so how is the car so far dude?

Good timing, I was just getting ready to post some pics. The car has sat in a garage for many many months and I haven't had time to give the car the buff and wax it deserves. I did have time to take the car through a car wash over my lunch break.

Here is a pictorial. I've got Tein springs on it with Tokico Illuminas. I need to replace two of the tires. I'd love to put new rims on it, but I just can't part with the 12lb OEMs.

Top will need replaced, but that's low on my list right now.
http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...78246923_n.jpg

Not a very good pic, but you get the idea
http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-...80152442_n.jpg

Havne't had the hangers bent yet.
http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...10740820_n.jpg

http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-...56527416_n.jpg

140amp modified alternator I got off of eBay...nice find for $145 and a one year warranty. That allowed me to loose the FD alternator. I hated using that thing. It didn't fit under my TMIC. The padding under the TMIC is me trying to dampen rattling of the FD alt on the TMIC...just haven't removed it yet.
http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...14504194_n.jpg

Turbo blanket fit on just fine. It did get beat up replacing exhaust gaskets...but it's an engine, it's to be expected.
http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...57387503_n.jpg

Taurus e-fan. I've got the relay mounted under the radiator panel and am only using low speed on it. What I may do come summer time is wire my manual switch into high speed.
http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...99467139_n.jpg

Mechanical updates:

I'm driving the car daily and it has just about 300 miles on it. It never misses when turning over, though it will stall some until it's warmed up. Hopefully that falls away during break in and warmer weather coming. My understanding is that stalling and flooding are normal during break in. I've got the MBC set to zero boost.

I can't figure out the pooty exhaust and it's really bothering me. I took it to the shop so they could put it on the lift and check for leaks and they found none. I also had them bleed the breaks, hoping they could get some air out that I wasn't able to. They gave it back to me with no charge and the owner called me a few days later to ask if the brakes were any better. He said they got some air out of the rear brakes but not a lot. They are still softer than they used to be. I drove my fathers n/a vert the other day as a comparison and his are noticeably stronger. I"m thinking maybe the brake booster?

The OEM volt meter has been showing overcharging by a little bit. The n/a engine was doing the same thing before the swap and I was hoping new drivetrain would fix the problem. It did not. I replaced the alternator with a modded 140amp S5 alternator. It's been on for about a week now. It helps greatly with the Taurus fan.

BUT I have a whole assortment of electrical problems:

1. OEM gauge is still showing some overcharging
2. lights are dimming and brightening with RPMs
3. My rear defroster is working sporadically. Most times the button indicator does not illuminate and it never comes on. BUT sometimes it will come on just fine.
4. Greddy boost gauge mysteriously stopped reading. It illuminates fine, but never reads anythign but zero. Just to be clear, it's not showing vacuum either...doesn't even go through opening ceremony. I checked the wiring. I tried ground directly to the battery and no change.
5. My Prosport pressure gauge has never worked and acts identically to how the Greddy is now. It will illuminate but never shows any reading other than zero. The Prosport will go through opening ceremony but stays pegged at zero afterwards.
6. Previous to the swap the dome light was most often not working... that is still the case.
7. One very strange thing happened. I plugged my phone car charger in..just the USB adapter with nothing plugged in. Engine wasn't running, I don't think the keys were even in the ignition. When I plug it in my car gave an electrical beep. I take it out and plug it back in and it beeps again. I'm watching the idiot cluster and my alarm indicator starts blinking and my OEM alarm goes off. I have a new CPU from Mazdatrix so I doubt it's that.

I haven't decided what to do about the electrical problems yet. I'm thinking I'm going to replace all the battery wiring with new. In my previous turbo swap I had a decent sized stereo and associated upgraded wiring that was run parallel to OEM wiring. In this case I'm very tempted to simply remove the battery ground through to the starter/engine and replace with great big ground. Also I'd like to replace the + battery to B terminal on the alternator and the + battery terminal to main fuse box in engine compartment. Essentially replace the OEM wiring with Big 3 upgraded wiring.

That won't solve most of the electrical problems I listed, but it's a starting point and something I'd like to do in prep for putting more stereo equipment. I assume the electrical problems is simply going to be checking grounds and looking for shorts....which I know NOTHING about.

Other than the electrical list and the pooty exhaust I have no complaints. My fears of coolant seal leak I think are simple paranoia. I'm not loosing any coolant...so far.

I'll post some about the body panels being painted a little later or tomorrow....gotta leave to meet the paint guy and get an estimate.

Updates

I FOUND MY IDLE/EXHAUST PROBLEM!!!! It was a combination of fouled plugs on the front rotor and my spark plug wire on the front leading plug was seemingly sitting prettly loose on the plug.

I was doing my 500 mile oil change tonight and figure I'd change the plugs too. I must have pulled the plug boot loose while running gauge, efan, and power cable for my stereo and alarm. It was on but not very well. The engine purred beautifully after changing the plugs.

I also believe I have worked out my efan problems. I've read that ATC fuses aren't the best and that fuse links are better because they aren't as susceptible to blowing during the initial current flow. My main fuse bank/distribution in the engine compartment has an open and unused spot. However the male spade on the bottom is much too wide for anything I could buy over the counter. I used my dremel to grind that spade down so it would fit an over the counter 10ga female spade. I had to cut that opening off of the harness because the spade would not insert into the harness. That work was done over the weekend and so far it's smooth sailing with the efan.

Still haven't done anything about paint. The next week is very busy between work and a family reunion. Hopefully next week I can schedule something with the paint guy. He said he'd need the parts for a week or so.

I'm having overheating issues with the engine. I'm using a Taurus efan and Starion thermoswitch in factory location on the back of the water pump housing. Starion switch IIRC is a 195 on and 185 off. I also have a manual on switch wired to cockpit of the car. Fan seems to be working perfectly. I have it wired directly into the main fuselink in the engine compartment on the low setting. I have it setup so that I can swap between to high setting by simply unplugging the low spade terminal and plugging in the high.

Here is what I've noticed so far with normal driving (not driving it hard as I'm still breaking in the engine). Temps will keeping rising and rising and when they start to pass 220 I'll pull the car over and either let it idle with the efan running and hood up or turn off the engine but let the efan run and every so often turn the engine on to cycle what is in the radiator back into the engine.

Here are the contributing factors I've tried to narrow down so far:

1. Put in a new thermostat and while doing that changed to a different used, but working water pump. (It was working fine last time I used it, can mechanical pumps fail?)
2. N/A hood was being used. While I've been driving to avoid boost as much as possible. The Hallman MBC is set to zero boost, but I need to watch how I'm driving. The OEM wastegate simply can't fully bypass. I thought that perhaps because the MBC was not allowing the engine to be in vacuum that it was contributing to heat. By that I mean it may be purging as much of the pressure as it can, it's also trying to keep pressure at zero. That perhaps rather than having vacuum having zero pressure is still pressurized compared to vacuum and thus creates heat. That theory was partially blown out of the water, I put a turbo hood on it yesterday hoping to see lower temps...and did not. (Before it is said, I'm using N/A hood until I get paint work done on the turbo hood and other parts. I keep thinking paint is going to happen and it hasn't yet.)

Other than obvious things where can I start looking for a cure?

1. Flushing radiator and cooling system. Should I flush the heater core seperately?
2. Testing the radiator cap. What pressure cap should a S5 13B T have?
3. Possibly a clogged oil cooler?
4. I have air pump removed and so far only a single belt alt pulley. I had a dual belt pulley with my last alt but usually only used one because of belt slipping. Never had issues with heating.

The engine parts and car did sit for almost a year while the rebuild happened. Is it possible I've got a clogged cooling system or oil cooler? I have both oil and water temp gauges and oil temps seem to be where they should be.

Is this something that just started to happen?
Was the system working fine prior to this?
Any changes to the cooling system?


Just to eliminate the obvious...
Is the fan pulling air in the correct direction?


Just a side note...
Any type of boost control is going to end up as a bleed-off system
This means that it's next to impossible to get the boost to "zero".
You can only adjust boost down to the base spring pressure - which is most cases is going to be about 7psi - 10psi on an FC turbo with an open exhaust.



Check to see if the radiator is OK:
Get engine warmed up and then check the entire area of the radiator core to see if heat is even; if there are localized spots that are cooler, you have a bad radiator (core).
Stock rated radiator cap is for about 0.9 bar or about 13psi.
I doubt the problem is with the oil system or the oil cooler - do you have an oil temp or oil pressure gauge?

Any reason you're not running double belts?
You really should be running two.
At low RPM's (under 3kRPM), the belt should not be slipping.
If the belt is slipping, it'll be obvious - you can see the pulley slip, and / or hear it slip.
You might also see a lot of excess black dust around the area of the pulleys where the belt is disintegrating.


-Ted

The heating issue has been going on since rebuild was completed. I've noticed it more because I have been driving it further distances...before the car would drive to get errands. Maybe 10 min drive tops with intervals as long as half hour between the next destination. I was having issues with the efan blowing fuses so I thought temps were related to the fan going out on me. Efan wiring has been corrected, it is working as it should..and pulling air through the radiator.

I've had it parked for about a month now. Not related to heat issues, but I sent my injectors off to be cleaned and have in general been tired of working on it....so it sat.

I'm going to try a yoohoo belt and see what that does for temps. I'm not sure if I have slipping or not. The engine does make a noise it did not previously...but doesn't really sound like belt slipping. I previously had an FD alt and dual pulley. I could never get a matched pair that actually matched...I know slipping sound and this isn't quite it. It's almost like a chirping noise...which could be mild slipping and might only effect things once it's NOT idling.

I do not see it slipping, or have any dust, etc.

Reason I don't have dual belts is because I just got the 140 amp S5 alt and have not sourced one yet. I know the obvious places to get them, BUT I'm wanting to get an overdrive pulley. Yes, overdrive. The modded alt only sees 14v when rpms are above 1k or so. I'd like to find a dual pulley a little bit smaller than stock. Just haven't had time to research and find one.

One factor I had not considered before my post. I had the pulleys powder coated. I would not be at all surprised if that is a factor in slipping. I have a yoohoo belt ordered from Napa. I have read the arguments for and against. My plan is to see if single belt is a factor with my problem. If I have to I'll get an OEM sized dual pulley, but like I said I'd prefer overdrive so charging at idle. I'll report back findings.

I'll also be buying a temp gun to test my radiator...see if I have even temps.

For the oil cooler and such. I do have both aftermarket temp and pressure gauges. The pressure gauge I bought used and I think they gave me the wrong sender. According to tech support the gauge is registering that it is not plugged into the sender...but it is. The craptastic OEM pressure gauge reads about normal and the same as pre-rebuild. Oil temps seem normal. They rise slower than water. I'm not sure numbers off the top of my head, but it never struck me as out of line. Next time I'm driving it I'll get some numbers for both.

lol... nice engine... looks very familiar...

http://www.diviniaro.com/files/car/IMAG0036.jpg

Reporting back:

Got a dual belt pulley on over the weekend and took the car for a drive tonight. Obviously it's much cooler tonight than it was Memorial weekend (100°). It took much much longer to heat up and was cooling down with the efan blowing at lights. BUT temps did get up to just below 220°.

Oil temps seemed about normal at 200° and pressure seemed normal at between like 30psi and 60psi.

1. I've checked my radiator hoses they aren't collapsing.
2. I did what I could to test for cold spots on the radiator but did not have time to take the undertray off and feel the front of the radiator. I simply stuck my hand between fan blades and felt with my fingers...all the spots I could check seemed the same temp.
3. The top passenger corner of the fan shroud does not sit snuggly at all. I can pull it off the radiator by about 1/3 of an inch. I'll resecure that, but I wouldn't think it would have that much of an effect.
4. I'll go through and put some foam around oil cooler, condensor and radiator...just to make sure.

One thing I'm curious about is my oil cooler. It seems like I have a pinhole somewhere in the oil cooler. I keep finding oil pooling up on the bottom of the radiator and in other strange places around the oil cooler. I had a failure on one of my oil cooler hoses on one of my first drives after rebuild. It created a fountain of oil. I had thought that oil on the bottom of the radiator was simply gravity from me not being able to get the oil cleaned up off of everything (ie: fan blades, fan shroud, etc). Reason I bring this up is I'm curious if I do have a pinhole and I am loosing hot oil..and it happens to be on the radiator fins...seems like that could cause the radiator to not cool as well. Any opinions on this would be greatly appreciated.

I had a similar problem with oil on the bottom of the radiator. It turned out to be that the crush washers weren't sealing. It only showed up when the oil pressure came up. The washers are supposed to be replaced any time you crack the hose loose.

Thanks for the heads up. I did not replace them when I replaced the leaking hose. I don't remember if I replaced them when I did my rebuild. New ones sounds like a good starting point.

You'll also want to be careful not to overtighten those banjo bolts on the cooler. If you do, the result is often a hairline crack in the oil cooler where the theaded hole is machined, which causes a leak.

Need some electrical advice.

Is it possible for my efan to be pulling air on low, but pushing air on high? It's a 3 wire taurus efan. I have not been using high setting until this past weekend. I noticed it tonight because I was testing my fans. I have a spare and was swapping the wiring on the car to test to see if my spare one also caused the my 40amp reseting circuit breaker to trip. It was not so I switched back to my mounted fan. I had the car idling and efan on highbwith a manual switch. I wanted to check my battery with my multitester to see what high was doing to my battery. I had air blowing out from the bumper grill onto my shins and feet. With the engine still running I swapped the wiring to the low and the fan direction changed directions.

I've been told this is not possible...but I saw it with my own eyes....felt it with my own shins.

If the fan is having to be dragged to a stop and reverse directions that would explain blowing a 40A circuit breaker. Check to see if in fact the fan blade is reversing direction from low to high. if so does the spare fan do this too? If it does, there is something going on with the way it's wired. If it doesn't there is something internal to the fan that is truly screwy.

Any DC motor only needs 2 teminals to run - a positive (+) and negitive (-). Reverse those two and the direction the motor spins changes. Based on what you're seeing, once verifed as Gunny suggests, your wiring must be switching polarity somehow.

Do you have a electrical schematic diagram of the Taurus fan motor assembly or can you draw one up from what you've got? Any relays and resistors in there? When it was installed in a Taurus, was the fan motor grounded to the car's body/engine, or was it a floating ground due to it being mounted on rubber isolators/plastic? We'll need this type of info to steer you in the right direction.

I don't have both high and low speeds setup on individual switches. I have both high and low with spade terminals and I switch them out. Was going to keep it that way temporarily...till I work out my issues. That being said, it wasn't switching from low to high. I manually/physically switch them. It's on high and while driving that on high the circuit breaker trips. I haven't been able to recreate the problem while idling and working on the car. BUT once it starts doing it (while driving) it will continue to do it while idling. I simply have not been able to get it to start doing it while idling.

Excellent point on the diagram. I do have one buried in this thread. I gotta head to work (half day on Sat. cause I took time off this week), but I'll post up the diagram once I get to work.

It can only be two things. Either my wiring is wrong ie: did not follow diagram correctly or the fan is faulty. My plan after work is to dig into my wiring.

It's just very odd that on one speed it spins correctly and on the other it doesn't. I'd think it would have to be consistent direction on both.

Here is the diagram

http://www.rotarycarclub.com/rotary_...1&d=1322020125

I have not added the idle up yet. It can only be one of two things. Either my wiring isn't following the diagram, or the fan is faulty.

(re: tripping 40A breaker) It sounds like a faulty fan to me. When under load something is overheating (board warpage?) and doesn't quit until it cools down enough. Just my WAG. I had a Ford ignition module do this to me once and it drove me crazy until I finally found it. It would test fine when cooled off. Wiring? on fan reversal.

Maybe I'm missing something from an earlier post. Your schematic diagram shows a 2 wire fan motor (just + and - terminals), but you also said it was a 3 wire Taurus fan. Where is the 3rd wire in this diagram, and is this motor grounded or does it have a floating ground?

Sounds like I might have assumed too much. I assumed difference between 2 wire and 3 wire Taurus fans was that 2 wire was 1 speed and 3 wire was 2 speed. I also assumed that for my 3 wire fan that I had one common ground and 2 different +. + for low and + for high. I assumed that the diagram was for either high or low, but not for both. I physically swap wires to go from high to low. I never have all 3 wires connected at one time. I also assumed the ground was common (to engine, chasis, etc), but I don't really understand floating grounds. I've done some light reading and so far it escapes me. My best understanding of floating grounds are car speakers. Each speaker is not grounded to the chasis. They are grounded via the amp.

It's been a while since the car has been sitting and I wired in the fan and relay. I'll let you know where the fan is grounded a little later today/tonight...after I dig into the wiring.

Found this Taurus e-fan wiring diagram with a little googling on a DSM forum

http://www.rotarycarclub.com/rotary_...1&d=1340552167

If this diagram is correct, the fan body provides the ground (-) return, and there are 2 other wires - a high & low speed (+). Here it's rigged up so that whenever the switched +12V is on, and the "temp probe switch" is closed, the fan runs at low speed, and when the "AC Clutch wire" is providing +12V, that 2nd relay switches the fan to high speed. Note also they mention the high current draw when the fan starts up on high, and they recommend using a 75A relay, and the fuse to the battery is a 50-70A, and "normal" current draw on high speed is ~34A! Sounds like an alternator upgrade will be in order if you still have a stock FC alternator in there.

I just want to comment on the current draw #'s...

Holy soda crackers Batman!
Trying to find a 75A+ relay is encroaching on the realm of "soleniods."
It's going to be difficult to find a quality relay rated that high from most common electronics parts vendors.
If you do find one, I'd bet it'll be pretty expensive too?

I was looking around for a 50A rated relay recently, and I ended up with an NTE one (Made in China) for about $10.

34A of current is a lot of juice for a single fan.
I'm sure there's other, aftermarket fans that'll run almost the same airflow for less current - i.e. more efficient.
We're talking minimum wire thickness at least 10AWG...8AWG?
Of course, you can't beat the price of a used fan...
But it looks at this point that the fan is faulty, so gambling with used equipment comes into play now.


-Ted

Took a break from being in the garage. I googled 3 pin taurus also and came up with this

http://www.astrosafari.com/viewtopic.php?f=76&t=14220

http://digitalcartography.com/n0eq/a...S-verified.jpg

What I need to find out is if the diagram and fan I'm using is as simple as keeping just high or low, but not both. Gonna go out to the garage and verify that my fan pin out is the same.

I've got a modded S5 alt (140amps). Looks like the diagram you provided works off of one temp switch, but both high and low are wired into the diagram.

I'm content using either high or low. I don't really want to mess around with finding a location for a second temp switch. Is the diagram I was using ok, provided I have correct wires for ground, low+, and high+?

I had the same problem finding a 50A relay. No one in town has one... I'm using a 40A relay now..which I thought would be ok. I got annoyed and put 10AWG wiring all around for the fan, relay, manual switch.

I don't know that the fan is faulty. I was playing around with both my fans today (mounted and spare). They both behave the same way. They both pull air on low and push air on high. That leads me to believe that the problem is not the fans...but user error instead.

If you're content to run at one speed, the wiring diagram you have should work, provided you find the correct ground wire. BTW, where did you get your S5 alternator modded to crank out 140A? Who does this and what does it cost?


Yup, I'm pretty sure you've got your ground wire mixed up with one of the high or low speed + terminals.

I'm content with it that way for now. Once I've worked all the bugs out and am driving my rebuild regularly and reliably (ie: have worked out my fan issue and running hot issue) I'll go back and add features.

I got the alt off of ebay
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1990-Mazda-R...341811&vxp=mtr

One year warranty on their work and so far I've only had typical modded alt issues. There is talk about this over on the evil forum, but here is my best explanation of it. Because the alt is wound with higher gauge wire it needs to spin faster to reach 14v and recharging. So at idle it does not charge at 14v. As soon as idle hits even 1k it jumps up to 14v. So sitting at a light your battery is draining. Add a big drain like this monster efan and it does make me nervous. BUT I prefer this to not being able to fit a Taurus alt or even an FD alt under my TMIC.

And yes, my wiring was screwed up. I had ground going to fused constant. I have everything put back together and am about to take it around the block a few times and see if I throw the circuit breaker.

As a sidenote, the 3 pin wiring is very odd on this fan. I spent far too much time playing with the wires and a spare battery and seeing what the different combinations of wires did to my spare fan. Some combinations of wires using the low pin did create the correct direction (pull), but it didn't seem as strong as the correct low. I'm hoping that my faulty wiring is the cause of my overheating and blowing fuses. I will take a drive in summer heat and be in good shape....we shall see.

Well, it's not exactly conclusive...but temps drop like they should. I got temps up to 200ish going around the block. Once it was up to 190ish I brought it home and popped the hood. Used my temp gun cause I want to see when the fan switch is activating. Fan triggers on at 200. It turns off at around 185-190. Once I had the fan running and temps up to 200 I took it back out for a drive. The circuit never tripped (that I noticed). Temps dropped and it turned off. I was only driving around the block (had to leave for family dinner at my sister's). So I couldn't really drive it and test it. BUT I turned the fan home for the rest of the drive back to the garage and it the circuit never tripped. The whole trip temps never got about 205ish.....hopefully I have found my fix.

Any new news with this?

I've been away from the car and site for some time. It appears that in the process of working out my efan I overheated the engine. It has all the signs of coolant seal leak. Had to start after it's been warmed up. White and sweet exhaust on start up. Fouled plugs.

It's been so hot out that I haven't felt like working on it. Now that it's cooled off some I'll start addressing some issues.

I did pick some a pair of Crown Vic wheels. The paint on them is gorgeous and near perfect. I'm in the process of stripping the lips so that I can polish them. Though I'm not really in a rush to get it done.

nice work

The engine is being re-rebuilt to fix the coolant seal leak. The engine has about 2k on the break-in of 4k because I replaced the stat gear bearings. I'll start getting the engine ready to pull very soon.

Here is my shopping list thus far, let me know if I'm missing anything:

O-ring kit, there is a more expensive one but I believe this one has everything I'll need
http://atkinsrotary.com/store/89-92-Turbo-Rx7-O-Ring-Kit-N370-10-S60.html

Front gasket cover, though I may do the RX-8 modded cover. There is always the chance that I botch the modded RX-8 gasket. Trying to decide if I want to add variables where they are not really needed.
http://atkinsrotary.com/store/86-92-...86-10-502.html

Oil pan gasket
http://atkinsrotary.com/store/86-92-...Y0-10-427.html

I'd like opinions on whether to replace my exhaust gaskets, both engine to manifold and manifold to turbo. I put new ones on shortly after my rebuild so they have less than 2k miles on them.

Sorry to hear it didn't end well...

Yeah, just need to replace the soft seals.
The metal (exhaust) gaskets can be reused.
As long as there is no signs of cracking on the inside edges, the metal gaskets are fine to reuse.


-Ted

^ Thanks Ted
The problems were my own dumb fault. I didn't setup my efan properly and it cost me. Lesson learned.

I need to test a few things before I pull the engine. The engine started behaving strangely in that it bogs down when boost pressure builds. The more quickly boost is building the worse it bogs down. However this is a sudden change. It was building what boost I'd allow the engine to see just fine. I've got my MBC set to zero so it's purging as much pressure as the wastegate will allow. It never had this problem till just recently and suddenly.


I'm hoping it's fouled plugs. My plugs are fouling so the engine runs great when fresh ones are put in and within a couple weeks you can hear and feel a change in the engine as they foul. Any other thoughts on what it could be? TPS, timing...anything else anyone can think of?

Other little things I've thought of for my shopping list:
Because I'd rather replace the $3 part than pull my oil pan
http://atkinsrotary.com/store/70-95-...10-14-171.html

Because I swapped a known good level sender and did not replace the o-ring...which led to an annoying leak.
http://atkinsrotary.com/store/81-95-...26-10-T11.html

I'm also giving thought to pulling only the engine and leaving the tranny. Reason being, I have Royal Purple fluid in the tranny. I can drain it and save it, but in that process some will be lost and I don't want to buy another bottle simply to top it off. Seems that the engine pull would be much easier, but putting it in will be tougher. Any thoughts from more experienced members?

Hard to say, but to cause spark plugs to foul that badly and that quickly means something is really out of whack.
The engine will run with quite a bit more fuel that needed and timing off by as much as 10-degrees (or slightly more) without giving a hint of something is wrong.
You're not running really cold plugs - colder than 9's?


I'm one of those weird ones that prefer to leave the trans in place...
Would love to have the space and equipment to handle both the trans and the engine install at the same time, but in most cases, this is the opposite.
With the aide of an engine tilter (this REALLY helps), installing the engine back into the trans usually takes me about 15 minutes.
The PITA part is alternating the trans bolts between top and bottom - you end up with quite a work-out!


-Ted

I've alternated between stock 7 and 9's and using all 9's. IIRC it is stock 7 and 9s in there now. The couple of weeks thing on the plugs fouling may have been an exageration. The car has sat a couple months without driving it so it's my best recall. But over time I can hear the exhaust tone change as they foul. I'm going to replace them just before i pull the engine to see how that effects the boost problem. I'll get some pics of the plugs and post them. In fact, I'll get the plugs today.

Plugs had to be ordered and they will be here on Tues.

One thing I forgot to mention. I had always assumed the fouling plugs is due to coolant seal leak. Thoughts on this?

Or it running too rich, too much premix/oil. Those would be the big ones. If I recall correctly their used to be a sticky on the evil forum showing all the different pictures of plugs and what they mean. Always something useful to have to do a quick visual check of what you got.

Yes, coolant on the spark plug tips will kill them in short order.

You can do a quick & dirty test with a DMM...
Measure resistance from the spark plug wire end to the center electrode (in combustion chamber).
Check this same measurement on one of the brand new spark plugs.
The used spark plug should be *less* in resistance due to the center electrode wear down slightly.
If the spark plug is "fouled", the resistance is going to be significantly higher.
I forget what what these NGK BUR/EQ's spec around, but the number 1.1k-ohm sticks in my head?
Don't quote me on that...


-Ted

That's some pretty resourceful thinking. Plugs will be here Tues. and I'll get some measurements and report back.

Here's what I've got so far:

Haven't been able to accurately test my old spark plugs. Batteries in the DMM were low. It tested the new plugs just fine. All 4 9's tested at 4.83-4.91. But the old plugs I had all kinds of trouble getting readings. I was pulling old plugs and testing as I went. Wasn't getting good readings. Some of them the DMM was bouncing all over the place. Literally anything from "OL" to 35.00ish. I got frustrated with it, marked all the plugs for their position in the engine and came back to it later. While trying to test them again the DMM batteries died. I've got some batteries charging overnight and I'll test more tonight once I get home.

I moved the car to the location where I'm gonna pull the engine and looked some things over and generally tinkered around. I played around with my MBC settings to find out more about the stuttering when boost pressure builds. It always happens right when the engine goes from vacuum to boost. If I turn MBC all the way down and purging as much as possible stuttering happens less. What I found is that if I get the engine past that transition from vacuum to boost it boosts just fine once it gets beyond that point. If I turn the MBC up and get on the engine some pressure moves past that zero transition point quickly and once it's showing boost it will hold 5 psi nice and even. Going in the opposite direction when boost is dropping and its going back into vacuum the engine will again stutter. Vacuum leak is what I'm thinking?

Here is what I found. The two large vacuum hoses on the Purge Control Valve have turned soft and jelly-like and literally won't stay on the PCV. I have removed as much of the vacuum routing as possible but left the rats nest in place. I don't think I routed anything incorrectly...but user error is always possible. Going on the assumption that everything is routed correctly; my question is why those vacuum lines have turned to jelly? Oil blowing through the hoses?

Possibly related and possibly just normal behavior. When I first turned the rebuilt engine over and letting it idle, warm up, etc. I was checking fluids and listening for bad noises. I noticed my oil filter got amazingly hot. Too hot to touch and I was worried enough that I shut the engine off. I couldn't find anything out of place so I went ahead and proceeded with breaking in the engine and I haven't noticed the oil filter or oil temps being unusually high. I've got an aftermarket oil temp gauge and the numbers stay in the normal range.

WRT the PCV hoses, the two hoses on the bottom of the PCV often turn to goo. That would be the large diameter one that goes to the oil filler nipple on the housing and smaller one routes back to the intake mani via the rats nest IIRC. Both see crankcase/oil vapors, so over time a cheaper grade rubber hose (regular vacuum hose) or a standard unlinered silicone hose will breakdown. Look for hose rated as an "emissions" hose to replace those; it's nitrile rubber IIRC, which is designed to be compatible with oil vapors.

The oil filter being too hot to handle is probably normal - depends on your threshold of pain. I've got an oil temp gauge on my FC, and if I touch the filter while the oil temp gauge is reading a normal 195F, I find the filter too hot to handle.