February 2, 200620 yr Ross, those pictures of your car are SICK!!! I wish we had the EA81 touring wagons in the US. What have you done to your wagon? Our cars are like twins across the Pacific! Keep us updated on your progress. EA81Ts FOR LIFE!!!
February 3, 200620 yr Hey Ross, Do you need to borrow a timing light? I've got one you can use, plus a colour tune spark plug if you want to check the mixture.
February 3, 200620 yr Author Got it sorted, turns out the coolant temp sensor was the problem - replaced it with my original one and she goes well. Now i've just got to finish making a downpipe, and find a replacement for the rusted out banjo bolt for the turbo coolant supply......or an alternative fitting. What have you done to your wagon? Not much other than this engine - put a very leaky 4dr in and thats about it. Should be getting a better gearbox for it soon... Its getting a legacy air/water ic and a wee bit more boost after its been run in.
February 3, 200620 yr Awesome, thats basically what I want to do to mine, VF-11, intercooler, exhaust, etc. Hoping for at least 175hp at the wheels when all is said and done.
February 7, 200620 yr Author Sweet, its on the road! Drives nicely, only thing that perhaps needs adjustment is the idle switch - there is a noticible "on/off" bit in the throttle response near zero throttle. Needs some insulation around the new downpipe too. It feels SOOO much nicer and more responsive than the carb motor that was in there! Oil pressure (hot) is 15psi idle, 40psi 2500-3000rpm. Oil warning light goes out as soon as the starter starts cranking. dont think i've ever seen one do that before! Ended up brazing a hose nipple onto a head coolant drain bung to replace the banjo fitting that used to supply the turbo with coolant. Not ideal, but should work fine.
February 7, 200620 yr Good deal Ross! Glad to hear theres another turbo running around. Keep up the good work and lets seem some pics of that engine installed! By the way, were EA81Ts officially imported to NZ?
February 7, 200620 yr Author More pics maybe tomorrow, i've lent my camera to a friend..... were EA81Ts officially imported to NZ? No, all the ones over here were imported second hand from Japan.
February 9, 200620 yr Author Just took the plugs out, done 50km so far - running very nicely overall. The pics show them lined up from 1-4 left to right. #2 and #4 look quite normal - just a little brown colouring on the top. #1 is rather sooty on one side in particular. Maybe a dripping injector? #3 looks quite shiney on the insulator - like its wet. looks normal after wiping with a rag.
February 16, 200620 yr Author Update: Done about 600km now - cant drive further till i get some cash for petrol!! Damn student loan people...... Spark plugs have cleared up nicely. Has burnt maybe 100ml of oil. Its still not idling very well - smooth enough, but will vary between 900 and 1100 revs with no obvious cause. Vacuum is only around 18mmHg at idle, used to be more like 20mmHg - I'm not sure if that has something to do with it or not. I am wondering if its just dirty injectors. I'm also not very confident that the throttle stop is adjusted properly - it has a non factory bolt in it, and the butterfly valve seems to wedge itself closed sometimes. Cant find the procedure for adjusting it though...... Valve train is rather noisy. Clearances are adjusted properly, but still doesn't sound right - although it may just be that the injected engine is quieter, making the rocker noise seem louder. Either that, or it is a problem caused by using solid lifters and corresponding cam with push rods and rockers for hydraulic lifters. I'd like to swap them out with some for solid lifters just to make sure at some stage. Other than those little probs, its going very well - good on gas, no smoke out exhaust, heaps of power (haven't quite floored it yet, but still seems much faster than before) and drives very smoothly. Of course, I'm used to the na ea81 with a leaky crap carb that was in there, so its no surprise that this engine seems so great!
February 16, 200620 yr Nice job Ross.I find unique pleasure hearing about success stories of the ever valiant ea81 or ea81t.Way to go.
February 16, 200620 yr Update: Done about 600km now - cant drive further till i get some cash for petrol!! Damn student loan people...... Spark plugs have cleared up nicely. Has burnt maybe 100ml of oil. Its still not idling very well - smooth enough, but will vary between 900 and 1100 revs with no obvious cause. Vacuum is only around 18mmHg at idle, used to be more like 20mmHg - I'm not sure if that has something to do with it or not. I am wondering if its just dirty injectors. I'm also not very confident that the throttle stop is adjusted properly - it has a non factory bolt in it, and the butterfly valve seems to wedge itself closed sometimes. Cant find the procedure for adjusting it though...... Valve train is rather noisy. Clearances are adjusted properly, but still doesn't sound right - although it may just be that the injected engine is quieter, making the rocker noise seem louder. Either that, or it is a problem caused by using solid lifters and corresponding cam with push rods and rockers for hydraulic lifters. I'd like to swap them out with some for solid lifters just to make sure at some stage. Other than those little probs, its going very well - good on gas, no smoke out exhaust, heaps of power (haven't quite floored it yet, but still seems much faster than before) and drives very smoothly. Of course, I'm used to the na ea81 with a leaky crap carb that was in there, so its no surprise that this engine seems so great! Adjust the throttle stop so that the throttle is 1/4 turn open from fully closed.This is enough to prevent the throttle from binding due to wear,but,not enough to allow significant vacuum to appear at the ported vacuum connection above the throttle plate. Are you in closed loop when the idle varies?O2 light flashing?Fresh O2 sensor? Seeing how you did so much other work,I think injector cleaning and testing is in order.
February 17, 200620 yr Author Ahh, thanks naru. Seems to do it in both closed and open loop. Cant notice it when the high idle is going though. I'll definitely get the injectors done when i have the cash.........might be a few weeks though.
February 17, 200620 yr Ahh, thanks naru. Seems to do it in both closed and open loop. Cant notice it when the high idle is going though. I'll definitely get the injectors done when i have the cash.........might be a few weeks though. If you have an extra injector,no cash and time on your hands,you may be able to ID and replace a wonky one by running the motor on each combination of 3 cyl. noting RPM variations.Move a suspect injector to another cyl. to confirm.I would disconnect injectors rather than plugs. Or,you could take them off to see if they drip.
June 22, 200619 yr Author Update, been a while but its finally "run in" after the prescribed 3200kms. Off the road again untill i get around to putting a new gearbox, axles and alternator in (which are waiting for me 400kms away) and till i get it a warrant.... Worst thing is that we've had an unseasonal dumping of snow here and i couldn't take it out!! Good news is it runs perfectly now that i added a big extra engine earth wire, and it soundly out performs a stock ea82t (can only attribute this to the very minor porting i have done along with obviously being effectively brand new, its otherwise running stock) - This was not judged by illegal street racing before anyone jumps down my throat!
June 22, 200619 yr i added a big extra engine earth wire Don't mean to sound stupid but are you talking about a ground wire? BTW-Glad to hear you can hang with the ea82t guys!I always thought it was possible.
June 22, 200619 yr Update, been a while but its finally "run in" after the prescribed 3200kms. Off the road again untill i get around to putting a new gearbox, axles and alternator in (which are waiting for me 400kms away) and till i get it a warrant.... Worst thing is that we've had an unseasonal dumping of snow here and i couldn't take it out!! Good news is it runs perfectly now that i added a big extra engine earth wire, and it soundly out performs a stock ea82t (can only attribute this to the very minor porting i have done along with obviously being effectively brand new, its otherwise running stock) - This was not judged by illegal street racing before anyone jumps down my throat! Unseasonal snow? I thought it was winter there?:-p As for romping on EA82T's, when I had my Turbo COupe I was beating alot of different cars on the RallyX track. Came in 4th the last time I raced:headbang: Not bad for a 20yr old car.
June 25, 200619 yr Author Unseasonal snow? yeah winter but we dont usually get snow here at al- if we do its normally in spring!!
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