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Post by boggissimo on Jun 4, 2024 13:47:20 GMT
I am deliberately using an older laptop because the tuning software is basically 20 years old and so is the ECU design...but a new cable has worked! Started up, checked and adjusted the timing to match the physical reality, and went for a drive :-) Need to work out why Tunerstudio isn't reading the AFR from the wideband.
Also popped in for a chat with one of the chaps from the Morgan garage down the road about the oil burning. He's never tried using solvents/snake oil to release stuck piston rings, and agreed that it's best to try the simpler things first and see if they help - check if there are blockages/malfunctions in the crankcase ventilation system, replace the valve stem seals, and if neither of those work then chuck the spare engine in!
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Post by boggissimo on Jun 11, 2024 14:55:35 GMT
Did a bit more fiddling with the ECU stuff. The AFR gauge/controller was reading the AFR, but it wasn't showing up in Tunerstudio. No AFR reading means no point trying to improve the tune, so I swapped the AEM gauge for a Spartan 2 wideband controller, in case the gauge was duff (as atlex keeps telling me it is). Didn't get an AFR signal from that either, so I emailed the chap who makes the ECUs at EFIextra, and he said I should use the 'options' plug to give the lambda signal to the ECU and make the signal ground at the ECU too. Spent some time rerouting wires etc last night and fired it up, and the AFR signal is there in Tunerstudio now :-) Will see what I can tweak to improve the map before a sprint on Sunday!
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Post by boggissimo on Sept 18, 2024 16:20:15 GMT
Most of my updates over the summer have been in the 'What have you done...' thread, so just putting them together here for posterity. 2 Jul 2024 Started trying to free up the piston rings with solvent, a la atlex. Got 5 litres of paint thinners (mostly toluene) and have chucked a couple of ~200ml doses through already, cylinder 3 it all went through in 10 minutes, so that's my main suspect at the moment - the others were all slower to drain through, suggesting the rings are sealing better in 1, 2 and 4.
22 Jul 2024 I chucked a few litres of thinners through the cylinders, including a bit of air pressure to help it squeeze past, and it seems to have improved slightly but it's still bad. I thrashed it at a sprint over the weekend and it was like the red arrows leaving a smoke trail. It smokes most at startup after sitting, and then on full throttle, doesn't puff out on deceleration and isn't really visible at idle after the initial oil has blown out. I really don't think bad valve stem seals would flow enough oil to make that amount of smoke at full throttle, so think it must be the oil control rings.
I have heard that it is possible to get the sump off with the engine still in the car if you drop the gearbox, anyone done this? A couple of weeks working on my back under the car doesn't sound great. I don't see that it would be any better of a job to pull the gearbox back, drop the sump and get the rotating assembly out from underneath than it would be just to take the engine out altogether, which means I might as well sort out and fit the spare engine instead.
Obvs it's an unknown used engine so might have its own issues, hence I will probably start rebuilding it will some clean and fresh bits. The spare one is an NB 1.6 so has a few differences but I'm planning to just pretend it's an NA and swap in the inlet camshaft with the CAS notch. Any other things I should look out for with the NB into NA 1.6 swap? 6 Aug 2024 After the weekend at Gurston Down, where everyone kept asking if I was pretending to be James Bond with a smokescreen, I've decided I should stop faffing and get the spare NB 1.6 engine in. I've ordered parts for doing the cam belt etc and will start taking it apart later. Only have this week and weekend, plus the first week of September to do it as I'm entered for the Hethel sprint on 8 Sept...
7 Aug 2024 Stripped off the intake/exhaust, timing covers and miscellaneous wiring connections I won't need in the NA car. Front main seal looks good, a bit oily round the back, but will clean it up and see whether it's come from above or below. Going to take the sump off and fit an oil baffle thing, and check out the rotating assembly while I'm there. Will probably also take the head off and do the valve stem seals, to avoid any future issues.
Failed to get the pulley off the front of the alternator to go with all flat belts, is there a way to stop it from rotating while you undo the big front bolt? 9 Aug 2024 More oily work, got the sump off and it all looks OK (coated in treacle but no metal bits), won the fight with the rear main seal and replaced it last night.
The pistons are predictably carbonised, will be taking them out and checking them over properly in case there are any ring issues, and also checking the main bearings. Then start cleaning and putting the bottom end back together. I don't really want to replace much unless it's too worn to re-use, as it's not going to be a big power build or anything, just a sound engine to play with. 2 Sep 2024 I've pulled out of the Hethel sprint in order to focus on rebuilding the spare engine and trying to get it fitted before going to Llandow and Pembrey on 14/15 Sept. Before I went away I stripped off the head, took the sump off and pulled out the crank and pistons. All looks pretty good in there, no major wear and the bores look OK too. Will clean it up, fit new bearing shells and put it back together! 10 Sep 2024 I got the bottom end back together over the weekend, fitted it and sealed up the sump. Then I did the valve stem seals on the head (the worst job, those little batsrad collets just have a mind of their own)...and came back to the garage the next day to find two new seals still in the packet, so had to do that pair again The NB intake cam doesn't have the notch at the back for the NA CAS, so I took the NA cam off the car and fitted it last night. Then one of the cam cap bolts snapped, which gave me half an hour of worry but I managed to drill enough of it to accept one of those bolt remover things and it unscrewed OK. Took the thermostat neck blanking plate off the engine in the car and then had a frustrating time fitting/refitting/fitting the timing cover under the cam pulleys along with the new water pump, then got all the timing stuff together. I'm using the NA crank pulley setup so that I can keep the NA alternator and power steering setup as that's what the wiring in the car is setup for. I set the crank pulley to the correct torque with one of the Jass locking plate things, and when I took it off the little dowel/lug from the outer pulley fell off, so will have to scavenge one off the other dead engine later. Then will start pulling the smoky engine out tonight! 16 Sep 2024 Well I was out in the garage every night last week trying to get the swap done in time to go to Wales for the weekend, which ultimately ended in failure. I finished up the main bits on the spare engine on Weds and then set about taking the oily one out. Thought it would be easiest to take the head off the one in the car and lift it out along with the intake manifold, as that is a real pain to access and undo while on the car. Once that was out I transferred the coolant reroute bits to the new head, which didn't turn out to be that hard. Then I undid most of the bellhousing bolts and starter motor, put the head back on and lifted the engine out.
I took off the (real) oil pressure sender and put it on the NB block (the NB only has a switch that warns of low pressure, not a proper reading), which meant removing the knock sensor from the NB. I might put the knock sensor back later but it couldn't stay where it was as the oil pressure sender is quite fat. Also moved the NB engine off the engine stand so I could fit the clutch and lightened flywheel (from Skidnation here) - the new flywheel is 4.9 kg but didn't feel much lighter than the stock 1.6 flywheel to me. This is the same size as on the 1.8 so maybe the OEM 1.8 is heavier than the 1.6, and then a lightened 1.8 flywheel might be similar to the OEM 1.6? Then it was ready to go in the car. I have limited garage space and the engine crane doesn't have quite a long enough arm to drop it directly down into place, so I have to tilt it down at the back and get it to slide in while it gently descends into the hole. Getting the engine mounts to go into the holes in the body while lining up correctly with the gearbox is a bit tricky, and it took a fair bit of grunting and moving things up/down to get it all in properly. Before getting carried away I put the car in gear and checked that turning the engine turned the wheels, and then started doing up the bellhousing bolts etc. Once I'd refitted the exhaust and intake, the CAS and all the hoses and cables, it was late on Friday night. I reconnected the battery and started it up, and it sounded like a tractor, with exhaust gases shooting out from behind the manifold! Did it up tighter, still the same. Then I took the manifold off and realised I had trapped the bracket for the coolant pipe behind the manifold, it should hook over the bolt after the manifold is put on there. Dangers of working too late in the garage! After that it sounded more normal and started and ran up to temperature OK. Given the trouble I had last time I swapped the engine, I thought I'd check the gearbox/clutch was all working while all four wheels were off the ground. The clutch pedal felt quite stiff with more resistance than I had before, and I hoped that was because of the new clutch....but it wasn't. It won't go into gear easily from neutral, and the wheels still turn with the car in gear and pedal fully down, so the clutch is basically not doing anything. I went to bed and tried bleeding the clutch first thing Saturday, but it didn't make any difference, so I called off the trip to Wales and took a break to enjoy some bonus family time instead, plus a few beers. Already started prepping the NB gearbox to go in, and to drop the NA box out - it has always been tricky to shift quickly from 2nd to 3rd when trying to go fast on track, so maybe this spare one will be better.
Next time I change an engine, I'll get the gearbox attached outside the car and put the whole lot in together!
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Post by boggissimo on Sept 19, 2024 12:31:28 GMT
Back at it Tues/Weds nights to get the gearbox out. Undid the last of the bellhousing bolts, got the prop shaft off, undid the PPF front bolts, took out the exhaust (again) and the heatshield in the transmission tunnel.
The metal plate between the engine and gearbox had got chewed up so I also had to take the clutch and flywheel off to replace it with a cleaned up one off my original dead engine. There was a huge amount of oil behind it, presumably from the rear main seal, which might have been why that engine was starved of oil and seized (still haven't taken it apart to find out!). Will fit a new rear oil seal to the spare NB box tonight and clean it up a bit, then try putting it back in. Not looking forward to that!
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