The 90 project

[Mat Francis]

Yeah, nothing to get excited about though. So far I've pulled the spark plugs out and wasted about an hour screwing around with the starter motor. Other than that, I know the electric seats work, all the windows work (except the rear passenger one, which goes down, but not up  ), the fuel pump works and there is power to the starter motor when you turn the key. So yeah, no progress. I will be asking questions in regards to compression test results, when I get the new starter in!

[Mat Francis]

Eventually swapped the starter motor and did a compression test. Results;

1: 150
2: 150
3: 150
4: 75
5: 150
6: 100

Not exactly what i wanted to see. When we filled 4 and 6 with oil, compression was up to 150 for number 4 and 175 for 6.
Normally, I would now run the thing for a few minutes and try again, given that the car has not been started for about 6 years.

Enter the new dilemma, as so far it's not looking good. I'd guess there is going to be about 15 hours work for me to change the cam belt and re assemble everything to get it to run. I'm not sure if this is going to be worth my time, given the above results? I don't really want to do all the work in order to say yep its definitely as stuffed as i suspected, pull it all apart again. I'm tempted to start pulling the engine out and rebuild it.

Thoughts anyone? Another thing to consider, I'm thinking about buying another complete car for parts for this one and another project (anyone got a smashed 75 sitting around in their backyard?). Maybe I'd be better off getting a known good engine and swapping it in?

Decisions decisions.

[Mat Francis]

So went ahead and pulled the engine. Much easier than I thought it was going to be.

Unfortunately, also found some pretty nasty rust while i was at it. Didn't even bother checking the car for rust when i bought it, as i only ever intended to wreck it. At first thought it looked pretty terminal, but after a fair bit of stabbing with a screwdriver and close inspection from the inside with the torch, the firewall is still solid, it has only rusted through the scuttle panel and made a bigger drain for itself.

Also, mocked up the headlight brackets as you can see. They still need to sit about 2 inches further in (will need to cut the standard brackets away for this, no big deal), but as far as width and height goes, almost perfect! Bit of paint on the grill, some indicators in the fog light holes, and (at the risk of being vilified) I reckon it will look pretty good!

[Sheldon McIntosh]

Have you checked that indicators can be that low?  Just a thought, as they wouldn't be very visible down there, may be some ADR rules or something.

[Mat Francis]

The thought did cross my mind, but I'm not overly concerned about it at this stage. I'll see if I get away with it, and if not, I'll just hack appropriate sized holes in the bumper higher up. It's only a 90.

[dehne]

The thought did cross my mind, but I'm not overly concerned about it at this stage. I'll see if I get away with it, and if not, I'll just hack appropriate sized holes in the bumper higher up. It's only a 90.

How rude  it will be the ride of ur life matt 

[Mat Francis]

it will be the ride of ur life matt 

Given what I have in store for it next week, I'd almost believe that 

[dehne]

heading to melb tomorrow for the day do you need anything brought down or a hand with doing some work i have about 4 hrs to kill from about 1.30 till 6ish send me a text if you want something as i may not check this page before then

[Mat Francis]

So not huge progress here, but a bit.

It's not solved yet, but the fix for the engine is well and truly in the works. See attached.

I will also be getting a company car on Monday, so the mentality has rapidly changed from "comfortable road car" to something a bit more fun...

[VeeSix]

Any more progress Matt??? 

[ARQ164 Shane]

So did you get the motor back in the car yet??
how are the twin headlights fitting going?

[Mat Francis]

Hi all, after an eternity i have some form of update on this.

Looking for a bit of help. The car wasn't running when I got it, and this is my first fiddle with any sort of FI, so play nice 

Engine is all in and everything as far as I'm aware is connected, just can't get it to run. Here's what I've checked;

Ignition system:

Good spark when a plug is removed and held to the plenum, static timing is good (confirmed with timing light).
When the car is manually and continually fed "start ya bastard," the car will run. As such I believe the ignition system is fine.

Here is what I have checked in regards to fuel delivery, starting with the always questionable double relay.

85 – Combo-relay ground
86 – supply to Thermo Time Switch and Cold Start Injector
86a – 12v from ignition switch on "start" (supplies TTS & fuel pump relay)
86b – to AFM terminal 36 (fuel pump switch)
86c – 12v from ignition switch on "run"
88a – to AFM terminal 39 (fuel pump switch)
88b – 12v to ecu and fuel injectors bank #1
88c – 12v to auxiliary air valve heater
88d – 12v supply to fuel pump
88e – 12v to fuel injector bank # 2
88y – 12v from ignition "run" to fuel pump relay
88z – 12v from starter/solenoid.connector

All of the above conditions apply, and when a fuel line is removed and the engine cranked over fuel is being supplied (tested with the relay in and operating, and also by opening the AFM flap). I do not suspect the relay is at fault, and it came out of a running car previously.

Needless to say I have gone through all the earths I can find and cleaned and re connected these. I have also tested these have good connectivity from the pins to the computer. As per my wiring diagram, pins 1,5,16,17,34 and 35 of the connector to the computer are all earthed.

Both the cold start injector and injector number 4 (pulled the lead on this one as it is easy to get to), have 12v. The CSI does not work when removed from the plenum and the engine cranked. When connected directly to 12v and manually earthed, the solenoid inside it clicks, so I don't think it is mechanically broken. However, neither the CSI or main injector is earthed at any stage during the start process. I believe that this is my problem?

From my reading of the l-jet wiring diagram, I assume that the injectors are earthed by the computer? Or is my frustration at this point tunneling my vision into thinking that I have a stuffed computer? 

I'm sure I've tested more than what I've written here, but can't think of it off the top of my head, so please if you have any suggestions I'm very grateful for anything you can think of!

[dehne]

hi matt
good to see some profression on the 90, so what i gather from your info is,

Their is fuel getting to the rails,
There is spark
If you spray start you piece of euro awesomeness (shit) it sort of runs.

To me this only means one thing and that the injectors are blocked, I dont know if you can clean them i would say you can. the  reason I suggest this is I did and engine swap in a car, the engine was running before I took it out and when I finally got it back in and took it for a run this was the problem.

Hope this helps

[Mat Francis]

Thanks guys, seems logical as they've been sitting for years.

Next question, how do I fix this? I'm guessing it's going to involve removing the plenum again and taking them to a FI specialist?

[dehne]

Matt I think you could clean them as you can buy injector cleaner, the other thing is I would assume the injector from the 2.5 would fit as they are sort of the same engine someone else may be able to confirm this or not.