Steve200TDi's New Racer!!

[steve200TDi]

1 hour ago, Bowie69 said:

Sounds like you have a fuel system leak, pressure should come up and stay stable, and not fall away when you remove the key.

Check all the lines for leaks...

It is possible you have a leaky injector, if so the fuel pressure can fall making the rest of the cylinders run very badly.

General diagnostics for Hotwire is jabbing stuff into plugs, if you don't like doing this then there is MS. I didn't fit MS because my old EFI wasn't working, I did it for reliability, tunability and full diagnostics. Appreciate it is quite a cost if you aren't familiar with that sort of thing. Your setup could be really basic, minimal wiring, no idle valve etc , would at least keep the cost down.

The vacuum advance will make little difference to you, as you'll likely be on large throttle openings most of the time, and you're not interested in fuel economy....

I thought so! It didn't do that before and as you know I've just had all the injectors out at the end of last year to sort a rusted terminal! That's annoying! The fuel pressure when the engine is running is stable but as you say there is some leakage, so I need to find where it's going.

I have installed megasquirt myself before so if I have to go down this route it's not too much of a problem, but if I can get it running without large expenditures then great!

The small pipe I was refering too is a mod that keeps the distributor dry I believe, but some people say that it could do the opposite and creat moisture!

Thanks Bowie, looks like I'll be getting the multi meter out tomorrow!

Steve

[Bowie69]

Ah yes, the hose thingy.... I presume you have checked the cap for damp or tracking?

[FridgeFreezer]

Assuming you have a fuel pressure gauge, can't you watch the fuel pressure when it's misbehaving to see if it's dropping off? From memory it should stay constant relative to engine vacuum (the pressure regulator's vacuum connection does this) so should rise slightly under load.

Faults like that I suspect the ignition TBH but I can't back that up with science other than the system is cr*p...

[steve200TDi]

1 minute ago, FridgeFreezer said:

Assuming you have a fuel pressure gauge, can't you watch the fuel pressure when it's misbehaving to see if it's dropping off? From memory it should stay constant relative to engine vacuum (the pressure regulator's vacuum connection does this) so should rise slightly under load.

Faults like that I suspect the ignition TBH but I can't back that up with science other than the system is cr*p...

The fuel pressure dies instantly after the relay unclicks when you put the ignition on, but does stay constant when the engine is running. the fuel pressure does increase if you rev the engine.

It could well be something to do with the ignition. The engine has been sat in the garage for 6 months and not started, what things could mysteriously change in this time?

I have started by removing the injectors and testing those again at work, then I can move onto ignition timing and checking for spark etc.

I read one of you previous posts JU about the voltage not being enough due to alternator issues. Mine seems to be producing 14 volts at the alternator.

Steve

[FridgeFreezer]

Obvious ideas: Crud in the dizzy having attracted moisture, ignition amp dying (they usually are) or corroded contacts in general. A lot can go faulty on a dirty truck left sitting, especially if you've been tinkering & welding etc., very easy to disturb things (wires, earth leads...)

Beyond that, meh, this is why I ditched all that stuff so I don't have to think about it

[Paul w]

This is my allard 

[steve200TDi]

Very nice Paul!

It's a bit straighter than mine.

Any more pics?.......under the lids etc...

 

Steve

[steve200TDi]

I had another look at it yesterday. I plugged the laptop in so I could see if all the sensors where working. They all appear to work (coolant and fuel temp) and the throttle moves up and down (0-100%) and the MAF increases when I rev it. The fuel pressure stays constant when you rev it. I've checked the timing which is 9 degrees BTDC.

But it still doesn't rev above 2000rpm and sounds a bit lumpy.

So I've checked everything I can, so I will enlist one of my mates who's good with V8's to have a look.

If he can't find a problem or cure it's likely I will have to go down the megasquirt route, which of course wouldn't be a bad thing!

Steve

[FridgeFreezer]

I still vote ignition not fuelling on that problem.

[Bowie69]

Sounds quite likely, especially given the fuel pressure evening sustained ok when having the problem.

 

My only other thoughts are to to think what has changed, I think both exhaust and air box have been changed, possibly one of these are blocked by mistake/poor manufacture?

Does it shake badly when misfiring?

Have you changed stuff like the ignition amp, cap, rotor, coil? Checked the dizzy pick up?

[steve200TDi]

I have opened the lid of the air box, with no change. The new exhaust is a straight through box, but yes I could remove it as that is something that I've changed.

I don't think it shakes when misfiring, although that what I think it's doing! It sounds like it spluttering, choking on it's own fuel, but it does look like that the coolant temp sensor is working.

I haven't changed any of the ignition system for this problem, I've only checked under the distributor cap and checked the HT leads. I have a spare ignition amp I can try, but no coil.

The distributor pick up? I'm guessing that's inside, I haven't looked in there! Any pointers as I've read that you can damaged it if you take it apart!

Steve

[Bowie69]

Yes pickup is a reluctor 'star' inside the dizzy, these fail less often, I would leave it until one of the last if it were me. Yes, you can damage them when pulling the rotor arm off, if you don't push down on the star when doing so, as it dislodges the bobweight springs, meaning you get full advance at any throttle opening

Swap dizzy amp, then find a coil from something else and try that.

If it is choking on its own fuel, you will get serious eye-bleed from behind, so does it smell very rich when idling or revved up?

[FridgeFreezer]

V8 ignition amps are weak and prone to failure (especially as they warm up), someone on the other rough V8 thread suggested the vac advance could be dead, dizzy caps and rotor arms can crack or get conductive tracks formed by arcing, dirt etc.

HT leads can break down, rub through, etc. - when it's all cylinders suspect common items: coil, dizzy, amp, king lead, etc.

[steve200TDi]

So Jon Lane popped round yesterday to have a look over the engine. He couldn't find anything obvious, it all looked good. We check the advance when the engine was rev'ed and it did advance. Jon thought it might be an ignition problem and so recommended I change the plugs.

So new plugs in this morning and yes it runs better, but it's still not right. It now revs happily to 3000rpm and does pull now if you drive it up the drive, but the popping and banging are still there every so often and it does sometimes pop and bang when driving it up the drive.

Part of me wants to find the problem and cure it, but this will take more time. Fitting Megasquirt will (hopefully) cure the problem and make it run better.

I can do low speed tuning at Slindon and once I'm confident on the tune I can then record a couple of comp safari laps and process that.

I've had a look in the engine bay and I will have to make my own coil bracket because of the coolant pipes in the way. I can hopefully reuse the HT leads if they're long enough.

What i don't want to happen is I fit Megasquirt and the engine still doesn't run!

Steve

[FridgeFreezer]

I'd be tempted to see if you can get it running right *before* fitting megasquirt, it can't fix mechanical problems!

Have you done anything about the ignition amplifier yet?

Although it's likely MS+EDIS would get rid of whatever's causing this problem it's by no means guaranteed.

[steve200TDi]

I've cleaned the contacts on the coil, but not swapped the coil or ignition amp out. Maybe I'll have a go at that first!

It is true what you say, it'll be good to find the problem!

[steve200TDi]

I've just swapped out the ignition amp as I had one and I hadn't anything to loose.......

It now revs to 5000rpm and pulls like a train with no popping and banging!

That makes one happy Steve! 

I make that get it ready for the Comp Safari in September!

Steve

[Quagmire]

Result!

[FridgeFreezer]

On 09/07/2017 at 0:52 PM, FridgeFreezer said:

I suspect the ignition

 

On 09/07/2017 at 2:41 PM, FridgeFreezer said:

ignition amp dying (they usually are) or corroded contacts in general.

 

On 25/07/2017 at 0:46 PM, FridgeFreezer said:

I still vote ignition not fuelling on that problem.

 

On 26/07/2017 at 0:38 PM, FridgeFreezer said:

V8 ignition amps are weak and prone to failure (especially as they warm up)

 

2 hours ago, FridgeFreezer said:

Have you done anything about the ignition amplifier yet?

 

 

[Bowie69]

Gosh Fridge, that must've taken some time to write up

Oh, and good news Steve

[steve200TDi]

2 minutes ago, FridgeFreezer said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

It'll forever be ingrained in my brain to check the ignition amp next time I have a problem.

*Thank you for taking the time to quote all the times you said it! 

Steve

[landroversforever]

@FridgeFreezer

[daveturnbull]

Brilliant! I was wondering why you hadn't tried that sooner....

[elbekko]

[CwazyWabbit]

Squirt it now .... you know that deep down you really want to