out and see if maybe the plugs got wet or something like that or if it's a bigger issue.
The good news is no funky noises - so far. WIll report later today on progress.
Well it now runs. Had Cyl 2&3 mixed up. Now everything runs smoothly. However, after a few min, it goes into 4-cyl mode and I cannot see a light on the IMS relay. ???
I think I'll build an IMS relay jumper and see if I can trace it. But i'm done for today. Man, I'm beat!
Please get in the habit of jumping the fuel pump relay to test for fuel leaks before trying to start the car! Would hate to hear your car caught fire! Can just yank the bridge out of the adjacent relay socket and use that on a 5-spd
Please get in the habit of jumping the fuel pump relay to test for fuel leaks before trying to start the car! Would hate to hear your car caught fire! Can just yank the bridge out of the adjacent relay socket and use that on a 5-spd
I purposely cranked it with the injectors UNPLUGGED. This way it could not fire up. It was a way to kill 2 birds with 1 stone, but yes, I 100% agree that one should always test the fuel system before starting after the fuel system has been opened. A car fire would suck!
First, I noticed I had forgotten to install the coil ground wires. SO I did that and there was no change. Then I finally saw the green LED. That means the passenger side EGT probe (Cyl 3) is triggering the system. I got under the car and I saw the probe had come loose. I probably never tightened it. In this case, with my headers, a crow's foot is very useful. I spun it in and snugged it down.
Hoping this had cured my ails, I fired it up and started driving around the block. About 30 seconds into the drive 4-cyl again, but this time it was the red light. I looked at the driver side, snugged the EGT probe just to be sure, checked the harness connection, and everything seems to be fine.
I'm sure it's a false positive, but it pisses me off. Oh well... done for now. I have the relay defeat on order. Will stick that in and never think about it again.
02-20-2016, 10:05 AM
After I got that installed, I also gave the car a jump with my old honda, so I wouldn't wear down my battery so much. I cranked it for about 30 seconds until I started seeing some oil pressure.
