Monday 25 April 2011

Engine runs, but got home on wrong end of tow rope

Lots of progress. Mostly good, some bad.

The last set of cylinder barrels got cracked owing to boost combined with already high compression, and me being an idiot by not stopping sooner.


So, I built up a new engine.

1192cc barrels (up from stock of 1074cc)
New head gasket
3mm base spacer (to lower the compression)
Stock head and valves (not the big ones)
gsxr600 TBI's

Sorted out all the little things (like valve shims), and valve guide seals (gsxr1000k5 ones are the same, wemoto sent me the gsxr1100 oil cooled ones, which are wrong, so look out for this).


Got the engine in, topped up with fluids, bolted together.

Fuel leak, fixed.
Fuel pressure too low (fuel pump leak inside tank) fixed.
Throttle position (too wide open due to sticking choke cable) fixed.

Got it to idle, and seemed to idle lower than the last (Kent) cams at around 1100rpm. Throttle is still more open than is ideal, but its a detail.

Finally (4pm Monday) got out, went to fill up. Car ran poorly. Not smooth (felt like 3 cyls) but reved a bit and seemed to sort itself. Filled up with fuel and the car did restart (a bit surprising). Thought about heading back, but decided to do a longer up the bypass run. All went fine, rubbish jumpy spot just as boost comes in (3-4k), so that needs some mapping work (unfortunately the O2 sensor isn't working nicely at the moment, maybe needs calibrating).

So, I datalogged, and got 10psi at 8.8kRPM, which should be worth a few BHP. At the moment I don't have an intercooler and intake temps got to 65degC, but the lower comp engine didn't seem to mind (no detonation). The engine gave decent power from 5kRPM, and popped and banged like a crazy thing on the over-run (quite nice, but probably should turn it down a bit). I think the fueling is rich up top, not sure what is happening at 3-4k though.

Bad news, going around the Woodstock roundabout there was a bit of a plastic burning smell, not sure what that was. Then coming back along the dual carriageway I stopped at the traffic lights and the engine idled fine. Then it cut out, and the lights changed. Tried to restart, but failed. Eventually pushed to side of road and tried to fix the problem.

Not sure what it was but ECU wasn't happy, and it dumped gallons of fuel into the engine (bad news). Couldn't get the ECU to recognise the trigger, which is a wierd fault. I have a few suspects:
Blocked injector (I was messing with the fuel lines, so could easily have blocked an injector).
Megasquirt hardware problem (need to bench test it)

I'm keen to get the car to Stoneleigh.

List of things to sort:
Lambda sensor (I need a better map if I am going to go any distance)
Megasquirt (I need to get the engine running again)
Speedo (this is needed as at present I have to guess the speed). Not essential.
Oil and filter change (maybe fix the odd tiny oil leak whilst I am at it)


So, mostly good, but lots to do.

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