I put a new thermostat in it guys when I changed the water pump. The rad appears to be single core so that definately isnt helping. Cant get 98 ron fuel up here im afraid, just the crappy standard unleaded. Think i'll put some octane booster in it today and see if it makes any difference to the pinking. Do you think it would be worthwhile giving the WUR a tweak to incease fueling under load if I cant get rid of the pinking even with the new rad? I wont do anything until next week anyway when I set it up to standard timing and CO at the garage, just to rule out those possibilities completely. As my old boy always says, rule out one thing at a the time I'll pull the plugs out right now gary and see what they look like - got new plugs and a filter to fit to it too which have been lying in my bedroom for a while! Cheers guys
Messing with the WUR without having fuel a fuel pressure gauge installed is a but risky. You don't know how much you are altering things. It will alter the mixture throughout the rev range not at any particular point. Inadequate octane rating, high engine temp and inflexible ECU are your enemies here. Better cooling will help for sure. The best way to cure the pinking is with a Vsam or Kstar piggy back ecu. That way you can map the timing perfectly. The only other thing I have come across( very rare) was a mates 2 litre 16V mk2. The crank pulley bolt was loose and the cam timing was out. It pulled like a train on small throttle openings but pinked big time at WOT. Just makes sure your bolt is tight. If not replace with one from a DX engined MK1 and check the timing. gavin
you can clean the water system , i did mine and got a load of rad weld shat out now mine runs cooler.
Good point about the crank pulley shifting, I noticed when timing it up that the flywheel marks dont quite line up with the timing marks on the pulleys, so its possible it could have slipped a bit. I'll check its definately sitting on tdc by putting something down the plug hole. Probably just that the flywheel is slightly off position though. I take it there's a woodruff key holding the pulley in place? EDIT: also noticed that the injectors feel a bit "loose" in the head, i'll get some new O-rings for them when I order the hoses, anyone know what part numbers they are? and is there two O-rings for each injector? Edited by: smithy
There is a notch in the crank which the crank pulley locates into, what happens on the 16v bottom pulley is that the rubber damper 'twists' and puts the tdc mark 'out' Flywheel can't move, it's dowelled and bolted to the pressure plate.
Cheers gary. I'll check it all out down at the garage next week, sounds like it may be a bit out then Im guessing that the crank pulley bolt is a right mission to take off, must be torqued quite highly.
And you have to replace it every time it's undone (the bolt) The twisted pulley is no big deal as long as you can make an accurate tdc reference on the pulley/cover.
Yeah, I remember when timing it up it seemed to line up with the marks perfectly which is strange if its slipped a bit, but I suppose the best way to check it is to put something down no1 plug hole and see where the piston is sitting at TDC using the timing marks.
Took her down to the garage last night, first thing I did was put her on the gas analyser - read 2.4% CO - not a bad guess then Took it down to 2.0%, then whipped off the timing covers to check the timing. Marks on the covers line up perfect - using the flywheel marks cause the cam mark to line up just under half a tooth out. So out with no1 plug then and check for "real" TDC. Marks on covers prove to be the accurate ones - so I guess the flywheel is out Funny thing is, the flywheel TDC mark is (by my guess work) just about bang on for the 7deg BTDC timing mark, so I timed her up to that with the strobe. Decided to change the filter and plugs at the same time (old filter was well manky!!). Fired her up again, and she was running a bit lumpy Let the engine get up to temp and then back on the analyser - 1.1% CO! I guess the filter must have been really bad. Adjusted this to just over 2%, re-set the ISV idle speed and now running well smooth Took it out for a blast - and NO PINKING! at last!! Its more lively than before too - generally pulls a lot all through the rev range Fitting the big radiator, injector o-rings and a new fuel filter this saturday for good measure. Cheers for all the help everyone
Smithy this may be a stupid question but you did take the breather hose and the black/red wire off to do the CO?
Sure did, I do that every time. I took it off to do the timing as well. Is that the right way? If I dont remove it - the analyser takes ages to see any change, wheras without it, its read almost straight away.
shouldn't you set the idle speed and the CO at the same time!? like up one, down the other, and check for 2.0%?
Woops, didnt read correctly. No - I havent been taking the breather hose off Golden Should I re-set it to about 2.0% with the breather hose plugged? what differences will it make? Hido - I've been setting the CO and idle speed at the same time - you have to, as when you change the CO, the idle changes. If you re-set the idle to 1000rpm with the black/red lead unplugged, the idle settles to about 900/950 once you plug the lead back in.
The breather hose should be pulled off and routed so that only fresh air can get in. It needs to be pulled off the block not the airbox as there is a small extension off the main hose that feeds the injector shrouding. It's sometimes a good idea to put an old vaccum cleaner pipe in the rubber hose so no fumes can get in from the engine breather. Now why. Even after you've changed the oil, the fumes from the breather will lift the CO. Even with fresh oil (depending on the oil and state of the engine) the breather can raise the CO by 0.5-1 %.
Ah... I see now. I'll re-set it on the weekend then with the hose blocked off then. I'm changing the oil too so i'll do that first. I've been setting the CO to about 2.0% as i've read this is best for valvers - is this ok?
No don't block it you plum It needs to have clean air going through it get the right CO reading and 2% will be fine
Doh, I thought for some reason I should plug the inlet hole once I removed the breather, so i'll just remove the breather and set the CO like with the manifold and inlet pipe drawing fresh air?
Yes mate, that's why I said it's good to jam an old bit of hose in the breather hose and route it away from the engine bay. You can pull it off the block and turn it round but the area will still have a lot of fumes in the area.
