Liesel

Houston, we have smog!!

noreply@blogger.com (Kaushik) — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 06:20:00 +0000

It turned out that the fix consisting of plugging the loose injector connector didn't quite do the trick. The emission values got a lot better, but alas, still no cigar... The car failed a *second* time.

Well, I had repaired all I knew to repair and replaced all I knew to replace. It was time for drastic measures. On Ireland Engineering's recommendation, I called John at European Motor Works in Arcadia and told him of the problem.

It turned out that the catalytic converter had decided to take a permanent leave of absence and was the main culprit in causing excessively high NOx emissions. About $520.- later, the car is now sporting a shiny new cat, a new intake boot AND... yes! A shiny white sheet of paper with the word "PASS" written all over it! Talk about taking a BIG load off my mind!!

Hopefully, over the coming holidays, I'll get the detonation problem taken care of. I've been given some instructions, hopefully they'll do the trick...

A New Hope (I hope!!)

noreply@blogger.com (Kaushik) — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 07:24:00 +0000

Needless to say I was worried and depressed after the disastrous results at the Smog Test station. But the words of the ever-reliable Jeff and Jeremy at Ireland Engineering gave me something to hope for.

I figured I'd approach the problem systematically. First of all I already knew that number one connector on the distributor cap was cracked, an accident during re-assembly of the engine. Could that be the culprit? At this point, anything was suspect. Having placed a distributor cap on order at BMA Auto Parts, I figured I'd double-check the electrical connections, always a big suspect.

Went through the plug wires, ignition coil, everything seemed tight. Multi-connector for the fuel injector wires, tight as well. Things were getting desperate, I was running out of stuff I could push and prod on.

One of the few things remaining was the wiring rail for the fuel injectors, which has connectors that the injectors themselves plug into for power. I started pushing on them to make sure they were tightly seated. One by one, they passed the test: one, two three, four, until on number six...

SNAP!

Yup, mister number six injector connector hadn't been snapped into place on the injector, it had just been sitting on top! With a trembling hand, I thought I'd give it a shot and fired up the motor.

The difference has been INCREDIBLE! I thought I had a more powerful motor before, but that day a few weeks ago, I first came to realize what a beast this is!! The drive to and from work has been nothing short of a thrill ride since then!

The motor has been running silky smooth and accelerates with no hesitation or lag. As the title says, I am now really hopeful that the car will pass smog with no problems this time around. But, just to be on the paranoid side, I'll dial the fuel pressure back down to 3.0 bar (about 44 PSI). It is currently set to just over 3.8 bar (56 PSI) to compensate for a pinging issue. More on that later though. I really hope she passes this time!!

No luck with Smog... (yet)

noreply@blogger.com (Kaushik) — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 04:55:00 +0000

Well bad news... Went to smog, the car failed miserably, with emission values way above gross polluter levels...

The smog tech pointed out, however, that the engine seems to be running quite rough and is probably consistently misfiring. He pointed out that if the misfire / rough running were eliminated, things would look very different.

I've spoken to Ireland Engineering, they also seem to believe that values that far off indicated a significant problem of some kind. So I'm hopeful that I'll find something that'll be a magic silver bullet... More to come...

The next chapter begins...

noreply@blogger.com (Kaushik) — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 08:22:00 +0000

So far so good! No incidents, everything going well! Just today, I did the first recommended break-in service, consisting of an oil and filter change and a valve clearance adjustment. This was right at 750 miles on the new engine.

Everything looked shiny and really smooth when I took the valve cover off, so it seems the break-in process is going well! The valve adjustment went well, it seemed most of the valves were actually a hair on the tight side.

Fresh oil and filter are on, along with a new valve cover gasket and shiny new valve cover nuts! Next oil change is scheduled in another 1500 miles, another part of the break-in process. Before then however, there is a major hurdle to be overcome: SMOG!! I want to get that done once the engine has about 1500 or so miles on it. Hope it goes well!

Houston, we have lift-off!!

noreply@blogger.com (Kaushik) — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 05:23:00 +0000

Great news!! The motor's oil pump priming went well, although it took while to build oil pressure, which had me on my toes the whole time...

Then it was finally time to put the spark plugs back in and try and fire it up... And it worked!!! The engine fired up perfectly and ran smoothly the whole time I had it on, which was for about an hour. Initially, the ECU had a little trouble holding idle, but that got fixed quite soon.

After that successful test, I finally took the old girl out for a drive, after more than a year! The first outing went well, so now I'm using her as my daily driver! The ride to and from work has never been more fun!!

Stay tuned, the show's far from over! I'm just starting to break her in! :-)

Update...

noreply@blogger.com (Kaushik) — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 20:44:00 +0000

Just thought I'd post an update, it's a been a while... The engine issues are all taken care of, thanks to JMS Engines! In the past few weeks I've reassembled the engine for the SECOND time, now it's complete and back in the car with the transmission attached.

The powertrain is now completely assembled and the heat shields are in place, as is the center support crossmember. The exhaust is also completely hung, although not all tightened up.

Not too much work remains to be done, just the devilish details! :-) Let's see now, this is what I can remember that's left to do:

Tighten exhaust system
Attach clutch slave cylinder (this will complete the rear section of the car)
Attach steering pump and hydraulic hoses
Attach A/C compressor
Attach oil cooler and oil cooler hoses
Attach radiator and main coolant hoses
Connect all coolant lines around engine
Attach multi-connector for fuel injectors
Attach and secure dipstick feed pipe
Attach idle control valve
Attach air filter and intake boot
Attach fuel lines to injector rail (in and out) and to charcoal canister
Attach fuel line retainer to cable rail under intake manifold
Attach throttle body cable assembly
Attach all electronics multi-connectors
Attach engine grounding strap
Attach cable harness to firewall
Install spark plugs and ignition wires, connect ignition coil
Attach Oxygen sensor, connect cable
Install oil filter
Attach connector for cooling fan to radiator
Connect oil pressure sensor cable
Fill coolant
Fill power steering fluid
Fill motor oil and additive (to break in the cam)
Oh, and, once testing is completed, attach the hood! :-)

Wow, that's still a big list... Although I suppose a lot of stuff on that list is small... Stay tuned if you wish, I'll keep posting as I work through it...

Long time, lots of news...

noreply@blogger.com (Kaushik) — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 04:04:00 +0000

Not all of it good, I'm sorry to say...

So it turns out (surprise surprise!) I wasn't as far along as I thought. It turned out that the engine being extremely difficult to turn after assembly was NOT normal (I had kinda figured). At this point, my conjecture is that I probably swapped at least one if not more of the caps around on the rods.

However, it also turned out that I was given the wrong torque spec for the rod bolts. I actually had no idea until, working with Jeremy at Ireland Engineering, we decided that the best thing to do would be to have JMS Engines re-check all the machine work. They were the ones who discovered that not only had the bolts been overstretched, but also, one of them had snapped inside a rod!

Yes, it was a big step back to dismantle the whole engine again, but at least I saved most of the parts from severe damage by not trying to fire up that engine! The folks at JMS and Ireland Engineering have been really great about helping me out. Specially Ireland went above and beyond their call of duty in this case and provided me with lots of additional parts! Can't say enough good things about these guys!

At this point, I decided that it would be best to have JMS assemble the short block for me. I got the assembled short block back last Friday and on Saturday I started putting the engine back together again. I turned the crank a little after getting it back, it turned with minimal resistance, so that's a big part of the worry off my list!

I now have the oil filter carrier back on, as well as the front seal carrier, which houses both the front crank seal and the intermediate shaft seal. JMS was kind enough to actually seal and install the rear seal carrier for me, which was really nice of them! Next up, water pump, then probably the oil pump!

Getting close!

noreply@blogger.com (Kaushik) — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 01:33:00 +0000

Got the rocker arms installed on the shafts with retainers and all. It took a while, but finally als0 got the valve clearances adjusted! Hit a snag when I found out that the torx bolt that holds the main cam sprocket to the cam was rounded off, so I had to order a new one.

After I got the valve clearances adjusted and the cam sprocket nice and torqued up, I made sure that the notch on the sprocket was correctly aligned to the notch on the head with the valves on cylinder 1 set to fully closed, i.e. compression stroke on cylinder 1.

Finally, it was time to install the head gasket and install the head itself. Got that done, simple enough. I had also ordered a set of wave washers for the water pump so, one at a time, I unbolted the fastening bolts and added washers.

With all that done, it was time to put on the timing belt (before putting the head on, I had made sure that the notch on the harmonic balancer on the crank was aligned to the notch on the lower timing cover). Timing belt tensioner is on and tight and the valve cover is even laid on!

Could not install the valve cover for now, because the ignition wire cover gets bolted to the same studs that the valve cover is secured with, and my existing wire cover is broken. So I went ahead and ordered the cover, as well as a couple of washers that were missing. Hopefully, that will enable to me to completely put the engine together! Not much longer now!!

Lots of progress!

noreply@blogger.com (Kaushik) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 05:37:00 +0000

Lots of progress over the past few weekends! Got the crank installed, main bearing cap bolts and connecting rod bolts all nice and torqued up! Took a while to get the connecting rod bolts done, since I decided to pre-stretch the bolts by making multiple passes tightening them to 47 ft-lbs (10 below the recommended torque) before finally tightening them to the recommended 57 ft-lbs.

Also got both the front and rear main seals installed, as well as the intermediate shaft (and its seal), oil pump drive shaft and the oil pump. With all that done, the oil pan could finally be mounted back on. That was a big step! Finally, I have turned the engine right side up on the stand permanently!

Today, I finished putting on the shiny new rocker arm shafts and rocker arms on the cylinder head, which brings the project a BIG step closer to completion! The rocker arms are not positioned yet, they're just floating on the rocker arms for now. I should be able to finish that up next time I work on it. After that, it should be much less difficult stuff left to do to finish putting the engine together! I'm a little scared but also very excited! More soon!

Freeze plugs are installed!

noreply@blogger.com (Kaushik) — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 06:07:00 +0000

Go figure... I learned that freeze plugs are actually not freeze plugs at all! They are actually covers for holes that exist on both sides of the block. These holes are used to remove sand or other "padding" material that is used during the casting process when the block is manufactured.

The plugs are actually WAY too tight for them to pop out if the coolant actually ever freezes. Supposedly, there have been hundreds of cases where the block has cracked from the force exerted by the coolant expanding when it froze, while the so-called "freeze plugs" remained firmly installed. Live and learn...

Oh and the obvious: I got the not-freeze-plugs successfully installed!

Next lesson: seals!!

Pistons are finally hung!

noreply@blogger.com (Kaushik) — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 02:28:00 +0000

Does that sound dirty? Eh who cares?? I finally got all the shiny (they actually are!) pistons inserted into the block! It was VERY messy (the instructions called for the use of a "lot of oil") and I cut my hand in several places (darn piston ring compressor has sharp edges!), BUT I'm pretty sure I got all of them in without scratching either the bores or the pistons, so there's at least that!

However, I did find that during the machine work, the freeze plugs were removed, which was unexpected... Here's hoping there's a way to get the new ones back in without some sort of expensive hydraulic device that I don't have stashed in my garage! ;-)

Correct bearings are in the house!

noreply@blogger.com (Kaushik) — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 07:28:00 +0000

We couldn't make the Pasadena trip last weekend, so Ireland Engineering was gracious enough to send me the correct bearings via UPS. Hopefully I'll get to do quite a bit of work over the holidays and make some good progress on the engine.

Until then, we're off to San Francisco for an extended weekend road trip! Happy Holidays everyone!!

Wrong main bearings

noreply@blogger.com (Kaushik) — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 05:22:00 +0000

Wouldn't you know! I get the complete stroker kit, all nicely done up together and it turns out that the main bearings are for the older model engine block... Oh well, stuff happens I suppose! I'm off to L.A. this weekend to pick up the replacement set and return the one I have. The rest of the stuff should be ok...

My engine is back!!

noreply@blogger.com (Kaushik) — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 02:14:00 +0000

Couple of weeks ago, actually. JMS said it was ready so I went and picked everything up, now the block and the crank are sitting back in my garage, wrapped up nice and cozy in heavy-duty engine bags, waiting to be put back together.

Currently, I have started work on the cylinder head, taking the rocker shafts and rocker arms off so, eventually, I can take the camshaft out and replace it with the shiny new Schrick camshaft I got months ago :-) And so the saga continues...

Quick update

noreply@blogger.com (Kaushik) — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 05:15:00 +0000

Called JMS Engines today, got some good news! Seems that the price of the machine work should be around $550.- instead of the original estimate of $700.- I also heard that they should have the engine done by this week or early next week! I can hardly wait!

The Die is Cast!

noreply@blogger.com (Kaushik) — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 05:23:00 +0000

It is done! I dropped the block off at JMS Racing Engines in El Monte last Friday! They said it would take around two to three weeks to get the job done, but I'm expecting to hear from them before then with a more precise estimate (currently they have said max is around $700.-). Hope it's less! I'm looking forward to a shiny new engine block with perfectly fitted parts!

Off to the machine shop!!

noreply@blogger.com (Kaushik) — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 06:08:00 +0000

The day is finally here! Tomorrow morning the block is off to JMS Racing Engines for the cleaning / boring / honing job! The job is supposed to take about two weeks, during which I'll have plenty to do with installing the new cam and acquiring various replacement parts. Here's hoping I keep it all together, or rather, that I get the motor back together!

More progress!

noreply@blogger.com (Kaushik) — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 05:18:00 +0000

Good news! Finally got those pesky pressure plate bolts off, thanks to a vise grip and a blow torch! Had to warm up the flywheel around each bolt, one at a time, that was NOT fun...

The pressure plate assembly and flywheel are now off and the engine is on the stand. Today, I got a 32mm bicycle head wrench and got the fan clutch off the water pump pulley as well. So disassembly is going well, I'm happy to say! Stay tuned, more to come!

Engine is out!!

noreply@blogger.com (Kaushik) — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 05:06:00 +0000

Today I managed to hoist the engine out of the car, that's a big step toward getting stuff done. I was hoping to put the engine on the stand, but ran into a snag... It appears that the torx bolts that hold the pressure plate on to the flywheel are stripped, and unless the pressure plate is taken off, the stand won't bolt to the back of the engine...

But that, literally is a story for another day (hopefully one where I've figured out how to get said stripped bolts off! ;-) )

Houston, we have a transmission!

noreply@blogger.com (Kaushik) — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 04:46:00 +0000

Yes, putting a lot of my apprehension to rest, the transmission came out quite easily this afternoon! After a brief celebration with a bottle of water, I immediately proceeded to drain the coolant and the engine oil in preparation of engine removal. On a related note, the 2.9 L stroker kit is on order, I already got a call from Ireland Engineering saying the kit is ready for pickup. That's gonna happen this coming weekend! Exciting stuff!

The engine is now almost ready to be hoisted out. The air intake boot is detached from the air flow meter, the idle control valve is disconnected, as is the vacuum intake line from the brake booster. I've also taken 0ff the nuts holding the engine mounts to the mount points. Also disconnected are the the input and output lines of the steering pump. Next time I work on her, I'm hoping to have the engine out! More to come!!

Let the surgery mayhem begin!!

noreply@blogger.com (Kaushik) — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 17:35:00 +0000

The long-awaited phase is finally here! I have finally started my engine rebuild project. I started a couple of weeks ago, taking a load of stuff off before I can get to the engine, that's been going well. Got the oxygen sensor off, then came the exhaust in two sections. Finally, I unbolted the drive shaft from the transmission so I can take the transmission off, then the engine can FINALLY come off!

In the meantime, I'm off to Scotland for 10 days, so work will be suspended for that time, but I'll jump right back in as soon as I'm back! Bye for now!

Big news!!

noreply@blogger.com (Kaushik) — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 06:58:00 +0000

It's been way too long since I posted anything. But, since there is finally some actual news to write about, I figured I'd post. We are on the move! That's right, I am starting a new job in San Diego on December 4th and will be moving down there permanently shortly thereafter. Of course, my dear Liesel will be coming down there with us when we move down. So, very soon, it will "San Diego, here I come!"

As far as car news goes, not much going on unfortunately. Still trying to get to the bottom of the general "sluggish engine syndrome". I'm going to be replacing the front side markers (the rears are already done), I just got those. Yes, I realize that doesn't do much for a sluggish engine, but hey, SOME beautification is allowed! :-) Next step (sluggish-engine-wise) is to hook up a fuel pressure gauge and start trouble-shooting it from that end. More to come!

One thing after another...

noreply@blogger.com (Kaushik) — Sat, 20 May 2006 22:42:00 +0000

She's now all done, bolted back up and yes, I did get oil pressure back! But then I noticed that the temperature goes way high. Turns out that the fuse on the low-speed circuit of the electric cooling fan was blown. This happened before and the cause was a shorted fan which costed me $300.- to replace. I replaced the fuse when I was working on her last time, but then realized that the battery was all down and it was too late to try it with jump-starting and all that anymore. I'm hoping to have some sort of resolution the next time I work on her...

Bad news...

noreply@blogger.com (Kaushik) — Wed, 03 May 2006 05:40:00 +0000

The title says it all. The other week I was driving home from work, everything was hunkey-dorey. I was almost home, only about a mile away when BAM! just as I was coming to a stop at a traffic light, the oil pressure light came on! I killed the engine the moment I saw it, then had the car towed home (for free, thanks to AAA!).

A couple of weeks and a bunch of research later, I now have the next big (involuntary!) project on my hands, this is the best I came up with short of pulling the whole darn engine out and rebuilding it (which is something I'm trying to put away until next year):

Replace oil pressure sending unit
Replace oil pump
Replace oil pump driveshaft
Replace connecting rod bearings
Replace oil pan gasket (one-time use)
Replace connecting rod bolts (one-time use)
Replace oil and filter
Replace rubber gasket on transmission bell housing reinforcement

I'm partly done with this now, I have the bearings in, all torqued up with the new bolts and ready to go. I used Plastigage® to gauge each bearing and was greatly relieved to see that pretty much all the clearances were similar at about 0.038mm, all well within the factory tolerance of 0.030 - 0.070mm. The old bearings are in terrible shape, I'll post some pictures once I take some. The oil pressure sending unit is installed and connected as well. So next time I work on her, I'll be putting in the oil pump and its new shaft, the new oil pan gasket and putting the oil pan back in. After that, it's just crank her over and hope the oil pressure builds again... Stay tuned!

Upgrades and repairs

noreply@blogger.com (Kaushik) — Tue, 11 Apr 2006 05:28:00 +0000

Ok, so it's officially been too long since my last update. What better occassion though, to restart posting, than with some news of repairs and upgrades!

Over the past three weeks, Liesel has seen the following repairs / upgrades:

Complete front brake service including full caliper rebuild, new front rubber brake hoses, new rotors and Hawk® HP Plus brake pads

Replaced engine mounts (stock)

Replaced transmission fill plug with new type

A shiny, rebuit, low ratio 4.10:1 limited slip differential (costed me only $200!)

I just drove the car for a couple of days now, it feels a *lot* spiffier, although the first gear is now really short. I'm hoping that's just a matter of getting used to the new way.

As far as the brakes go, Hawk comes through yet again, I just can't say enough good things about these pads! I'm never buying anything else again!

Stay tuned, more coming soon! I'll probably be tackling a speaker install and wiring next!